《A Space Odd-yssey?》 1. A Twisted Ending? Hello readers! As you can see, I am in the process of start writing my own story. I just came up with an idea, and I am in the process of making it work. In other words, I am doing a lot of brain storming. I feel that beginning of the story/novel is the hardest part because it is the beginning that either makes the novel or it doesn''t, on most part. This novel starts out as a sci-fi, but will eventually cross over to fantasy...hint...hint. I have noticed that many of the writers on Royal Road are full of wonderful ideas (though there seems to be a lot of repeated theme of "revived" virtual reality thing going on), but they seem to focus on fast story line, and thus, sacrifice quality development of the story line. It is my hope that I can provide something different in a way of more quality development of the story without sacrificing the entertainment. So with that said... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- POP! The sound of a champaign bottle echoes the hall. ¡°Happy birthday Commander Colbert!¡± ¡°Yay!¡± The dinning hall fills with cheers and laughter. Year 3014, it has been over 800 years since the humanity has outgrown Earth and expanded outward, encompassing all of Milky Way. Once the expansion started, it didn¡¯t take long before humans realized that we weren¡¯t the only intelligent life-forms in the Universe. Of course, with all the stories of UFO sightings that were circulated around the Earth back in the 20th century planted seed of belief about other intelligent beings, or aliens, in our minds, but funny thing about human beings is that even though we know in the back of our minds, we don¡¯t really ¡°know¡± until we really experience it for ourselves. In truth, governments all around the world were hiding the existence of aliens for a very long time, but with the advancement of technology that allowed us to travel the stars, as well as increase in global population, forcing us to colonize other planets, they could no longer keep denying the existence of the aliens. As much as people complain about the government, one good thing about having centralized government is that the government, as a whole, tends to be vigilant about its interest, self-protection. Continuation of the entity called government! That means, with the advancement of the technology, military technology advanced as well. As the population on Earth increased, the need for military ¡°guidance,¡± as they called it, became paramount, and soon, every expansion into Space called for the mandatory military supervision, though they called it ¡°escort.¡± To make long story short, it was fortunate that such was the case, because not long after we colonized the solar system closest to our own, we ran into our first enemy, followed by centuries of conflicts with various hostile alien species. Right about the time we have colonized half of the whole Milky Way, the Earth Federation became to be known as the Galactic Federation. It was a premature coinage of the ¡°Galactic¡± in the new Federation name considering we haven¡¯t colonized the whole Milky Way Galaxy at that point, but how do you stop humans from having a big head? It is humanity¡¯s habit to exaggerate about our ¡°greatness¡± in everything that we do right. What if we do something wrong? Of course, we blame the ¡°other¡± lesser human beings for that, do we not? Well, approximately 80 years ago, as we were about to claim 90% of the Milky Way as our own, new players entered the game of space conquest. They were the Filtons. Filtons originated three galaxies away from the Milky Way, but through their brutal betrayals of their alliances, they colonized multiple galaxies as they massacred hundreds of different alien species. They formed alliances after alliances with their neighbors, and whenever they uncover any weaknesses in their so called allies, they would strike at their weaknesses in blitz-like manner and wipe them out completely. It wasn¡¯t that the Filtons were technologically advanced, as Filtons depended on plant based spaceships to traverse through the space. The problem was that because their ships ¡°were¡± plant based, mass production of the spaceships did not depend on raw materials or industrial technology. All it required was some solar power and the spaceship would self-replicate itself. In other words, their strength was in numbers. Even if they lacked great technology, they made up for it with numbers to overwhelm their enemies. However, numbers weren¡¯t always the answer. When going against highly technological civilizations, advantage gained from strength in numbers didn¡¯t amount to much because the gap in technological advancement was sizeable enough to cause some problems for the Filtons. Taking consideration of everything, Galactic Federation was preparing for the approaching Filtons, and was building up its military in time for the attack from the Filtons, but who would have known that they had a break-through in their military technology by assimilating technology from their last victim from the other end of their massive empire? In the past, they had trouble adapting the technologies from their victims because of the incompatibilities between organic based machines and non-organic based machines found in their victims¡¯ civilizations. So, no matter how many civilizations they conquered, they didn¡¯t gain much in terms of technologies, until that point. Filtons plowed through the Zergs that happened to be in between Filton Empire and the Galactic Federation, and the Galactic Federation was caught unprepared! It was a galactic chaos. Due to their recent success in technological assimilation, they acquired dimensional travel where they were able to bend the space itself, thus shortening point A to point B. Wasn¡¯t the saying, ¡°shortest distance between two points is a straight line,¡± true? Well, no longer. What resulted was that, with their advantage in numbers, Filtons were able to attack multiple strongholds all across the whole Milky Way Galaxy at once! A Massive Chaos¡­. Space stations after space stations were sending out distress signals. They were requesting assistance from nearby space stations, but who can lend a hand? If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the only major advancement in technology the Filtons made was in their space travel, Galactic Federation would have collapsed in that initial week! Even though they were caught unprepared, fortunately enough, what little preparation they have achieved helped out enough to repel their numerically superior enemy. Just barely. Over the next decade, Galactic Federation lost many solar systems bordering the Filtons, and the other space stations were barely holding on, thanks to the restructuring of the defense stations. Also, on home planet Earth, massive campaign was in effect to recruit soldiers for the new upcoming training camps and academies. Among the new recruits, a 20 years old college graduate eagerly signed on for the military. The war against Filtons went onto the second stage. Dining hall is brimming with activity as gentle piano music plays in the background. All the prominent politicians, as well as delegates of allied alien nations, gathered from all sectors of the Galaxy Star Federation (GSF) to celebrate the 90th birthday and retirement of GSF¡¯s greatest hero. Normally, commanders, when they rich age of 65, end up retiring from the service due to the weightlessness of space having a detrimental effect on bone density, as one can¡¯t adequately serve the GSF when their bodies are breaking down. However, the same was not the case for Commander Colbert. Commander Colbert¡¯s fleet, Phoenix, was the most elite group of soldiers that GSF ever put together in the history of human space exploration. Phoenix was the heart of all the significant operations the GSF ever conducted in the last 60 years battling the Filtons. It went on numerous operations to take back the solar systems lost to the Filtons, and it infiltrated countless planets occupied by the Filtons in order to retrieve secrets that turned the tides of war when most needed. There were many occasions where GSF faced losing battles, just waiting to be decimated, to be saved by the Phoenix, as it ignited fires in hearts of all men, women, and other alien allies to drive the Filtons back, hence the name given to the fleet. However, many of those glories came with a price. He had lost countless body parts and has had numerous enhancement operations on his body in order to sustain the injuries gained from his, too many, near death experiences. With mechanical body parts encompassing 75% of his whole body, can he still call himself human? Well on the bright side, if one can call it that, it allowed him to serve as the commander of the most prestigious fleet, The Phoenix, for 60 years! ¡°Commander Colbert! Commander Colbert! Over here¡­over here!¡± a chorus of shouts is heard across the hall. A huge, bald white man in a black, decorative jump suit, with an assortment of military medals across his hulking chest, turns around to face the shout. A thick mustache that is covering a battle scar above the lip brightly smiles as eyes of a gentle old man twinkles with delight. The old, bald man, contrary to his bulking size, effortlessly walks over to the smiling group of people. This jolly group is also in the military attire, but unlike the old man, they are in decorative suits and dresses more appropriate for the occasion, as well as the rest of the guests in the hall. It is not that he doesn¡¯t have decorative dress suits of his own, but Commander Colbert got in the habit of wearing jump suits to hide his machine side, as such makes him feel more human. ¡°I was wondering where you guys were,¡± smiled Colbert. ¡°With all these VIPs surrounding me, I was getting a bit self-conscious.¡± ¡°You know how it is Commander,¡± smiles a brown haired man in 40s with rim-less glasses. He is the Sub-Commander of Phoenix, Neil. ¡°Not only are you the man of the night, you are the pillar of the GSF.¡± ¡°What are you talking about Neil? I am nothing but a broken down old man that is on his last leg, about to crawl back in his little hole on home planet.¡± ¡°Ha..ha ha. I don¡¯t think there are any holes back on Earth that is big enough to house a Galactic Legend!¡± counters Neil. ¡°Yeah Commander¡­Yeah,¡± replies the whole group. ¡°I don¡¯t know what all of you are talking about. No matter how famous one is, once the individual leaves one¡¯s position of authority or fame, he is forgotten by everybody, like a leaf flowing down the river. Actually, I kinda like that. I have been in the spotlight for too long. They even made me into a robot just so they could keep me a bit longer, don¡¯t you know that?¡± chuckles Colbert. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t care what you say Commander,¡± says a thin brunette with ponytail coming down over her left shoulder. ¡°I am glad that they kept you for so long. None of us would be alive today if it was anybody else that was commanding us.¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t true Locke. I am sure if I wasn¡¯t around, with Neil commanding, and you supporting him as a sub-commander, Phoenix would be just fine.¡± ¡°Are you kidding me? Nothing against sub-commander Neil, but Filtons fear nobody more than they fear you, and that is a fact! How many of their fleets have you destroyed? How many times did you foil their traps, but bite them in the rear instead? Just you being there is enough for them to think twice about attacking the Phoenix.¡± ¡°Well, that is all well and good, but...¡± ¡°Umm-Umm,¡± a voice over the speaker. ¡°Everyone, if I can have your attention. Admiral Kojak will like to say something on be half of the GSF to our departing hero, Commander Colbert¡­.¡± The night ends and all the VIPs has already left to go back to their respective sectors, and as for the stuffy politicians from Earth that grudgingly came to the retirement celebration of a ¡°has been¡± commander that they could care less about, they went back to their quarters provided in the command cruiser, Phoenix One, as they ¡°deserve¡± nothing less than the best of the fleet. Currently, the third of the Phoenix is on its way back to Earth escorting their retired commander, while rest of the fleet is helping out with military transports to make better use of the military resources. After all, there is no sense in utilizing whole fleet just to escort a retired commander, regardless of the VIP status, back to the home planet. In a dimly lit room, a large figure is seen hunched up on a chair, and a small static-like light flickers, accompanied by whinny mechanical noise that ends with a THUD of a heavy object landing on the floor. ¡°Well, it looks like this old leg piece is nearly at an end of its use...just like me. It has been a long time. It is a surprise that I have lasted this long¡­, and what have I got in return¡­?¡± Commander Colbert pushed a little button on his left forearm, and a face of a young woman projected out. He looked at the picture intently. A hint of warmth and a little bit of sadness showed in his tired eyes. It was a picture of a woman that he left back on Earth to enlist into the GSF 70 years ago. ¡°I have given up SO MUCH!¡± he thought. ¡°Christina, I¡­I am sorry. I am finally returning. I am returning to die¡­if I die on Earth, I can, at least, be closer to you in death¡­. I¡­.¡± ¡°BEEP..BEEP..BEEP¡­¡± A sound rang throughout the whole ship. It is a CODE RED! We are under an attack! ¡°I better get to the bri¡­. No, what am I saying, I am retired now. I better stay here and not be in everybody¡¯s way. I am sure Neil and Locke will take care of things.¡± ¡®Retired¡¯ Commander Colbert reattached the leg piece and walked over to the bed to lie down. ¡°What¡¯s the status? How many enemy ships are we looking at?¡± yelled Commander Neil. ¡°Total of 40 battle cruisers SIR!¡± ¡°That¡¯s too many! Damn it! We weren¡¯t supposed to be attacked this near the home planet. They should not have known anything. How did they find out? We only have 20 ships with us right now. It is 40 against 20! Even though our ships are superior to theirs, an enemy twice our number is disadvantageous for us. Damn them!¡± Commander Neil slammed his fist on the arm rest. ¡°Relay to the other ships. Formation Delta. I repeat. Formation Delta,¡± shouted Locke. ¡°Roger that. All ships, formation Delta. I repeat. Formation Delta.¡± The first officer Hansen relayed the other ships. ¡°What is their course?¡± shouted Neil. ¡°They are heading to sector 0043,0144¡­. They are trying to split us into two Commander!¡± ¡°Make an evasive movement Sequence Gamma, and open up com-link to the Filtons.¡± Sequence Gamma, as might be deduced, is a continuous sequence of maneuvers adapted by Commander Colbert after years of observing Filton¡¯s basic tactical maneuvers. As creatures of habit, Filtons always took a while for them to adjust to this maneuver. It was theorized that series of movements, as portrayed by the Sequence Gamma, triggers something primal in every Filton commanders¡­like how a string of yarn tend to occupy every kittens¡¯ attention to no end. Though Sequence Gamma doesn¡¯t provide anything in terms of attacking advantage, it did provide some breathing room to utilize communication with the Filton commanders from time to time. ¡°Roger that. All ships, Sequence Gamma. I repeat, Sequence Gamma. Com-link is open Commander!¡± ¡°This is Commander Neil of Phoenix, reply.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s Commander Neil? I want Colbert!¡± A one-eyed Praying Mantis shot back. There was a red, semi-helmet looking metal thing covering the other eye of the Mantis. ¡°The Red-Tzar!¡± gasped Neil. ¡°Where is Colbert? I want to say my farewell¡­.¡± The Red-Tzar fanned out his blades on his limbs as he released his killing intent. The antennas on his head stood straight up and started to vibrate intently with excitement. Taking note of the implied message, Neil replied, ¡°What are you talking about? Commander Colbert is already retired. He chose to retire on Orion sector.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t lie little human. A little birdy told me that he is on that ship right now!¡± Neil was shocked. ¡°How could he know?¡± thought Neil. ¡°Though Commander¡¯s retirement was not a secret, him being on this ship and his destination should have been kept a secret. We have a rat!¡± A flood of images of the crew flashed in the back of Neil¡¯s mind, trying to guess who could have leaked the information. ¡°You must be mistaken Red-Tzar. Commander is millions of light-year away from us right now. However, if you have something against me, that is another matter.¡± Neil has been serving under Commander Colbert for years, and he had witnessed the commander on numerous occasions talking his way out of a bad situation such as this. It is, now, his turn! ¡°HA..HA..HA¡­HAAA. Little human, you are light-years too early to be acting like a big bad COMMANDER! You see my antenna? You see this drooping antenna of mine? You are not even under my radar little human. Just because you sit on that Commander¡¯s chair, you think you are a Commander? I won¡¯t even waste my breath on you little human. All ships, FIRE!!¡± Truly out of character, all of the Filton ships fired their space cannons. The effects of Sequence Gamma should still last another 4 minutes, and yet they fired! First the information leak, now this unusual occurrence. The GSF must be informed of this. Other wise, tides of war may turn against us! We must warn them! But we must first survive through this. ¡°Initiate Omega 1.¡± Omega 1, it is a tactical maneuver in which the ships utilize the algorithm that the whole fleet has been computing during the Sequence Gamma. The design of the setup depends on the ever-going calculations that takes considerations of the positions of every ships at any moment, and upon initiation of Omega 1, instantaneous coordinates would then be installed on each and every ships, and the ships would automatically initiate a micro-warp jump that would take the ships to respective coordinates, behind the enemy line, while firing rear particle beams toward the enemy that would, then, be in the back of the fleet. Such maneuver would, then, give the crew some time to coordinate the next maneuver without being in danger, as the enemy would still be facing in the opposite direction while trying to manage the damage done to them from the rear particle beams. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As a person that has been the right hand man of a legend, ordering Omega 1 was the correct decision. However, that would be the right decision to make under the NORMAL circumstances. What didn¡¯t register to Neil was that the enemy had ALREADY fired upon them. In other words, Omega 1 would, in a sense, move the ships in the paths of enemy¡¯s space cannons, and thus, increasing the damage done upon their own ships when hit! What happened next was a disaster. Only half of the fleet made it past the enemy lines, and although the rear particle beams of the remaining ships did connect with the enemy ships, the count, now, is 30 ships to 10! Colbert, being the originator of the Sequence Gamma and Omega 1, knew something went wrong. He raced to the ship¡¯s deck to see what was going on, and when the door to the command center opened, he was welcomed with the casualty reports. He immediately took over command, as that is what a leader does; take charge of the situation when one is most needed. ¡°Status report!¡± demands Colbert, as he takes the command seat relinquished by Neil. ¡°It is the Red-Tzar!¡± relayed Neil. ¡°They fired even before Sequence Gamma ended. They outnumber us 3-1, and we are down to 10 ships commander! We are currently putting some distance between us and the Filtons, and our present course is heading 0045,0214.¡± ¡°Hmm. So we are down to two choices. Stay and fight or flee to live another day.¡± Colbert looks around, and he immediately sees that the crew is shaken pretty bad. ¡°Flee it is. Relay. New heading, coordinates 0115,0224, at warp 2. Engage!¡± All the personnel turned in unison. ¡°What is going on? Why are we not engaging warp?¡± cried Colbert. Within the command center, noise signature has been incorporated to the bridge that notifies the operators whenever the specified velocity settings engage. Intuitively, it should be obvious to the operators that change in speed should be expected, and thus, prepare accordingly. However, it was found that during times of crisis, the operators got accustomed to hearing commands that were only relevant to their station and tune out everything else. That means when the command for change in velocity is given, only the Ensign responsible for the ship¡¯s thrust would adjust his/her body mechanics for upcoming change in velocity, but for others, change comes as a surprise, and they end up falling over or lose balance. In times of crisis, the time wasted in reorienting one¡¯s self could make the difference between winning or losing the battle. Luckily, it was found that even though the operators would filter out every other command (vocal) irrelevant to them, a background noise signature (melody) somehow bypassed their filter. So when the velocity didn¡¯t change with the noise signature indicating velocity change, it was no surprise that everyone turned in unison. ¡°Why are we not increasing our speed? In fact, are we not slowing down instead?¡± puzzled Colbert. ¡°Engineer, what is going on? Why are we losing speed?¡± ¡°No idea Commander, all of the sudden, warp algorithm got changed. As if it was rewritten. We are still decreasing in velocity, but it seems like we will hit a plateau pretty soon and hold at impulse speed.¡± ¡°Commander, all the other ships are relaying the same problem with their engines!¡± ¡°What is going ON!¡± Colbert shouts to the ceiling, as if looking toward God¡­something only Earth-born humans do. ¡°The rat!¡± cried Neil. ¡°Commander, it¡¯s a sabotage! Red-Tzar mentioned someone leaking the information about you staying on this ship. It may be that the same person that leaked the information also sabotaged our engines. Perhaps it may also have something to do with the failure in Sequence Gamma.¡± ¡°First Officer Hansen, I need you to trace our recent Sequence Gamma with the original, and let me know what you find. Locke, I need you to look at all the records of the ins and outs of our communications within the last few days. Neil, I need you to take charge of the investigation regarding the engine and keep me updated. Be sure to coordinate with the other ships.¡± ¡°Yes SIR!¡± all three replied in unison. ¡°In the mean time, Ensign Roe, let¡¯s do something about our guest. Open a com-link to all of our ships. All right folks! I am sure you all know the situation by now. We are heavily outnumbered and we, somehow, lost our warp capability. We have managed to buy some time in fleeing, but they are gaining on us. We don¡¯t have many options at this point. At this time, we can only depend on the crudest option we have available to us. Let¡¯s commence Operation Kilo while we still have time. Over and Out!¡± ¡°Ensign Roe, let¡¯s go with Kilo 5. Go ahead and let the other commanders know. We start in 5 minutes.¡± ¡°Yes Sir!¡± Operation Kilo is a desperation attack that involves emitting light, spray of neurotoxins out into the space, where the hope is that the Filton ships would pick up the neurotoxins as they pass through the mist. The result would be temporary paralyses. Their ships would lose maneuvering capability while they are paralyzed, and thus, be like that of a sitting duck waiting to be pulverized. The problem lies in the difficulty of execution. The fact is, space occupied by 10 ships is a lot smaller than what 30 ships would occupy, and out in the space where there is no wind, gravitational pull, or anything else to help spread the neurotoxin, it would be very difficult to cover all 30 of Filton¡¯s ships with neurotoxin. That¡¯s where the Kilo 5 comes in. This is really an all out desperation attack where all available vehicles, regardless of whether they are fighter planes, transport planes, or survey drones, are sent out with barrels of neurotoxins in order to cover the whole 30 ship area occupied by the Filtons. This method of attack really is crude in this space age, but desperate times call for desperate measures! ¡°All ships are ready commander,¡± notifies Ensign Roe. ¡°Alright, all ships execute Kilo 5!¡± At this time, all 10 cruise ships spread outward while all available planes filled in the gap created by the cruise ships, and soon, a large area of space was filled with neurotoxins, but of course, there is no way for Filtons to know that. ¡°Hmmph, what are those ridiculous humans doing,¡± cried Red-Tzar. ¡°Do they think just because they have out all those puny planes, that they can beat us?¡± ¡°Red-Tzar, they are firing on us and sending out their fighter planes.¡± ¡°Let them come, we will decimate them. All ships continue on this course and commence firing!¡± ¡°Commander Colbert, they are still advancing on us.¡± ¡°Good, good. Continue firing and wait for them to enter the kill zone. Have all our planes turn around after firing off quarter of their weapons, and have them join us. They will think that we are retreating. Neil!¡± ¡°Yes Commander!¡± replied Neil. ¡°I am sure you are aware, but we have to time it just right so that as soon as they get in the kill zone we are in position to surround them. We can¡¯t show them any of our intentions. I would have liked usage of our micro-warp, but since our warp capability is down, we will have to do best with what we¡¯ve got. I need you to give engineering a hand. Come up with any methods to give us a burst of speed. We just need enough for the final maneuver to surround them.¡± ¡°Yes SIR!¡± ¡°Alright, a contingency plan. Locke, bring us about and hold our position, and have all other ships continue on their course.¡± ¡°Bring us about!¡± shouted Locke. Colbert, looking at Ensign Roe, ¡°Ensign Roe, open up a com-link with the Filtons.¡± ¡°Open sir.¡± ¡°Red-Tzar, this is Colbert speaking!¡± ¡°Ha Ha, you finally crawled out of your hole, Colbert? Congratulations on your ¡®retirement.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t think of a suitable present to give you so I have decided to give you a nice send-off. Get it? A nice ¡®send-off?¡¯ Wha ha ha ha!¡± Red-Tzar¡¯s antennas were vibrating unceasingly while both of his limbs were flashing sharp, mechanized blades. ¡°Like my new set of limbs Colbert? I¡¯ve lost my original pair during our last battle. It would have been nice if I was able to personally send you off with these new babies, but unfortunately, we meet in space.¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t make any difference Red-Tzar, whether we are in space or on a planet surface. You would never beat me,¡± taunted Colbert, making sure to smile as big as possible. Yes, this is exactly what Colbert wanted when he initiated conversation with Red-Tzar. He wanted to provide as much distraction as possible just in case of no improvement from the engineering. ¡°Let me ask you Red-Tzar. How many times have we battled these last 40 years? Huh? And how many times have I sent you on your way with your antennas between your legs? I can¡¯t even count how many times. Do you realize how many times I¡¯ve wondered about your ¡®Daddio¡¯ the Emperor? I¡¯ve wondered when he will learn his lesson and disown you as the heir.¡± Colbert shakes his head in pity. ¡°Shut up Colbert! Today is different. I¡¯ve already cut your fleet¡¯s size in half, and we outnumber you by twenty battle ships. There is no way you are getting away this time!¡± While all the banter between the two was going on, Neil and Locke, quietly, coordinated with the other 9 ships and were ready to commence with the last part of the maneuver. Though he was not able to get the warp back in order, he was confident that Colbert rousing Red-Tzar¡¯s anger would provide enough distraction for a successful attack. On the side, Locke was silently giving the orders to initiate the final maneuver, while making sure Red-Tzar does not see her finger movements. In silence, ¡°Three¡­Two¡­One¡­NOW!¡± All of a sudden, the 9 ships that were pulling away started to fan outward, making a wide arc back toward the Filtons. ¡°Red-Tzar! Something is wrong¡­¡± ¡°Quiet down! Don¡¯t you see me mocking Colbert!?¡± ¡°But Sire¡­¡± ¡°I said QUIET!¡± The poor Filton soldier, dejected, turned his worried head down to his feet. ¡°SKEEE¡­SKEEE¡­¡± The ship¡¯s sensor issued out warning. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Answer me!¡± shouted Red-Tzar. ¡°Our ships have started to malfunction. The ship¡¯s plant core has been poisoned. There seems to be some chemical outside that has infiltrated our ships. There will be about 10 minutes of down-time on our engines and about a minute down-time on weapons!¡± Red-Tzar immediately knew what happened, ¡°Colbert!!!!¡± ¡°All ships, we should have about one minute before they can utilize their weapons, fire your cannons only when they are fully powered up, and make it count! Go! Go! GO!¡± The 9 ships caught up with the Command Cruiser and all 10 ships made a semi-circular arc, covering the 30 Filton battle cruisers. While the cruisers were charging up, all the other fighter planes and drones split into two groups and made U-Turns to attack the Filtons from their respective flanks. Though fire-power of the fighter planes and drones weren¡¯t much, but, at this point, nothing is neglected in an effort to fend off the Filtons. Thankfully, the enemy fighter planes can¡¯t come out due to the residual neurotoxins still present on the battle space. All 10 cruisers fired off their cannons at once. Because the cannons were fully charged, some of them went straight through one enemy cruiser and hit another, and with added support from the flanks by the fighter planes, 15 battle cruisers were blown away, and as they were getting ready to fire off another round, Filtons fired back. Though Filtons were effectively surrounded on three sides, they still outnumbered Phoenix by 5 cruisers, and that difference was enough to even up the battle strength. The remaining factor that would determine the result of the battle would be time. Once Filtons are able to move again, the advantage would be on their side! ¡°Commander, we¡¯ve lost 3 ships and 2 ships are badly damaged!¡± ¡°How many do they have?¡± ¡°They have 9 sir, but three are heavily damaged!¡± ¡°They will be able to move again in few minutes, have all remaining ships reroute all unnecessary power supply to their engines and have them prepare to break off formation. Once they are able to move again, our tactical advantage will be gone.¡± BOOM! The command cruiser shakes. ¡°Sir, we¡¯ve been hit! The left phaser cannon have been destroyed!¡± ¡°Reroute the power to the remaining cannons!¡± shouted Locke. ¡°Neil,¡± called Colbert. ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± ¡°Have Phoenix 2 come behind us, and you and Locke, along with everybody, start boarding Phoenix 2. I will remain here and hold them off until you lead the remaining fleet to safety.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not possible Commander!¡± shouted Neil. ¡°No Commander!¡± joined Locke. ¡°Don¡¯t be no-ing me. I am an old man. Plus, I have already retired. I should have died a long time ago. You two, as well as everyone on this ship, still have so much more to do. Don¡¯t be stubborn and leave while you still have chance!¡± ¡°You are right sir. You DID retire. Therefore, we have no obligation to listen to you, and even though you are in command right now, that is only because I¡¯ve allowed it. As a rightful commander of this fleet, I choose to remain on this ship. As for Locke, she can choose to take charge of Phoenix 2 if she chooses.¡± ¡°No sir! I too will remain on this ship!¡± ¡°Me too sir!¡± ¡°Me too,¡± the rest of the crew replied. ¡°Well, I guess we are staying,¡± sighed Colbert. ¡°We might as well make the best of it then. Shall we?¡± Colbert looked at the rest of the crew. ¡°Sir, we still do have the option of letting non-essential personnel to board the Phoenix 2,¡± suggested Neil. ¡°You are right, let¡¯s do that.¡± But before they can implement the plan, Phoenix 2 and three other cruisers were hit and destroyed, leaving one other heavily damaged cruiser behind. The other side didn¡¯t look all that well either. In an effort to move their battle ships prematurely, one of the battle ships ended up ramming into two other ships in a fit of shakes. The result was chain reaction of explosions and all that remained was Red-Tzar¡¯s battle cruiser which was staying near the rear, safe and sound. 2 versus 1. It seemed as if Colbert had the advantage, but it was not so. Both sides were pretty much even. Seeing the one remaining enemy battle ship, the heavily damaged cruiser fired its remaining one phase cannon. Not missing a beat, Colbert also ordered fire on the Red-Tzar¡¯s ship. Unfortunately, in an effort to make the last attack on Red-Tzar, the heavily damaged ship had rerouted all available power supply to the cannon, neglecting everything else. Needless to say, after it fired off its last attack, it too exploded. Even though Red-Tzar¡¯s battle cruiser no longer remained without damage, Red-Tzar was confident it can, at least, hold off Colbert. Receiving the report that they can move again, Red-Tzar ordered the ship to head straight toward Colbert¡¯s command cruiser. Not missing the last chance to taunt Colbert, he opened up the com-link, ¡°You ready to die yet Colbert?¡± ¡°I was ready a long time ago Red-Tzar. I am just glad that I can take you with me. This Universe would be a much better place with you gone,¡± chuckled Colbert. ¡°Still cheeky huh? I¡¯ll be sure to completely pulverize you. Die!!!¡± Both cruisers headed straight for each other while blasting all of their remaining cannons. But before they were close enough to ram each other, a bright ball of light shined upon the two ships from the side. At the same time, it seemed like time was standing still, as they were not making any progress in nearing each other. However, for some reason, the ball of light was gaining on them fast! It was a colossal meteor the size of Earth¡¯s moon, and it was coming toward them! Of course neither ships would be safe if such meteor smashed on them, but luckily, if you can call it that, it was only the bottom most tip of the meteor that sliced between the two enemies. Then, all of a sudden, the time stopped standing still, and instantly, both cruisers where swept up by the meteor¡¯s gravitation field as if the two cruisers were couple of dust particles sticking to the highly charged balloon. ¡°Where did this meteor come from? What is this strange glow of light? What is this meteor made out of?¡± They all wondered that. Even though both cruisers were being pulled by the meteor, nothing was registering on their sensors! They could plainly see the meteor with their own eyes, but nothing was picking it up. Then, slowly, it seemed as if the meteor was pulling away. It got smaller and smaller, and the gravitational pull seemed to be lessening. Then, all of a sudden, the meteor did a quick right turn and disappeared with a spark of light. However, something was amiss. In front of them, there appeared what seemed to be a dimensional window of sort. A transparent energy field was heading straight toward them, or was it the other way around? Colbert watched as he saw Red-Tzar¡¯s battle cruiser hit the energy field. He had thought that it would explode, but instead, it seemed to have just dissolved through! It was as if the whole ship was melting away by the energy field without losing any speed. Everyone on the Phoenix just gawked, and when it was time for their turn, they couldn¡¯t help but bring up their arms to brace for impact¡­. ------------------------------------ There you have it folks! Hope you liked it so far. This story will take a while for it to really develop and give readers some idea as to what is really going on so hang on..... :) -----MooShoo----- 2. A Stroll With the Man Upstairs? Hello readers, This chapter is a transition chapter to get the readers oriented with the flow of the story. It is filled with heavy thoughts and philosophy (some religious), but things will stay lite from this point forward :) . Hope you will enjoy! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In a formless space, brightened up by gentle pre-morning sun, there is a silhouette of a naked man, afloat. Upon closer look, a tone, young man with silky brown hair looks around confused. This young man has no idea where he is, and he has never been in this kind of place before. Taking in the view around him, even though his heart was eager to be receptive of this magnificent surrounding, his mind was troubled. He touches his left forearm with his right hand, as if, out of habit, but he is startled all of a sudden, and he looks all over his body, touching every inch. ¡°I see that you have awoken Calb,¡± a gentle voice sounds. ¡°It is good to see you again.¡± Somewhat confused, Calb Colbert tries to orient to the voice, but there is no one to be found! Then, with sudden intuition, he turns to his right and finds a figure standing right beside him. Getting himself back in control from sudden surprise, he looks at the stranger, and he replies, ¡°I don¡¯t believe we have met¡­.¡± ¡°I know you don¡¯t remember, but I have known you for a long, long time Calb,¡± the figure gently smiles. ¡°I have been looking forward to our conversation for a while.¡± Even though every cell in his body knows that the normal reaction to a situation like this would be that of a disbelief and obvious, caution, but for some reason, all Calb felt was sense of calmness and tranquility in the presence of this figure. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are talking about,¡± states Calb with genuine confusion. He was confused, but not in a cautionary way, for he felt absolutely safe, as if he knew for fact! How can he not feel as such when he was saturated with sense of peace and everything positive? ¡°I¡¯ve known you even before you were born, and I¡¯ve known you throughout all your travels and struggles.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t mean to say what I think you are saying¡­.¡± ¡°I am what I am, and always will be.¡± ¡°Are you saying you are God?¡± ¡°Some people call me that, yes.¡± ¡°Wait, you are not being straight with me. Please tell me who you are.¡± ¡°Since the technological evolution of humanity, humans, for the most part, stopped believing in ¡®God,¡¯ but, yes, I am that God you are speaking of, though it is not as simple as that.¡± ¡°Well, I am sure there is a large gap between what mortals understand and what immortal understand so I will not press further for your explanation and just go with ¡®God¡¯ for the sake of continuing our conversation.¡± ¡°That is a good answer. I am sure you have much more important things to address with me.¡± ¡°Yes, you are right. So let¡¯s start by asking, where are we?¡± ¡°We are in the dimensional boundary between the world of science and world of magic.¡± ¡°Why am I young again? Where are my¡­parts?¡± Calb was thinking about his machine parts. ¡°Let¡¯s stroll a bit since we do have quite a bit to talk about,¡± replies God as he gestures Calb to follow. ¡°Now, the answer to your question is matter of the soul. You see, the world you came from and the world I am taking you differs in that in the world of science, your physical body grows 4.5 times faster than your soul. So that means when you crossed over to this side, though technically you are still in-between the two worlds, your physical body simply regressed to adjust to that difference in growth rate. Of course the fact that magic logic applies here instead of science logic is to your advantage, and thus, allowing such regression. ¡°You just said you are taking me somewhere, where are you taking me and what about the others? Where are they? Why are you not taking them also?¡± ¡°In order to answer that let me give you a little history lesson. In the 21st century when the humanity still worshiped me, they had a religious book called Bible or Torah. In those books there are numerous mentions of ¡®men of God¡¯ or ¡®angels of God.¡¯ The general understanding was that those special beings were an existence that were, somewhat, ¡®other worldly,¡¯ and those beings intervened in human affairs when God, me, directed them, so to speak. Those ¡®other worldly¡¯ beings came over from this side, and this time, you are the ¡®other worldly¡¯ being that will intervene in this world.¡± ¡°So, to answer your first question, you will be my ¡®vehicle of intervention¡¯ in this world. Now, for your second set of questions, let me answer that by posing you a question of my own. If your physical body grows 4.5 times slower than if you were on the world of science, and magic of this world adjusted your physical age accordingly, how old are you now?¡± ¡°If I was growing 4.5 times faster than if I was living here, that means 90 divided by 4.5¡­would give me¡­20. I am 20 years old!¡± ¡°Correct. Now, think some more, if the same thing would happen to those that were on your ship, how old would they be? Most of them will be in their infancy would they not?¡± ¡°Yes, that would be so.¡± ¡°Now, ask yourself again, what kind of ¡®God¡¯s vehicles of intervention¡¯ would they be as infants? Not only that, they lack something that you bring into this world. No, they are not needed, thus they were sent back to their world.¡± ¡°Something I bring to this world? What is it that I bring?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s skip that for a while for the sake of congruity. So ask your other questions for now.¡± ¡°I understand that I am your ¡®vehicle of intervention,¡¯ but what does that mean? Why do you need such ¡®vehicle?¡¯¡± ¡°Even though the world of science and the world of magic differ fundamentally, people that live in such words do not differ. Every soul desires experience provided by a physical body rather than spiritual body. While soul is bound by physical vessel, it is able to experience things that only such limited body can provide. One of such experiences is the feelings of hopelessness. Then, with that, feelings of hope and then to confidence! If I were to use an old clich¨¦, one can¡¯t really appreciate light until one has experienced darkness. Your mission is to be that light.¡± ¡°You make it sound so easy, but you know, I am not a saint. How can I be that ¡®light¡¯ that you speak of? From what I have been told of those ¡®vehicles of intervention¡¯ from when I was little, those beings were perfect, and I am no where near perfect.¡± ¡°Hmph..ph..ph,¡± chuckles God. ¡°In those religious books that I have mentioned, those beings may have been portrayed as powerful and perfect messengers of God, they were far from perfect. Religion is a man-made institution, and it is meant to promote sacred manners of living. As such, only the positives were recorded of those beings. For example, tell me what hero represents to you.¡± After pondering for a while, Calb answers, ¡°Well, simply put, a hero is someone that stands for righteousness and comes to aid those in need. They look out for the little guys and protect the weak¡­and so on and so forth.¡± ¡°Okay, right now, as you were raking your brain to define what a hero should be, you were only focusing on the positive aspects of human traits and characters were you not?¡± Calb nods. ¡°Why is that,¡± continues God. ¡°That is because, deep down inside, everyone knows they are not perfect, and everyone is aware of less than honorable aspect of themselves that they have been hiding from rest of the world. As such, ¡®Hero,¡¯ then becomes an entity without those flaws, in the minds of those ¡®imperfect¡¯ individuals¡­which is everyone¡­as no one is perfect. Believe it or not, heroes also have flaws, and as such, what is written about those ¡®vehicles of intervention¡¯ also had flaws. It is just that the originators, elders, or spiritual leaders, in their zeal, conveniently left out those flaws to set the standards¡­to raise people¡¯s aspiration¡­just as how every parents want their children to do better than how themselves have done.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Wow. I am relieved to hear that. It is like a load has been thrown off of me, but uneasiness is still there,¡± sighs Calb. ¡°As you should¡­as you should.¡± ¡°But how do you know I won¡¯t turn evil? How do you know I won¡¯t head in the wrong direction?¡± asks Calb. ¡°That is a good question, and that brings us to the subject that we skipped a while ago. You are, in a sense, a ¡®quality checked¡¯ individual,¡± wickedly smiles God¡­if you can imagine anything ¡®wicked¡¯ from God. What went through God¡¯s mind at that point were the ¡°made in China¡± stickers that has QC stamped on them, as if Calb was a product with ¡®Quality Checked by God¡¯ sticker on him. ¡°You see,¡± continues God. ¡°In your world, you have practically lived the whole life human body normally allows, and though not perfect, you have done splendidly well. You have, in most part, kept your morals and disciplines to the point of setting a good example of a fine human being. How you carried yourself throughout all of your life reflects the temperament of your soul, and that temperament will stay the same in this magic oriented world as well.¡± ¡°I see,¡± acknowledges Calbs, feeling relieved and somewhat proud. ¡°Ahh, there is one other reason why you were chosen, but I would rather leave that for you to figure out,¡± smiles God. ¡°It would be better if you find out as they come¡­for your own soul¡¯s benefit.¡± ¡°Speaking of my soul, is it okay for you to reveal all these about soul to me?¡± asked Calb. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that, as you will forget much of what we have spoken when you wake up at your destination. It is just that I do want to answer all of your questions even though you will forget all about it later on, and thus, end up asking same questions over and over again. Just think of it as my gesture of respect given to you.¡± Hearing such from God, Calb felt he didn¡¯t deserve such praise. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say¡­thank you.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mind it. It is something I do for ALL souls¡­ALL my children. You all are precious to me!¡± God tenderly smiles. Hearing of God¡¯s confession of love toward all his children, he thought about his past, and he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°I don¡¯t understand. If we, I, am so precious to you why didn¡¯t you come to my aid in my times of struggle?¡± ¡°Good question.¡± God deliberately pauses. ¡°Calb, it is not that I have been neglecting you. I wanted you to fully experience life. You must experience both ups and downs of life for you to fully experience and FULLY appreciate it. That is the whole point of LIVING! Just think back on your life again. Yes, you have had hardships, and yes, you have had heartaches¡­lost love¡­.¡± A hint of sorrow escapes Calb¡¯s face as he, immediately, thought of Christina. Noting the brief, sorrow in Calb¡¯s heart, God continues, ¡°But you have lived through them all, and deep down inside, you won¡¯t be able to deny that you have gained some things you wouldn¡¯t want to let go of if you were to given a second chance¡­, and as for your second chance¡­,¡± God pauses again as he smiles gently at Calb. Seeing God pause without finishing, Calb was about to say something, but God lifts up his finger, motioning to stop that thought. Then says, ¡°Let¡¯s leave that for now and talk about something important, as we are almost there.¡± Calb looks around, but nothing seems to have changed about the surrounding. The whole time that he was walking with God, it seemed like the scenery stayed the same. ¡°Listen Calb, where I leave you is only the starting point of your journey. Along the way, you might want to settle in the area that you find peaceful, but you must continue on. At the same time, there will be times when you feel like quitting, but you must also continue on. You may not know it, but I am always with you. It¡¯s just that I won¡¯t speak to you in person as I am doing with you right now. I will speak to you in your dreams as well as through the guides I will send to help you along, but you must know one thing. You must learn to be in-tuned with your surroundings¡­with nature. Such is important even more so in this world of magic than it is in the world of science. The fact that you were born on a planet is a plus. Those that were born out in the space, like many of your crew, don¡¯t have what you have. Those that are born on a planet, ever since their conception, are infused with the planet¡¯s Mana. Of course in the world of science it would be more correct to say planet¡¯s Chi. That Chi continually fills up in one¡¯s body and evolves over the life of the individual. It is like sustenance for the soul, but in reality, it is a subtle means for souls to comingle with other souls they encounter, whether the body realizes it or not. Some are able to sense it and cultivate a skill in manipulating such bio-energy.¡± Calb was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but he tried to hold on. ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard something relating to Chi in the history class in college, but it was a long time ago. I only have a vague recollection, not that I believed in that stuff.¡± ¡°This is your weakness, the most important one. Even though I have hinted at you being fortunate for being born on a planet, that advantage is only valid when comparing to those that live in the world of science, especially those that were born and raised in space. Where you are going, every living being is infused with mana, and, unlike your world of science, the manifestation of mana is tremendous to the point of you being an easy prey to the predatory animals. Also the people of this world, due to that time factor I¡¯ve mentioned before, have had a lot more time to absorb and cultivate their mana. You have great potential in you, as you will find out later, but effectiveness of that potential will depend on how much and how well you acquire and cultivate mana, respectively. Remember this point well!¡± ¡°I will keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Okay, we are here my son. Like I have said before, much of soul relating materials will be forgotten by you, but you will remember our little walk¡­, and enjoy your second chance¡­,¡± smiles God. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Okay folks, This ends the transition between the world of science and the world of magic, but this is not the end of the world of science¡­hint¡­hint¡­:) UMMM, just letting you know, Calb will have some clothes on at the start of the next chapter...no fan show here! :) Until next time folks! ----MooShoo---- 3. A Twisted Fate? Hello readers! This chapter is just another intro and a bit of an orientation for Calb. There is a little confusion with change in setting in the middle, but I hope you won''t have any problem with seeing the transition. Enjoy! --------------------------------------------------- On a quiet mountain path, two people are taking a leisurely walk. One is a short, elderly man with a very simple walking stick with a pointy end that gradually widens into a ball that¡¯s slightly bigger than a palm, and the other is a young woman carrying a staff that could be used as a weapon. They are wearing simple traveling tunic, and both have a very simple cloth backpack on their shoulders. By looking at their attire, they seem to be on a journey, but their body language indicates that they are very familiar with this mountain path. ¡°Grandpa, can we take a little detour? We are a bit early, and I would like to take a scenic route today. What do you say?¡± ¡°Cooky, I know where you want to go, but if we take that far of a detour, it will be late when we get to the town, and we may have to sleep at an inn tonight.¡± Cooky is a nickname that is used between granddaughter and her grandfather. The woman¡¯s name is actually Serina. Serina and her grandfather lives up in the mountain, and they make a trip down to the town once a month to restock their supplies. They are pretty much self-sufficient up in the mountains, but life is a bit more leisurely when one doesn¡¯t have to go out to catch a game or gather food everyday, thus the need for trips to town. Of course, this granddaughter and grandfather couple is not living up in the mountain just to laze around. In fact, they are martial artists. ¡°Why don¡¯t we do just that? We have done well this month. We¡¯ve found many precious herbs, and we have quite a bit of rabbit skins with us this time. We will have more than enough to splurge a little bit once we sell all these. Don¡¯t you think your granddaughter deserve some pampering once in a while, huh? Besides, I¡¯ve made a lot of progress this month too, didn¡¯t I? It¡¯s time for some celebration!¡± After months of training, Serina was ready for some well deserved break. ¡°Hmph! What progress are you talking about? When your mother was your age, she was already good enough to leave this mountain!¡± Covering her mouth, Serina cries in shock, ¡°What!? Grandpa, you want me to leave you that bad¡­, your precious Cooky?¡± ¡°A-hem! Hmm! Of course not. You are my precious granddau¡­. Don¡¯t change the subject you little rascal!¡± Raising his walking stick, he motions to strike at her head. Running away, Serina turns around to stick her little tongue out to her grandfather, and gleefully floats away, or rather, that was what she was planning to do, but she sees an unusual sight. On top of a big, hollowed out boulder down the path, there was a man sleeping with his mouth open. He wasn¡¯t a bad looking guy, but at that moment, he appeared really silly with his mouth open and a drool hanging down his cheek. The man was Calb Colbert. Serina couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the sight. Not making any noise, she motions to her grandpa to come quicker, and in quite voice, ¡°Grandpa, look at that silly man. He¡¯s sleeping with his mouth open. Isn¡¯t he funny looking?¡± smiles Serina. ¡°And look at his attire, he is wearing something weird, but isn¡¯t the size too big for him? Shouldn¡¯t I wake him up?¡± Calb is wearing his usual jumpsuit, but he is no longer that gigantic old man with 75% machine for body parts. Naturally, he didn¡¯t quite, look right. He looked as if he had lost about 200 pounds in his sleep. ¡°Just let him be. Why disturb someone¡¯s sleep? Let¡¯s go,¡± he shifted his weight to walk away, but Serina grabs his arm. ¡°But grandpa, we can¡¯t leave a guy out here where the monsters can attack him. We must wake him up!¡± ¡°He should have thought about that before he decided walk all the way up the mountain just to sleep in the middle of nowhere! Just let the little fool sleep.¡± ¡°Maybe he is not from here grandpa. Just look at his attire. Have you seen anybody wear anything like this before? I am going to wake him,¡± she jumps on top of the boulder. High up in the Continental Tower of North America, a young couple is having a conversation while waiting in line outside of one of the five space academies on planet Earth. Ever since the invasion by the Filton Empire 10 years ago, there have been no ends to people wanting to enlist in the service all over the galaxy, but back on Earth, due to heavy oppositions, it wasn¡¯t until just recently that all the oppositions have been swayed, and thus allowing the military to recruit people with no hindrance. It is not that people were prevented from enlisting or getting into the space academy, but enlistment criteria for those that were born on Earth was a bit complicated in that there were some dangers. For humans that were born out in the space or other sectors of the galaxy, it was a common practice for the babies to be injected with a nano-serum, and as they grow, the nanobots making up the nano-serum gradually incorporate themselves into the Central Nervous System, and create a second set of brain (nano-brain) that has many functions, one of which is, multilingual capability. Such was for the purpose of them to be able to talk to any alien life-form without a language barrier. Out in the space, such was seen as a personal advantage over others that had to rely on translation devices that slow down the communications between the species. Even though having a nano-brain is an option as civilians, it was made mandatory for those that wished to serve in the military. So those that grew up without the nano-serum injection when they were babies, they were forced to be injected with the serum as an adult. The problem lies in the fact that because adult brains are already developed, there was a chance that they may experience permanent brain damage upon failed assimilation of the nanobots. It was a heatedly discussed topic on Earth. However, with the threat of Filton Empire ever increasing, the opposing parties were swayed, and thus the public was given the option to go ahead with the nano-serum injection at their own risk. This change in policy caused floods of applicants, especially from the kids that just got out of high school. Such was the case because, regardless of the era, kids¡¯ mentalities do not change much. There are always more than enough kids thinking about space adventures and becoming heroes. Of course that wasn¡¯t the reason why many others joined, as they all have their own set of reasons. As for Calb, he was an orphan, and though his relationship with his foster family wasn¡¯t bad, it wasn¡¯t all that great either. He thought of making a new life for himself. He did have some patriotism for the Federation, but it was not so great that he was a fanatic. No, it was more for the hope of a new life. Life on Earth as an orphan didn¡¯t appeal too well on Calb. ¡°Calb, are you really going to go through with it?¡± asked Christina. She didn¡¯t really want him to go through with the nano-injection. ¡°Yeah, I have to. I have to make something out of myself,¡± answered Calb. ¡°Isn¡¯t that why you went to college, to make something of yourself?¡± ¡°Well, that was the intent, when I started college, but I grew up Christina. I realized that unless you have a rich family backing you or you are a descendent of a famous family, you can¡¯t move up in life. No body will look at you.¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t true Calb, I can ask my father to help out. I know he can talk to some people and you can land a good paying job,¡± cried Christina. ¡°We¡¯ve talked about this before Christina. Contrary to what you may think, your parents don¡¯t like me. In fact, they don¡¯t like that you are dating me¡­, don¡¯t you get it yet? I see it in their eyes whenever you invite me over to your place. You just don¡¯t realize it. Besides, I don¡¯t want to have to depend on your parents to make something of myself.¡± ¡°You are being stubborn.¡± Calb slowly shakes his head as he tenderly looks at his girl standing in front of him. ¡°No, Christina. Even though my words may not mean much, and you may see it as my stubbornness, I know that I must do this¡­like I was born for life out in the space. There is something out there for me, and I must find that something. I was meant for this new era¡­it was meant to be.¡± It was a declaration stemming from inspiration of his soul¡­something that has been guiding him for a long time! ¡°But you know about the danger of this nano-injection,¡± seeing that he won¡¯t be convinced, Christina attacks from different angle. ¡°They say that some people became imbeciles because of the failed assimilations.¡± ¡°Then there were those that only had minor motor injuries also,¡± countered Calb. ¡°Actually, there were more people that came out with only minor injuries than those that have become imbeciles.¡± Seeing that she won¡¯t be convinced, Calb offered a compromise, ¡°Listen, let¡¯s do this then. You and I will always argue about this and if not this, the other matter about me joining the military. How about I make a promise to you? You know about different success rate of assimilation right? The cut-off for the enlistment is 89% right?¡± Nods Christina. ¡°How about I promise you that if the assimilation on me is not 100% success, I will remain here on Earth?¡± Hearing this, Christina immediately brightened. The reason for her the change in her complexion was because nearly nobody ever gets 100% success assimilation rate. ¡°You promise right?¡± She was crossing her fingers! ¡°Yes, I promise,¡± replied Calb confidently. He really was confident that it would be perfect¡­because he was meant to go out there. ¡°Okay, we are ready for the injection,¡± says the nurse looking at Calb. ¡°Now, you know about the procedure and the slight pain and disorientation that follow right?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°We will be monitoring you, as well as the nanobots, after the injection to see how smoothly the assimilation takes place, but you must understand that what we see here today of the result is only preliminary. It will still take at least a week before we have the final say so on the success of the assimilation. However, in case of 100% success, there are certain indications that will be made clear to us today that pretty much assures us that such will be so when the final result comes out a week from now. Of course we want you to achieve 100% assimilation, but it will still be okay even with 89% so no worries,¡± smiles nurse. ¡°Sounds good!¡± replies Calb, trying to sound optimistic. A door opens and a man with a stethoscope walks in. ¡°We all set here?¡± He looks around. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.¡°Yes doctor,¡± replies the nurse. ¡°Hi, my name is Dr. Tannon. I will be the one that will be injecting the nanobots.¡± He offers his hand to Calb for a shake. ¡°Now, I am sure nurse Sinko, here, informed you about the procedure right?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± replied Calb. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get started then.¡± Calb opens his eyes to find himself on a bed instead of the reclining chair he was sitting on. He didn¡¯t remember anything about the procedure. All he remembered was the conversation he had with nurse Sinko. He was about to get up, but he was feeling a bit nauseous so he lied back down on the bed. ¡°Feeling a bit dizzy huh?¡± A familiar voice greeted him. Nurse Sinko walks over to him with a smile and says, ¡°You remember what we talked about regarding the 100% assimilation rate?¡± Nods Calb. ¡°You remember the part about the indications that pretty much guarantees success?¡± Calb nods again. ¡°Well, it is sort of rare, but all of the indications did show up in your case. So it is most likely that you will achieve 100% assimilation. Congratulation!¡± Feeling relieved, he breathed a sigh of relief. All he had to do now was let Christina know. He, all of a sudden, felt saddened. He loved her very much, and he wished that he could stay on Earth with her, but life on Earth was no longer what the history books used to say it was. There have always been rich folks, as well as the poor, but disparity between the two increased so much over the years, and even though college education has become free, it was equivalent to high school education of 21st century civilization in that college education was expected to be the bare minimum one must have in order to get any kind of job. Basic trend was that the rich remained on Earth, while most of the middle class left for the space, leaving the poor behind. After a few more minutes, not to make Christina wait, Calb got nurse Sinko¡¯s permission to leave. He didn¡¯t know what to tell her. He knew she would ask him about the result, and he knew that she would be eyeing him like an eagle to make sure he does not lie. He had to tell her the truth. As he walked out to the lounge, he saw her. It seemed Calb like she didn¡¯t take her eyes off of the door to the surgery the whole time he was in there because she saw him even before he saw her. She was already looking all over him, from head to toe, trying to see whether anything has changed, not that she was hoping for anything wrong. She was just worried for him. ¡°Well, how did it go?¡± ¡°As you can see, it went well. I feel fine.¡± Feeling relieved, she then asked, ¡°What about the assimilation rate?¡± Not wanting to sound too excited, Calb looked at his toes and said, ¡°They still have to wait until a week from now, but they think that it will be 100%.¡± Calb looked up at Christina. All he saw was a woman with eyes brimming with tears not knowing what to do. As if she could no longer hold it in, she started to cry with a groan as she turned, and she bolted out of the lounge and kept on running! ¡°CHRISTINA!¡± He yelled her name out loud as he awoke¡­.awoke? When he oriented himself, he realized that he was lying on something hard and there was someone looking down on him. He looked up, and what he saw was Christina!? ¡°CHRISTINA!¡± he yelled with a shock. ¡°Ch-rees-tina? Wirtn toc gurash po? Chork buna garish ko. Garmean hashbok kuta po?¡± ¡°Ch-rees-tina? What are you saying? I don¡¯t understand you. Do you know how to speak Garmean?¡± asked Serina, looking at the strange man that just woke up with a yell. Of course the stranger was Calb Colbert. Serina went up on the boulder to wake up Calb, but he instead woke up yelling ¡°Christina.¡± Then when he oriented himself, he saw Serina, and yelled ¡°Christina¡± again, thinking he saw Christina. Well, the truth is, Serina looks just like Christina! Sometimes, there are instances where two people look exactly alike when they are not really related. Perhaps one could reason that such phenomenon can happen when people of the same species intermingle or that genetic make up is not too different from lottery in that pure chance determines how one will look, and since, ultimately and most likely, all origin of men started out from single pair of man and a woman, then it could be possible, but how do one explain two beings from two different worlds looking exactly alike? Hearing Serina speaking something foreign, Calb didn¡¯t know how to react. First of all, after taking a good look at Serina, he realized that, even though she looks just like Christina, she isn¡¯t Christina. Second, they obviously spoke different language. He wished that he still had the nanobot injections from when he was in the world of science, but he was in the world of magic now. There was no way that he would still have that second set of brain when all of other things of science technology disappeared when he crossed over to this world. Serina, seeing the way the strange man looked at her and how something inside of him seemed to have settled, she gave another try at conversation with him. ¡°Are¡­ you¡­ ok¡­ay? Are¡­ you¡­ lost?¡± ¡°Serina, he can hear you just fine. It is apparent that he does not know how to speak Garmean. There is no sense in speaking to him like he is a baby, hoping he will understand what you are saying just because you are saying it slow and loud,¡± rebukes her grandfather. That is true. No matter how clearly and slowly one speaks one¡¯s language, the other will still have no idea what is being said to him. At this point, her grandfather took over. He jumped onto the boulder, faced the two, and said, ¡°Me,¡± pointing at himself, ¡°Taron.¡± Then pointing at Serina, ¡°Her, Serina.¡± Then he pointed at Calb and said, ¡°You?¡± Calb, catching on, pointed at himself and said, ¡°Calb.¡± Satisfied at the response, Taron, then, put his arm around Serina and pulled her close to him and then pointed at the two of them, ¡°We,¡± then turned around to point at the mountain top, and then he pointed at Calb and said, ¡°Calb where?¡± as he spread both his arms as if confused? Calb clearly understood that Taron was asking where he came from. Not knowing how to explain, he looked at the sky and pointed at it. At this point, both Serina and Taron didn¡¯t know how to interpret Calb claiming he came from the sky. The two looked at each other to see the others reaction and realized that both were unison in confusion. To clarify again, Taron pointed at Calb and said, ¡°You, sky?¡± as he pointed at the sky. Calb nodded. Not knowing what to take of him, Taron pondered and then he squatted down, grabbed Calb¡¯s clothing, and started to study it as he rub the material between his fingers. He realized that the cloth material was too well made and it was very squishy. It definitely wasn¡¯t something that was made in Garmean, or any other country on the continent that he knew of. After his discovery, Taron looked at Serina and said, ¡°This cloth material is not something that is made anywhere on this continent. I can see that he is from somewhere I do not know about, but I can¡¯t fathom him being from sky. I don¡¯t recall hearing anything about another continent in the sky somewhere.¡± ¡°So what do we do?¡± asked Serina. ¡°We can¡¯t leave him here can we?¡± ¡°Yeah, we will at least have to take him with us to the town and let the town leaders decide what to do with him.¡± As if he made his decision, he got Calb¡¯s attention and started to make gestures that indicated all three of them walk down to the town, as he pointed in the general direction of the valley. Calb, understanding that Taron wanted him to follow, nodded and was about to get up, but his oversized jumpsuit didn¡¯t quite agree. Due to the cumbersomeness of the jumpsuit, he had bit of difficulty getting up, and when he did, he appeared as if a 10 years old kid was wearing a man¡¯s jumpsuit. Not being able to hold it in, Serina started to laugh apologetically. ¡°Pfft ~ Pfft.¡± Serina tried to cover her mouth, but it was just too funny! Feeling a bit sorry for the guy, Taron motioned Serina to settle down, and as if he had an idea, he pulled out some strings and gave them to Calb, motioning him to wrap the lose flaps with the strings. Receiving the strings, Calb went to work, but he was getting embarrassed because he noticed that Serina was trying very hard not to laugh, watching him trying to secure a gigantic jumpsuit to his body with difficulty. ¡°PFFT ~ PAHAHA!¡± Finally letting out an explosion of laugh, she grabbed the strings from Calb, laid her hands on his shoulders to indicate he is to stay still and started to secure his jumpsuit around Calb¡¯s body. Calb didn¡¯t know what to feel. Here she is, a girl from another world, a magical world that has no connection to the scientific world, looking just like his long lost love. At this point, many things were going around inside of his head. First was that he felt ridiculous and foolish for being caught wearing something so big. Second was the discomfort felt being in a foreign land where he didn¡¯t know how to speak the native language, followed by discomfort of being taken care of by strangers. But most importantly, his heart was beating hard and fast with accompaniment of a warm feeling in his heart. It was like all of his emotion from 70 years ago compounded by all of the sadness and regret he had felt during all of those years of stealing a look of her holographic image was about to burst with an urge to hold her in his arms once again. He had forgotten what it was like to feel a woman¡¯s hand on his body; He had forgotten the tingling sensation that shoots up to his spine; He had forgotten feeling woman¡¯s breath on his face; and he had forgotten the scent of a woman he loved! A light pat on his back pulled him back to his senses. ¡°All done,¡± says Serina as if she was satisfied with her work. She had pulled all of the loose flaps, evenly distributing the length of the flap to equal both sides as she brought them together to meet in the back. The flaps on the extremities were all handled in a similar manner and, with the strings in the strategic locations around Calbs body, Calb was back wearing a lean jumpsuit! Appraising the fine adjustment and feeling satisfied, Taron motioned the two to go, and Calb followed, as Serina quickened her pace to walk beside her grandfather, but as he was following, a sudden sensation started to tingle behind the base of his head. ________________________________ There you have it folks! The intro was kind of bland, but I hope you found it informative, and at least solved some questions you might have had. Until next time! :) -----MooShoo----- Authors Corner Hi everyone, I just wanted to talk to the readers about something that is heavy on my mind, and at the same time, share with the readers the motivation for Space Odd-yssey. I don¡¯t know all the age range of the users and guests to this Royal Road, but for those of you that are in the older category, have any of you thought about what could have been? I am not talking, simply, about missing a friend, old girlfriend, old boyfriend, and etc. on a whim where you suddenly think about your pathetic life that you have lead and wish for the good old days¡­I definitely am not talking about that. However, I am talking about separating with a loved one out of difficult decisions one had to make at that point in time, knowing that one will regret it. I am talking about decisions many of us adults have to make from time to time, because we realize that life isn¡¯t so rosy as we had thought, and a lot of sacrifices must be made¡­.and thus we make them with broken heart. Calb¡¯s adventure is about second chance at life. He had made a decision to leave Earth and say goodbye to the love of his life because he knew deep down in his soul that he must step out into the space¡­because he knew that space will complete who he is/will be. Yes, we saw a broken down, tired old man thinking about the biggest sacrifice he have ever made only to be left alone and lonely. Does that mean if he had to do it all over again, he would not go out into the space? If anyone has made any hard decisions in life, one would know that even if he had to do it all over again, he would make the same decision. Only, the sacrifice he would re-make would be even more hard on him. This story is a reflection of my own life. Yes, I belong in that older age category ?. I have made some hard decisions that affected me tremendously¡­I¡¯ve lost much! In a fictionary life, as portrayed in this story, Calb is given a second chance in a sensational/miraculous/divine manner, but I, in real life, is still struggling¡­to make my second chance a reality. I am not asking for monetary donations, though that would help me tremendously in that I would have less stress in trying to accomplish what I had in mind for myself/my future (as lack of money tend to cause a lot of problem for us), but I want to ask for your prayers and encouragements. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Without revealing too much about myself, I am into helping others in the way that is compatible with me¡­my gifts, but I am unable to do that right now. I have a highly specialized degree that, without a post-degree training, my diploma becomes nothing but a fancy, expensive paper. Yes, I have been trying to get in that post-degree training place/center, for lack of better words, for few years already without success. Many in my family wishes that I give up and get a decent job, instead of keep getting low paying jobs in order to prepare for the training center, but I am like Calb in that I feel deep down inside that the path I have chosen is the right one. I can''t help those in need, in the way that I feel is congruent with what I am about, without above. It is was difficult for me to even write this, as if I am begging my readers for help, but I do realize that we all need help from time to time, and that is what I am asking¡­your help in a form of prayer and encouragement. Of course, I will apply for donation button when I meet the requirement, as money is always helpful, but I feel that prayer¡­wishful thoughts by those with like minds/goals is always better than money. So with that said, pray for me¡­.for those that are not into prayers¡­just send some wishful thoughts my way and that would be sufficient. Thank you! As for the next part of the "A Twisted Fate?" I have been having trouble with expressing the difficulties involved in communication between two parties that do not share same language, into writing. So it seem''s like it will be a while before I can get it out to you all. So my apology to you. ----MooShoo---- 4. A Detour. Hello readers! So this is a chapter that reveals a bit of Calb''s secrets and some things about this world of magic. . . Enjoy! ------------------------------------- Once the three started on their way to the town, Taron and Serina started to talk about what they were going to do now that they have Calb coming along with them. It was one thing meeting a stranger on their way to town, but meeting a stranger that claim to have come from the sky that does not know how to speak Garmean is an another matter. The difference lies in that the former can take care of him/herself whereas the latter is totally helpless. Though Taron and Serina can be considered as reclusive, considering they live up in the mountain minding their own business, they weren¡¯t heartless where they will desert a stranger in need. ¡°What should we do grandpa?¡± asks Serina. ¡°He will be helpless. He has no family and he can¡¯t even speak our language.¡± ¡°Yeah, that is of a concern,¡± replies Taron. ¡°Though his claim about coming from the sky is a bit too hard to believe, but just by looking at his attire, I can¡¯t completely deny the possibility of that. Of course there is another possibility, but that is highly unlikely as well.¡± ¡°Are you thinking about the Continental Towers?¡± asked Serina. ¡°Yes, but if he came through one of those, the closest one is two day¡¯s walk from here, and that is if he had walked here in a straight line from there. Not only that, he would have had to fight through all the beasts from there to here, and you know how dangerous those beasts are surrounding the towers. You saw the condition of his attire, how cumbersome it was.¡± Nodded Serina. ¡°There is no way he could have dealt with all those beasts when he had so much trouble just getting up from the ground,¡± continued Taron. He paused a bit and pondered on his own for a while, and not finding any answer, he decided on another matter of concern. ¡°Well, Cooky, I guess we can take that detour after all,¡± sighing Taron looking at the, all of a sudden, brightly smiling girl next to him. ¡°Even if we do get there early today, because we need to do something about Calb, we would probably have to stay extra day anyway. So, you can go see that place today, we will spend the night at the town tonight, and talk to the town elders the next morning.¡± ¡°Yay!¡± cheered Serina. ¡°That is the spirit. I knew you wouldn¡¯t let your Cooky down.¡± She kissed him on his cheek. ¡°Fhmp! Fhmp!¡± Taron cleared his throat trying to appear as if unaffected by his charming granddaughter¡¯s gentle kiss. ¡°Like I¡¯ve said, we are only going because we do have that time now. Plus, it may be that we may get some clue if we observe his reaction of seeing the tower. So instead of thanking me, you should thank Mr. Drool behind us,¡± said Taron, feeling like picking on the innocently unfortunate guy to change the subject. ¡°You are absolutely right grandpa. I should thank him, and as thanks, I am going to take him there personally,¡± beamed Serina. ¡°This is not a picnic!¡± scolding his granddaughter. ¡°You are supposed to observe him, you hear?¡± ¡°Yes grandpa,¡± Serina replied with a big smile. Taron couldn¡¯t help but to shake his head. While Taron and Serina were having their conversation, Calb was preoccupied with something else. He was wondering about the strange sensation that he had just started to feel on the base of the back of his head. It started out as a warm tingly feeling that began in one spot and it gradually spread all over his head. It felt like an invisible, static-like, immaterial balloon gradually phasing into the brain as it grew in size. It kept on expanding little by little with pulsations, and the brain tissues that were already inside the balloon felt like they were going through an overhaul, creating channels of pulsating static energy. It was then that Serina came over to him with a smile. ¡°Calb, come on,¡± she gestured him to follow. ¡°I am taking you to see my favorite spot.¡± She no longer cared whether he could understand or not. Making sure he was following, she turned around and quickened her pace. It could seem like that she was being too careless around a stranger like Calb, and such would be of a concern in a normal case, but Serina was an martial artist, a very good one at that. She can be counted as one of the best in her age group. In fact, such is expected of her since her master is one of the Garmea¡¯s top five experts, Taron. Even though Calb couldn¡¯t understand their language, he instinctively understood that Taron was Serina¡¯s guardian, perhaps her grandfather. So, not wanting to cause any problem, he took a look at Taron as he was passing him to get a feel for the man¡¯s thought on him following Serina, and as if Taron understood, he nodded and gestured Calb to go with Serina. Since he received permission from Taron, Calb was more relaxed and, at the same time, eager to catch up to Serina. After all, he was already attracted her just by the fact that she is Christina¡¯s identical look alike. What Calb didn¡¯t know, however, was that even though Taron was in agreement of him going after Serina, Taron¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t stray from his back for a long time because something caught his eyes, or rather it was more of a disturbance in mana that he sensed and thus honed his eyes toward Calb¡¯s neck. As people cultivate mana, there is certain level of understanding everyone eventually reach. What they realize is that their ability to sense mana around them eventually trains their eyes to see it as well, but such development is very gradual to the point of most understanding intuitively versus analytically. With Taron being at the pinnacle of martial arts practitioners in all of Garmea continent, he was, naturally, the latter, and what he saw behind Calbs neck was something Taron couldn¡¯t readily explain. Mana flow inside of Calb¡¯s body was not flowing normally. It seemed to him that the origination of the irregular mana flow started out from Calb¡¯s neck at the base of his skull, which was highly unusual, and by looking at Calb¡¯s movements, he realized that this phenomenon was a surprise for Calb as well. Only thing that bothered Taron was whether Calb was surprised by the mana flow itself or the unusualness of the flow. That was something he must address with Calb later on, he thought. Of course for Calb, this phenomenon was something new. Especially considering how, before coming to this place of magic, he was more machine than he was a human. As such, he would not be accustomed to feeling the flow of Qi, as he is feeling it now. In actuality, he didn¡¯t even know whether what he was sensing now was flow of mana. Then, all of a sudden, this weird sense in his head intensified as it quickly spread to the rest of the body, and all Calb could do was stand still with sense of wonder and, at the same time, great concern. Then, unconsciously, he spread his arms to the side and he felt as if his whole body¡¯s pores opened up as the pressure from inside of his body shot out at once, and at the same time, he was filled with a sense of knowing. Something told him that he had just made his first contact with this continent¡­with magic! At this time, both Serina and Taron knew something definitely was wrong. They both looked at Calb, then at each other to see whether they noticed the flow of mana around Calb. ¡°Are you alright?¡± yelled Serina as she ran towards Calb. She noticed a dumbfounded expression from Calb, then what she heard next, floored her! ¡°Yes¡­, I am alright,¡° Calb softly replied in amazement. ¡°You can understand me!?¡± shocked Serina. ¡°Yes! I can understand you now, for some reason,¡± he replied with delightful smile. ¡°What was that mana flow that just circulated in and out of your body?¡± asked Serina not knowing what to ask first. At this, Calb didn¡¯t have any idea what she was talking about, and said, ¡°Pardon? What is this mana flow you are speaking of?¡± Calb gave Serina a confused look. At this point, Taron also joined the two, and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t know what mana is?¡± ¡°No, I do not.¡± ¡°Well, you did sense something that was flowing inside of you just a few minutes ago right?¡± Not waiting for an answer he continued, ¡°Then you felt something shoot out of you just now. and you also felt something go in right?¡± Giving Taron a surprised look, Calb asked, ¡°How is it that you know what I was feeling? You were able to see it? Both of you?¡± ¡°Well, I can only sense flow of mana with my level of mana control, but my grandfather can see it,¡± replied Serina. ¡°So what you are saying is that the feeling I had just now was what you call mana flow?¡± ¡°Yep, that was the mana flow,¡± replied Serina. ¡°What is this mana flow?¡± Serina looked at her grandfather to ask whether he wanted to take over, and of course, with them being a family, he understood her without her having to say anything. Taron nodded. ¡°There are two ways of defining mana. One way, the most common way, of defining mana is that it is a magic energy. Second way of defining mana is that it is a soul energy.¡± Looking at Calb to try to gauge his level of understanding in the matter, Taron decided that he needed to give an expanded explanation of the two definition of mana. ¡°I see that you need a whole lecture on this subject,¡± smiling at Calb. ¡°However, if I am gonna do that, I need to, first, take care of the issue of where you came from. If I understood you correctly, you said you came from the sky right?¡± Understanding where he is going with his question, Calb answered, ¡°Actually, that was the best way of me explaining it to you considering I didn¡¯t know how to speak your language at the time, and it surprises me that I apparently just know it somehow, but going back to the question, I came from another universe, as far as I understand it.¡± ¡°Another universe?¡± Both of them looked quizzically. ¡°You mean another world?¡± asked Taron. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And your attire,¡± asked Taron, pointing at Calb¡¯s jumpsuit, ¡°is from, this, another world you speak of?¡± Calb nodded. ¡°Hmmm¡­interesting¡­interesting indeed. And in this world of yours, you don¡¯t use magic I take it?¡± ¡°Yes, we don¡¯t use magic, but we use what¡¯s called science. We build things that enable us to do things our bodies can not. For example, we built vessels that roam the stars.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­interesting¡­yes¡­very interesting. So how is it that you came here? Did you come here on those vessels of yours?¡± ¡°Well, yes and no. I was on a vessel before I got here, but as to exactly how I got here, I don¡¯t know. My vessel was caught in sort of a storm and got pulled into this world. I lost consciousness, and I found myself on top of that boulder where you found me.¡± He left out his talk with God because he didn¡¯t know how to go about saying that ¡®he had a talk with God.¡¯ ¡°I see¡­that really is a mystery. So your world used this thing called science, and you have no concept about magic?¡± ¡°In a sense, yes.¡± Calb didn¡¯t want to extend the conversation by mentioning him having heard of it in fiction novels. ¡°Okay then. I still have various things to ask you, but for now, what I know of you is enough to establish some sort of understanding about where to start with my explanation. As you see, Calb, in our world, every living being has means of using magic, and how much magic each being can use is determined by how developed they are. For example, vegetations are alive, but what they are capable of utilizing is very little in terms of magic. They just use it to sustain their life. Humans, on the other hand, can utilize magic for various things such as enhancing body¡¯s hardness, speed, and such for martial artists, whereas people that focus on mana manipulations only are what we call magicians. They are weak in physical combats, but they are able to condense mana into particles or elements and attack with them. Of course there is much more to martial artists and magicians, but for the sake of our conversation that would be enough.¡± Suggesting the group to continue on their journey, Taron continued, ¡°No one has a definite answer to where or how mana is generated, but general consensus is that mana can be gathered from our environments as well as other living beings. Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean that I can pull mana out of your body or out of Serina over here without your permission. Mana transfer between people is only possible with permission, in case of me obtaining from you, or as an attack if I was to attack you with my mana. Again, there is more to it than that, but I am just keeping it simple for now. Though we don¡¯t quite know where mana is generated, we do know that we start to gather it as soon as we are born into this world, and how much we gather it depends on how much we consciously cultivate it ourselves and store it within ourselves versus just letting it happen naturally, in which case the amount gathered is much less. Whatever the case, we associate mana with energy to do magic, just as wood can be used as an energy source to build a fire. It is a simple concept.¡± Briefly pausing to study Calb, Taron continued, ¡°The controversy is the second definition of mana. According to the second definition, it is said that mana is life-blood of a soul, just as blood in our bodies keeps us alive. That means, this second definition changes certain doctrines regarding the first definition. For example, I¡¯ve said that every living being gathers mana as soon as they are born, but that would imply that we didn¡¯t have mana in the first place. Second definition changes that. Sure, we gather mana as soon as we are born, but at the same time, we were born with mana ourselves. Now, there are those that are willing to believe little bit of both, saying that we are born with mana, generate it, and that we gather it, but they are not willing to go as far as to believe that it is a life-blood of a soul.¡° Looking at Calb, Taron posed a question. ¡°Why do you think that is?¡± ¡°Umm, I am not sure.¡± ¡°Well, for one, that would mean that, since mana is abundantly plentiful in this world, or should I say this continent? Since it is abundantly plentiful in this continent and there has to be a source, the logic would eventually boil down to understanding that this continent is, itself, a life form with a soul of its own! It would have to be. Why? If people are born with mana and can generate mana, all these plentiful mana in our environment must also be generated by a living source, and default source would be the continent. If we can accept that, then the next step would be that mana is a life-blood both for living beings as well as for the continent. For example, why would we create something that is not vital to our being? In other words, we would not create mana in our bodies if it is not something we do not need. Does this make sense to you?¡± ¡°I can see the logic behind it, but the concept is still too new for me to believe one way or another,¡± replied Calb. ¡°Well, at this point, as long as you can connect the logic you are in good shape, and what you choose to do with the information given to you is up to you, but let me tell you something. How far you can go or how much you can achieve in your cultivation or manipulation of mana will depend on what you choose to believe. Keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± bowed Calb. Calb could tell that Taron was definitely an expert on this matter, and he wanted to learn from him. He didn¡¯t quite know how to react appropriately in this circumstance, but he remembered seeing situation like this in an old 21st century movie where disciples bowed to their masters. He just hoped bowing is a universal gesture of respect regardless of the world. ¡°OOOh Grandpa, looks like you gained another disciple,¡± teased Serina gleefully. ¡°Stop your prattle and get going you little brat.¡± Taron, once again, brought up his cane in a motion to hit her on her head, and as in the past, Serina ran off with her tongue toward her grandfather. ¡°Okay, now that the Ms Giggles is gone, let me tell you a bit about a hero. There is a legend about a hero that shaped this Plane. It was said that he had conquered all the continents on this Plane and established civilizations on all five continents, one of which is this continent called Garmea. The other continents are Romea, Farmea, Dormea, and Zormea. I am sure you can tell, but they all have similar ending name, and that is to honor the name of the hero, Lamea, which founded these continent¡¯s civilizations.¡± ¡°No one knows where these continents are on this Plane. Also, no one that had left this continent, by sea, ever returned, or is there any record of anyone visiting Garmea from other continents by way of sea travel. It is said that these continents are so far apart that no mortal can explore continents by sea, but Hero Lamea had done it, obviously. It is thus, said that Hero Lamea was an immortal.¡± At this point, Taron looked at Calb, anticipating a question from him, and realizing that Calb was not biting, he continued with a disappointed face, ¡°Calb, how do you suppose I know about other continents if no one knows where the other continents are? Didn¡¯t it occur to you that if no one knows where the other continents are, it would be impossible for us to know about the existence of other continents in the first place, not alone their names?¡± As if the thought just occurred to him, Calb responded, ¡°You are absolutely right. I should have caught onto that! So how DO you know?¡± ¡°In every continent, there are 5 towers that serve as portals to the other continents. We call those towers Continental Towers. What we know of Hero Lamea is written in those towers. However, not many venture into the towers, nor are there many travelers that come here from other continents. Only in once in a while do we get to see those travelers or adventurers, as we call them, from other continents.¡± Taron looked at Calb, again anticipating question from him. Happy that he was given chance to redeem himself, Calb asked, ¡°Why is that so?¡° ¡°It is so because One, when Hero Lamea built those towers, he had put a magic charm on the towers that attracted strong beasts in the environment. It was said that such was done in order to keep the towers from random destructions by careless thugs, not that the tower is so weak that it would be destroyed by some thugs. Second reason is that not many choose to follow the path of Hero Lamea. It was said that Hero Lamea, after setting the towers, teleported to God¡¯s Courtyard to join God. Yes, the continental towers were constructed in order for mortals to visit God at his courtyard.¡± ¡°Of course, there are those pious types that has desire to go to God¡¯s Courtyard, but those types are not necessarily strong enough to fend for themselves. Lastly, even among those that are relatively strong and are adventure, they still lack the means to defeat or avoid the beasts near the towers.¡± Again, looking at Calb, Taron asked a question, ¡°You see, even if you defeat or avoid the beasts to get to the towers, you are only half done. Why would I say that?¡± ¡°I guess it would be because of the dangers of beasts from the other end of the continental towers?¡± guessed Calb. ¡°Exactly!¡± affirmed Taron. ¡°You would be risking your life twice just to utilize the towers to get to another continent! Not only that, going towards the tower is, somewhat, easier than traveling away from the tower. It is so because when you are heading toward the tower, you can sort of do some scouting to see what type of beasts to expect or avoid. Will you have such luxury when you are exiting it? Not only that, you won¡¯t know whether you will be able to handle the beasts on the other side until you get there. No, there is just too much danger involved in an intercontinental travel.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Now, let me tell you a bit about Garmea¡­.¡± In the scientific world that Calb came from, concept like ¡°Plane¡± is not used often. It is so because Planes do not exist, but Planets do. Nobody, coming from scientific world, would believe that a world where Planes existed instead of Planets, and same was true with Calb. Calb understood that when Taron said Planes, he thought Taron was talking about Planet. With him coming from the world of science, it is understandable why he would think so because, according to the scientific principle, anything with mass has a central gravitational force that has a tendency to pull things to the center, which the end result would, then, be a round shape, like that of a Planet. However, the world that he crossed over to is a world of magic. Things do not necessarily follow the scientific principle, and even though gravitational force seems work in this world, as he is firmly attached to the ground, it certainly does not mean that it is the gravitational force that is keeping him attached to the ground. So contrary to what Calb was thinking, this world where continent of Garmea was in, as well as other four continents, was actually a Plane. To be more precise, this Plane containing above mentioned continent is actually one Plane out of 6 Planes! When God formed this particular segment of the Universe, he had sent out 5 Beings of Power, giving each an authority to create Plane of their own. They all had special gifts assigned to them by God that dictated what kind of Plane would come into existence during each being¡¯s procreation, and it was exactly that, a procreation, because the Planes resulted from matters from the beings themselves. In other words, those 5 beings became the Planes that are in existence in this segment of the Universe! As for the Beings of Power, their names are Lamea of martial arts, residing in the first level; Pleevon of magic, residing in the second level; Kazan of Beast, residing in the third level; Manvil of Life, residing in the fourth level; and Nigel of death, residing in the fifth level, below God¡¯s Courtyard, the final Plane. As these beings of power each have different type of magic, the resulting Planes also have properties that reflect those different types of magic. With that said, it is no mystery that the people that live in Lamea plane, so to speak, have natural knack for martial arts, just as people of the other planes have natural knack for properties of their corresponding Planes. Now, for the Continental Towers, those structures, indeed, enable intercontinental travel, but certain ones also allow interplanary travel. The difference between intercontinental travel and interplanary travel lies in that there are no prerequisites that need to be met in order to travel from continent to continent, but in order for someone to travel from one plane to another one must acquire certain teachings, that are learned from the elders that serve as overseers of the said towers. Those elders, as the overseers of such towers, they automatically are the experts of the properties of the Plane, and therefore, each continent has 5 undisputed experts and, each Plane, 25 undisputed experts. Yes, Taron is one of those overseers! Just as Taron mentioned how rare it is for adventurers to travel from one continent to another, as reasons given by Taron, rarity of adventures that travel from one Plane to another is even more so. The reason for it is that the adventurers must realize the existence of another Plane in the first place, for which such knowledge is almost like a hidden secret. Even if they learn of such existence, how would they go about doing that? They don¡¯t know about requirements for above teachings, and as for the teachings, one must acquire one set of knowledge or skills from one of the 5 overseers of each continent from the lower Plane. That means, an adventurer must acquire total of 5 sets of knowledge or skills during their intercontinental travels of that particular Plane before they can go up to the higher Plane. What everything boils down to, then is, only the truly dedicated scholars of life gain access to interplanary travel. Why the scholars of life? What does it mean to be a scholar of life? Isn¡¯t a scholar of life someone that learns about life, if defined in most basic manner? What does learning about life has anything to do with these five Planes? Taron and Calb finally caught up with Serina. She was sitting on a rocky cliff overlooking a very wide lake valley. It was almost like a lake was formed inside of a very big volcano of 1 mile diameter. Off in the distance by the other end of the lake, was a lone tower on a wide isthmus jotting out from the far left shore. It was heavily wooded isthmus with tall trees, but the tower was twice the height of the trees and it had a pentagonal structure at the top. ¡°Calb, you can go join Serina over there. I will be heading to my usual resting spot so give her some company. I am sure she will be in a talking mood,¡± chuckled Taron as he headed toward a shaded area underneath a tree. There was a little wooden table with tree stumps on either side to serve as chairs. It was obvious that they came here enough times for them to prepare such setting. ¡°See that tower over there Calb,¡± asked Serina hearing him approach her. ¡°That is what is called Continental Tower.¡± ¡°Ahh, your grandfather mentioned those towers to me while we were walking over here,¡± replied Calb. He didn¡¯t tell me how big those were, but looking at it from here, it must be fairly big.¡± ¡°Yeah, it is pretty big. I have never been there, but I have gone close to it numerous times. You see all those trees Calb?¡± She pointed at the densely packed trees surrounding the mouth of the isthmus extending outward in all direction for about half a mile. Beyond that half a mile of woods was another half mile strip of barren land where no trace of grass or any other vegetation was evident. ¡°That is the furthest I have ever gone near the tower,¡± continued Serina, sounding disappointed. ¡°And you see that wide strip of barren land surrounding the trees?¡± ¡°Yeah, it would be kind of hard to miss that unusual geography. It definitely does not look normal,¡± replied Calb. ¡°That is the work of the beasts that reside in that barren strip of land, or rather, below the ground. They are worm type beasts that can sense even a tiny pressure applied on the ground. When they sense that pressure, they immediately pounce on the victim. The trick to passing them is by walking on the shoreline where the waters touch the shore. Though they are not harmed by the water, they are not as sensitive near the water because water disrupts their position sense. Not many people know of this fact. Only reason I know is because I come here a lot, you see. I would sometimes see some beasts get past them doing exactly what I just told you.¡± As he was listening to Serina, he realized that even though she was asking him some questions as well as pointing out some things to him, she was mainly talking to herself. To Calb, it seemed like she was playing a simulation game within her mind over and over again. ¡°But you know what?¡± Serina continued without missing a beat. ¡°Once you get in the wooded area, there are bunch of snakes that snaps out of their camouflage to strike at you. One or two of them are not that hard to fend off, but there are over hundred just in that small segment of wooded area. Their specialty is Psychic Turmoil. As you can probably guess, it is not a physical attack, but a mental attack. They flood you with psychic attack and wait until you lose your bearing, then they strike. I nearly lost my life when I went there last time, but luckily, my grandpa came to the rescue. My grandpa is the overseer of that tower, you see. There is no one on this continent that knows more about that tower over there than my grandpa. There are only four other overseers like my grandpa, you know. That is why grandpa, as well as those four other overseers, are known as this continent¡¯s absolute, top five martial artists.¡± At her statement, Calb was somewhat surprised. That was because Taron didn¡¯t mention any of this. Taron certainly seemed knowledgeable about various things, and he seemed like a good martial artist, but his demeanor was not that of, what Calb thought was, a master martial artist should behave. As for the stories, Taron was just speaking as if he was simply relaying some stories that he had picked up over the years. Calb never would have imagined that Taron was speaking from experience as an overseer of such important structure. ¡°He is training me so that, one day, I can get to the tower by myself, but he says I am still far off.¡± Serina paused briefly in thought. ¡°My mom went through that tower, you know. She was a much better martial artist than I am now, when she was my age, and I am considered very skilled for my age, you know. So that should tell you how skilled she was back then. I am sure she is much better now than she was before.¡± Sensing sadness in her voice, Calb sat next to her to give her some support. During their trip to this place, Calb was making note of how different the two Christinas were. It seemed to Calb that Serina was a playful and confident woman whereas Christina was somewhat reserved and less than outgoing. However, upon coming to this ¡°special¡± place of Serina¡¯s and hearing her heartfelt longing for her mother made Calb realize that the two weren¡¯t so different after all. ¡°When did she go to the other continent?¡± asked Calb. ¡°I was ten when she left. She went to look for my father. I don¡¯t really remember him though. Apparently he had left to test his skills and never returned. Mom wanted to go with him, but I was too young, and even though I had my grandpa, she still didn¡¯t want to leave me when I was so young. When I turned 10 and was proficient enough in martial arts to protect myself from most of the animals in our mountain, she thought that she had waited enough in trying to find my dad, and she left.¡± She barely finished the last part about her mother as her voice nearly became a sob. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t mean to be less than empathetic, but I think you are fortunate that you can even say that you remember your mom, and that you have the opportunity to go find her on your own in the future. I on the other hand, I was an orphan. I was being passed around from one foster family to another until my last foster family that kept me until I left home, but my relationship with them were never that great. I do not know who gave birth to me, and in my world, I lived to be a 90 years old man, meaning my parents, even if I had the means of finding them, would be long dead. Of course let¡¯s not forget,¡° Calb raised his voice to try to be upbeat. ¡°Even if I wasn¡¯t an old man in my old world, and that my parents were still alive, I would first have to find a way to go back to my world. What it seems to me is that whichever way you look at it, it seems like I have had it lot worse than you. Don¡¯t you think?¡± Calb sent a gentle smile to Serina as he bumped her shoulder to get her out of her funk. Hearing about Calb¡¯s family situation, she felt somewhat like an immature brat that was whining about nothing, as Calb definitely had it worse. Bringing herself into better mood, she replied teasingly, ¡°So I am sitting next to an old foggie huh? You look pretty good for a 90 years old man to me,¡± said Serina as she gave him an appraising look with a smile. ¡°Oh, you like to hit them where it hurts huh? If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that you are an expert in martial arts I would have hit you for that,¡± teased Calb. ¡°Muhaha..ha. That¡¯s right, I am an all powerful martial artist. You better watch it old man,¡± giggled Serina as she bolted up and started skipping towards her grandpa. ¡°Grandpa! I am about done here! Let¡¯s head back to the town,¡± she yelled toward her grandpa, interrupting his meditation, the privilege of a granddaughter! Appreciating the upbeat mood of his granddaughter, he felt mighty glad. He didn¡¯t expect her to rebound this quickly during one of their usual ¡°Detours.¡± It normally took his granddaughter at least half a day to organize her heart and mind of missing her mother, but, he figured, Calb¡¯s presence has had a positive influence on her. He looked toward Calb in thanks, but it was not a moment for thanks. Taron eyed a two meter long and one meter tall, rock lizard heading toward Calb. Calb was oblivious of his surroundings as he was, now, looking at the cheerful woman that was nearly in tears, sitting next to him, just a few seconds ago. He was telling himself just how little he knew about women, especially this beautiful woman that can change her mood at a drop of a dime! Of course he didn¡¯t notice the rock lizard that was eyeing him as if he was its next meal, and double of course, he had no clue what was going on when Taron was yelling at Serina. ¡°Serina!¡± Taron, looked past her to point his finger in the direction that she had just left. It could be said that her reaction was extremely fast because she knew her grandfather well enough to sense and decode the urgency in his voice, but at the same time, it could also be said that her fast reaction was due to her heightened reflex gained living in the mountains while honing skills of a martial artist, but whatever the case, she gathered her mana around her staff as she instantly sent herself in the air with a back flip toward the direction of where she came from. She chose back flip because it accomplished two things. She was already skipping along, and thus, her legs were already in primed position to pound on the ground to instantly shorten the distance to the danger, and at the same time, while she was in the air doing her back flip, she would already have located her prey even before she lands, thus, allowing her no wasted time in her attack. All Calb saw was this mysterious girl that he was admiring, all of a sudden, going from skipping to doing a back somersault and twisting in mid air to face him with her staff ready, and before he knew it, she launched her staff like a bolt past his face! Then all of a sudden, he heard a loud roar coming from immediately behind him that jolted him away in shock! By the time he was able to orient himself to see what was going on, he found Serina already standing behind him in a defensive position, and what he saw past her, to her front, was a giant rock lizard that he never saw before in his life! That thing looked ferocious, and he was ready to do a back somersault of his own, not that he can actually perform a back somersault, when another figure came from his behind to steady him. ¡°You will be all right Calb. Serina got things under control.¡± Taron gently motioned him back as if he was enjoying what was about to happen. Unmistakably, the indifferent composure of Taron and strong steady posture of Serina had a calming effect on Calb. ¡°Wow, what is that thing Taron? I thought I was going to die!¡± ¡°It is a rock lizard by the name of ringbo. It is not really from around here, as it spends most of its time below at the bottom of the cliff you and Serina was sitting on, but it seems like it sensed something unusual today to have come all the way up here. You did see how high up you two were from the bottom right? You see, they are known to be ferocious, but they tend to stick to easy meals. One thing about these lizards is that even though they only prey on the weak, once they set their mind on something, it is very difficult to change their minds. That¡¯s how the word ferocious got attached to them, because of their ferocity in not letting go of their prey. Looks like it thought you were an easy meal. Don¡¯t you feel lucky?¡± chuckles Taron. ¡°Now let¡¯s watch.¡± Taron was all smiles. Needless to say, Calb wasn¡¯t very pleased at the thought of Taron mentioning him to be an easy meal for the ringbo. Talk about a hero of a Galactic Star Federation being reduced to some overgrown lizard¡¯s meal! Looking closely at the ringbo, Calb realized that it was already bleeding. Even though its exterior was that of a rock, it seemed like the blow from Serina¡¯s staff had chipped off a big portion of rock armor from its chest to reveal a hole the size of a palm sized ball. However, despite the damage done to it by Serina¡¯s staff, it didn¡¯t seem to Calb that ringbo was about to give up. In fact, as he was thinking this, ringbo swung its tail toward Serina as it did a quick 360. Then as if continuing on the momentum gained by the spinning motion, it lunged at Serina trying to catch her off-guard, but she was prepared! She jumped, head first, to the outside of the circular path of ringbo to do a cartwheel to grab her staff that was lying off to the side. Then she, again, infused the staff with her mana and started her counter attack. She struck at the tail of the ringbo that was about to start another 360, but with a loud ¡°thud,¡± ringbo¡¯s spin came to a halt. Then, not missing a beat, Serina side-stepped toward the head of ringbo and dealt a straight jab to the head with her staff that made its head flail to the other side, and not being done, she jumped straight up and brought a full swing of her staff down onto the body of ringbo as if she was going to chop the ringbo in half. THUD!!! A loud sound of an impact echoes across the valley, and the ringbo is on its belly on the ground out cold! This was a textbook maneuver when dealing with these ringbos. These lizards were called ringbos because of their round about way of attacking. They go round and round in order to build momentum to strike fast at their enemies, and if done long enough, they can concentrate their mana on their tail to form a gigantic ring of electricity the size of the circle created by their spinning, and that condensed ring of electricity can be flung off by its tail toward its intended target. So when Serina stopped its momentum by first hitting its tail, she had effectively stopped its two most powerful means of attack. ¡°Not bad¡­Not Bad,¡± clapping his hand at his granddaughter, Taron continues, ¡°I think you have become much more efficient with your manipulation of mana, as well as your reaction time. You did good Cooky!¡± ¡°Grandpa! I¡¯ve told you many times! Don¡¯t call me COOKY in front of others!¡± Exasperated Serina yells at her grandpa, forgetting to catch a resting breath from the fight. ¡°What are you talking about? Don¡¯t tell me my little Cooky is being shy around another man!?¡± replies Taron with big grin. ¡°Grandpa¡­!¡± ---------------------------------------------------- There you have it folks! You got to see some progress and a little hint about what is going on with Calb. Also, a bit about the different planes in this world of magic has been revealed. This sort of sets the overall theme of this story and how it might progress.... Until next time.... -----MooShoo----- 5. A Taste of Inadequacy. Hello readers! The story is finally at a turning point where Calb is feeling less than adequate about where he stands in this world. Let''s see what happens...I am sure smart folks among the readers can already guess as to what to expect...:) Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------- After Serina knocked ringbo unconscious, they immediately left the location before it can wake up and cause them anymore unnecessary trouble. They taught Calb about ringbo and various other animals on their way to the town, and before long, they arrived at their destination, the town of Tarmea. Tarmea is a small settlement town near the Imea Mountains that depends on gathered herbs and animal hides for most of its economy. However, considering it is a settlement where people live, its market does have other necessities of living. Unfortunately, it is very minimally barricaded, and the travelers are hardly challenged for their identity, due to it being in such a remote area. Also, with the nearest city that can be of any help in protection being 10 days by walk, public safety can be problematic at times. It is understandable because many hunters of dubious backgrounds frequent Tarmea to sell their hides. In there attempt to make the town a bit more safer, the town elders have recruited some of the younger town folks to help with guarding the town, but the result was far from perfect. As such, there was a commotion near the town¡¯s market when the three arrived. ¡°Why don¡¯t you youngsters go see what the ruckus is all about while I go get us couple of rooms at the inn. I am an old man, I have had enough excitement to last me a lifetime. I¡¯ll let you young ones deal with it,¡± said Taron as he started to head toward town¡¯s inn. ¡°Be sure to look after Calb since he is not familiar with this place.¡± ¡°Okay grandpa,¡± replied Serina. ¡°Come on Calb, let¡¯s go see what¡¯s going on. Living up in the mountain can be quite boring you know. I only get to experience anything interesting when we come down to restock our supply,¡± said Serina with anticipation. As they were walking over to the source of racket, they realized that groups of men were fighting each other, with one appearing to be the town guards and the other ragtag ruffians. They didn¡¯t have a great view of the fight because they were still far off, but it appeared as if the ruffians were having their way with the town guards, and after they knocked down the very last of the town guards, they decided to run off before even more came after them. The problem was that they were heading straight for Calb and Serina! Calb was planning on moving out of the way since he didn¡¯t have any weapon, but he noticed that Serina had other thoughts. She got her staff ready, and started to confront the thugs that were escaping! ¡°Hold it right there you thugs!¡± cried Serina. Before they can react, she already started her attack! It was a 4 to 1 confrontation! Not knowing what to do, Calb quickly ran over to where the town guards were lying down and grabbed one of the staffs and ran toward Serina, but he didn¡¯t know where to fit in between the fighters because the fight was already in full swing. When Calb had grabbed the staff that is on his hands, Serina had already knocked one of the thugs on the ground and was parrying attack from another one while kicking the guy to her left. Once that was done, she twirled her staff to create some space between the remaining three men as each side studied each other. ¡°Not good!¡± he thought. He was planning on standing by Serina to give the thugs second thoughts about fighting them, but the situation is way beyond intimidation stage. ¡°AHHHH~YAHH!¡± Without thinking much further, Calb started to yell to distract the thugs as he swung his staff toward one of the thugs, but surprisingly, his ¡°victim¡± turned to face him and easily blocked his staff to send it flying. He had lost his grips on his staff with the first attack! ¡°Woah¡­ho ho,¡± chuckled the thug. ¡°We have an amateur butting into expert¡¯s fight? No one told you not to butt in something that you can¡¯t finish? What is this getup you have on? Are you supposed to be some kind of a clown?¡± The thug¡¯s smile was as wide as it can be. Not wanting to be caught off guard, Calb ran to where his staff landed and grabbed it again to block the attack that was bound to come, but it never came! In fact, the thug was not even where he saw him last. Then all of a sudden, he felt a hard hit to his butt from his behind! After stumbling for few steps and agonizing at the same time over a pain on his butt, he turned to realize that the thug somehow got behind him without his knowledge and spanked him with his wooded club! The thug looked at Calb and laughed with a big, smile on his face. ¡°What? You don¡¯t know where I am? I am right here, Mr. Clown.¡± He was toying with him! Calb¡¯s face flushed with anger and shame, and without thinking things through, he lounged toward the thug with his staff pointed straight at him. ¡°I am going to run him through!¡± he thought, but instead, the thug side-stepped and spanked him on his butt again, but this time with his foot! He was sent flying to the group of bystanders, and they immediately split up to make a way for him as he fell on top of one of the vending tables. ¡°Ha..Ha..Ha..Ha! Get up you fool!¡± thug mockingly yelled at him. Calb, flustered to no end, he got up immediately to lunge again at the thug, but before he could do that Serina got front of him, facing the thug. ¡°You like making fun of someone that can¡¯t even fight? How would you like to join your pathetic friends over there?¡± She pointed to a spot where three thugs were piled up. ¡°Hmmph!¡± said the thug, not smiling anymore, ¡°You think I am same as those pathetic fools little girl? Come, let¡¯s see who is better.¡± As he said this, he slowly backed his way toward where his pals were lying and switched his weapon to a staff. Seeing how she had knocked three of his guys, he knew he had to be careful. As club is disadvantageous fighting against staff, one on one, it was a wise choice. Serina waited until the thug readied himself, and once that was done, she launched herself toward the thug! With her staff in a diagonal position from her upper right to her lower left, she slashed diagonally toward the thug, and the thug parried with his staff, but something was off. He was expecting a solid hit to his staff, but all he got was a light tap and the other end of her staff was already rising up toward his right leg in a sweeping motion. He jumped to avoid, and all of a sudden he realized that she had already spun 360, and she struck out toward his right even before he was able to land! He blocked the attack, but this time, the blow was hard, and it was heavy! He was sent 5 yards (4.5 meters) to his left, and before he can steady himself he was solidly hit in his stomach with the tip of her staff that she lunged with all her might. ¡°Cough!...Cough!¡± Blood spat out of the thug¡¯s mouth. Serina had internally ruptured his stomach with that last attack! Not being able to contain the ferocity and power of her attack, the thug fell on his knees on all four. ¡°Y-you win¡­you win...Cough! I am no match for you. Please save me. I give up¡­.Cough!¡± ¡°YAY!!! ¡°Clap¡­Clap¡± The crowd cheered. ¡°Way to go little miss!¡± they yelled. ¡°They got what they deserved! Where are the town guards? They need to get here quick and lock them up!¡± Some of the men from the crowd started to bind the bleeding thug and the remaining thugs that were lying about, as the crowd kept on talking amongst themselves. "Hmmp!" Not even bothering with response, Serina turned to look in the direction where she last saw Calb. She found him standing weakly, sending her an ashamed smile. ¡°Are you alright Calb?¡± she asked. ¡°Yeah¡­minus my pride, I am all right.¡± Calb looked down at his toes and started to scratch back of his head in shame. ¡°Fuuu..huuu..huu¡­¡± smiled Serina. ¡°It is okay for an old man like yourself to struggle against a young whippersnapper like that thug. That is allowed old man,¡± teased Serina. ¡°Come.¡± She grabbed his arm. ¡°Let¡¯s find my grandpa. I am sure he should be sitting in an inn restaurant, enjoying a nice wine. That¡¯s his appetizer. We better get there fast before he gets tired and start ordering food already!¡± ¡°S-sure¡­.okay. Let¡¯s go,¡± chimed in Calb as he let Serina lead him toward the inn. Just like Serina said, by the time the two got inside the inn restaurant, they found Taron sitting at a table drinking wine. Grinning at Calb next to her, Serina said, ¡°See, what did I tell you. I told you he would be drinking his wine.¡± ¡°Stop your chatting and come over here and sit! Don¡¯t you know it is a bad manner to make an old man wait?¡± Looking left to right, ¡°I don¡¯t see any old man, do you Calb?¡± asked Serina. ¡°Umm, of course not,¡± responded Calb. ¡°So? What was the commotion this time?¡± asked Taron ignoring the theatrics This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Well, there were some thugs fighting the town guards. They were pretty strong this time. They had beaten the town guards and was trying to get away, but me and Calb showed them who¡¯s boss! Didn¡¯t we Calb?¡± said Serina cheerfully. ¡°Well, to be correct, I was just keeping them busy while Serina did all the work,¡± said Calb, not wanting to appear too pathetic in front of Taron by telling him what really happened. Looking at Calb, ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me what happened Calb¡± asked Taron. ¡°Well¡­,¡± hesitating how he should relay the story without retelling of his inadequacy, he started to describe Serina¡¯s fight. ¡°There were four of them that bested the town guards, and they were heading in our direction to escape, but Serina readied her staff and started attacking them. She was quick in knocking down first of the four and by the time I grabbed staff from one of the unconscious town guards, she was surrounded. Not wanting to leave her alone against the three men, I yelled to get one of the thug¡¯s attention and luckily, one of them turned around. Then after Serina took care of the remaining two thugs, she finished off the last one that I distracted.¡± It was difficult for Calb to keep a straight face, and thus, he kept on looking to his right, in shame. Seeing the shame in Calb¡¯s face, Taron continued, ¡°Calb, why don¡¯t you tell me about the fight between you and that man you distracted?¡± Calb looked at Taron with wide eyes, as if, he, realizing that Taron looked right through his shame, reluctantly, told his story. ¡°Well, when I yelled at the man, I had already had my staff in a swinging position, and I swung down at him when I was close enough to hit him, but he acted as if he saw right through me and easily deflected my staff off of my hand. He did that with one hand while I had both of my hands on the staff when I swung at him. I was shocked. It was like I was hitting a rock. His parry was so heavy. I didn¡¯t understand it at all. Then he made fun of me. He knew I was an amateur instantly, and he didn¡¯t take the fight seriously at all. He even waited until I ran to grab the staff that I lost, but when I turned around to defend against him, he was no where in sight. Then he spa¡ªhit my on my butt and laughed at me. So I charged at him while pointing my staff at him, but he easily dodged me, and this time, he kicked me across the yard¡­.¡± Feeling ashamed again, he paused before he said, ¡°Then by the time I was ready to attack again, Serina finished off her opponents and took over. She took less than a minute to finish him off.¡± Dejected, Calb looked away. ¡°Do you want to be strong Calb?¡± asked Taron, looking straight at him with all seriousness. ¡°Yes I do,¡± replied Calb. ¡°I want to be strong. I want to be strong so that I don¡¯t feel useless again!¡± ¡°Good answer my boy! A man must be strong, strong enough to protect others!¡± There was a fire in Taron¡¯s eyes as he conveyed his approval. ¡°Starting tomorrow, you will learn from me. You will do things around the house to earn your living, and at the same time, you will learn martial arts!¡± ¡°Yes Sir!¡± Calb stood up and bowed to his master. Seeing that the ¡°business¡± of the day is over, Serina leaned over to Taron and said, ¡°You know what grandpa, Calb, before he came over to this world, was a 90 years old man you know. That makes him older than you¡­, and you just called him a boy?¡± Serina mischievously smiled at her grandpa. Hearing what she said, looking at Calb in shock, and adjusting his posture, ¡°Hmmpf¡­. It doesn¡¯t matter how old he was over there. He is a young man now¡­Hmmpf,¡± said Taron, clearing his throat. Seeing her grandpa¡¯s brief flustered face, she beamed him with a smile. ¡°What are you looking at! Go order us some food!¡± ¡°Y..e..s grandpa¡­.¡± During their dinner, to not make any more mistakes, Taron asked Calb about his world and what he did. It took Calb some time to describe space travel, Earth, and concept of science, and he managed well enough to get them to understand reasonably well on many things, but on some of the more complicated things, he just had to leave it as it was. He also ended up telling them a little bit about his conversation with God, hoping he could keep it at a bare minimum, but it was not meant to be¡­. ¡°So you are telling me that God brought you here, and the reason why you are in your young body is because physical bodies in your world grows faster than your soul?¡± asked Taron. ¡°Yes. So in terms of soul age, I am near same age as Serina, for example, but in terms of physical age I was a lot older in my world.¡± ¡°You hear that? My soul is still older than him.¡± Taron grinned toward his granddaughter. ¡°Y..e..s grandpa¡­you are still the certified geezer of this group,¡± replied Serina, looking up into the ceiling. ¡°What?! I am not a geezer you little brat!¡± Taron gave her a noogie. ¡°OUuuu! Okay¡­okay¡­you are not a geezer¡­just old¡­..er.¡± She finished off with ¡°er¡± before her grandpa could give her another noogie. ¡°Hmmpf¡­.¡± Taron cleared his throat and continued, ¡°Now, you said that God brought you here from your world, but he had, in the past, also sent some people from this side to yours?¡± Nodded Calb. ¡°Hmmm, interesting¡­interesting indeed.¡± ¡°Well, I guess that explains some things, though I must say, you have given me much to think about.¡± Taron paused briefly to ponder something, and as if setting it aside, he said, ¡°Alright. Since we don¡¯t have to go see the elders tomorrow, we are leaving early tomorrow. As for now, Serina, take Calb with you to the market to sell our goods, and while restocking, go ahead and get him something appropriate clothing for our trip tomorrow. You don¡¯t have to get him any more than that. He can just wear your father¡¯s clothes when we get back. Now, get going you two.¡± ¡°Yes grandpa.¡± Serina got up, looked at Calb and flicked her head toward the door with a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± Calb was floating in space. He saw a comet floating across the space with fluttering rainbow attached to its back. He tried to see the end of the rainbow, but it was endless. Then he saw a herd of winged horses running on top of the rainbows as if they were trying to catch the comet. He didn¡¯t know why, but he started to count the winged horses when he heard a familiar voice. ¡°So how was your trip? You have had a little taste of your inadequacy haven¡¯t you?¡± said the voice. Turning around, Calb saw the owner of the familiar voice standing next to him. ¡°Hello again¡­.Yes, I¡¯ve realized just how inadequate I am in this world.¡± ¡°That should be a good motivating factor for you to work hard! I did tell you that you are quite behind when it comes to mana cultivation, as compared to the rest of the people in this world. However, I also told you that you have a great potential. I am sure you have felt the weird sensation around the back of your neck and what resulted from that?¡± ¡°Yes I felt that sensation. It was weird. I¡¯ve never felt something like that before. Then all of a sudden, I was able to understand their language and speak it as if I was born there.¡± ¡°You will have many more of such moments, in time. When you¡¯ve experienced that thing in the back of your head, that phenomenon was like a jumpstart for your body to start sensing mana again. Ever since then, your body became just like everyone else, being able to gather mana also. However, every time you have those moments like with your neck, your body¡¯s rate of mana cultivation will increase as a default to what is going on inside of your body. So in that sense, your disadvantage will be countered by changes your body will experience, but you shouldn¡¯t be satisfied with just that! You must become a light of this world, as my vehicle of intervention.¡± Calb wanted to ask about the future ¡°moments¡± that he will experience in his body, but for some reason he could not ask anything. His mouth became heavier. He was about to make a gesture, but the background started to fade and his consciousness started to break loose from slumber. ¡°It is about time for you to awake. Remember what I¡¯ve told you before. You must get in tuned with the nature! Remember¡­.¡± ¡°Calb, wake up.¡± Serina is next to him, looking at his face. Calb¡¯s eye snaps open to see Serina looking down at him. ¡°Hey, old man, wake up,¡± smiles Serina. - ¡°Oh ok¡­I am up.¡± Calb slowly got up, looking somewhat confused. ¡°It is bright and early. We better get going. It¡¯s going to be a long hike back up the mountain, you know.¡± -------------------------------------------------------- There you have it folks! A bit more action and some hint of motivating factor for Calb to improve, and a visit from God..... Thanks for reading! -----MooShoo----- Authors Corner 2 Hello Readers! As an author of a story that everyone is reading, it is my desire that I satisfy your need from my story. I see that I have some followers and some that stated their likes, but why do you follow and why do you like my story? Do you like the plot? The flow of the story? The character interaction? The uniqueness of an idea? What would you like more? more explanations? more actions? more description of the setting? It would be nice to hear from you. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Of course, I can''t satisfy every single one of my readers, as I do have a goal in mind as to where I want to go with my story, but if there is something I am doing particularly well, I am sure I can give more of that, but on the other side, if there is something I am neglecting that you might want to see/read....I may be able to do something about that also. So with that said..... Tell me what you like! :) -----MooShoo----- 6. A Lesson in Meditation. Hello Readers! It is a start of another chapter. This chapter will focus on meditation. I haven''t decided just how in depth I will go concerning meditation, but for now, my intent is to at least cover the fundamental reason behind the meditation. I can''t promise you much entertainment in this chapter, as things of meditation can be quite boring, but in exchange, I tried to at least make the description of certain things more clear to, certainly, bring out the "adventure in magic world" theme a bit more. I hope you will enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------- As they started their way back up the mountain path, Taron started to explain to Calb what was actually happening during the battle at the market. ¡°You see Calb, that man you fought with, he had an advantage over you, and that advantage, to put it simply, is mana. When we first met, I noticed that you only had bare minimum of mana in your body, but ever since that phenomenon with your neck and the initiation of mana flow around your body, your body has been gathering and storing mana. Even now, as I sense mana in your body, the level of your mana increased tremendously. However, the level is still too low, as compared to other people in this world.¡± Taron paused briefly before he continued again, ¡°The fact that you had such a dismal amount of mana told me that, most likely, your manipulation of mana was also limited. So what does that mean? That man you fought had two advantages over you. First advantage was amount of mana that he had access to, and second advantage was that he was able to manipulate his mana to strengthen his body as well as his weapon.¡± Looking at Calb, Taron asked him about the conflict with ringbo, ¡°Do you remember what happened with ringbo when Serina threw her staff at it?¡± ¡°Yes, it was inflicted with heavy damage to its chest.¡± ¡°Now, look at Serina¡¯s staff. Is there anything special about it, as far as you can tell?¡± Serina, following the cue, handed her staff over to Calb. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything special about it. It looks and feels like regular wood.¡± ¡°So then, do you suppose wood, such as that staff, can damage a stone armor like it had to ringbo?¡± Taron looked at Calb to see hear his answer. Shaking his head, Calb said, ¡°No. I don¡¯t suppose it can¡­, yet it did.¡± ¡°Exactly¡­. Even though it was a wood and wood shouldn¡¯t be able to damage a rock, yet it did. So something has to have happened to the staff to make it much stronger does it not?¡± Calb nodded. ¡°Just going by what we have been discussing, what do you suppose was the cause of the staff to become stronger than that rock?¡± ¡°Umm, I would have to say it was mana?¡± replied Calb. ¡°Exactly. It was the mana, infused onto the staff by Serina, which made it so much stronger. Now, you said the man that you fought parried your attack with so much weight right?¡± ¡°Are you saying that his parry was so heavy due to him infusing his mana onto his weapon?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I am saying. He was able to deflect your staff away from your hands because of that fact. He made his weapon as hard as a stone and when your staff hit that stone, it jarred your hands and all that was left for him to do was for him to skillfully fling his weapon, thus making you lose grip on your staff. He did that at the moment of impact, and that was the reason why you lost your staff.¡± Not wanting to be blunt, but not seeing any other way around it, Taron continued, ¡°As for the rest of the battle, you lost because you simply lack the skill. Even though you said you were a soldier in your world, you obviously were not a fighter huh?¡± Feeling treaded upon, Calb tried at his explanation. ¡°Well, you see, like I was telling you yesterday, warfare in my world is very different. We don¡¯t usually engage our enemies with our bodies. We fire what is called guns and rifles, and even those we don¡¯t use often because we are in vessels that fly. Those vessels shoot condensed energy beams and they also shoot metals that explode to kill hundreds and thousands of people at once. When we have such weapons of mass destruction, there is no need for hand to hand combat. An example would be, if I attacked that ringbo with weapon that is used in my world, it can splatter a ringbo with one shot. Also, the vessels that I mentioned just now, it has weapons that can destroy Tarmea with one attack. So if we have such weapons, would there be any need for the military to train their soldiers in man to man combat?¡± Seeing surprised faces of Taron and Serina made Calb feel better, as if he had somewhat justified his less than average talent in martial arts, but it was short lived by the commencement of Serina¡¯s tease. ¡°Wow, Calb, I didn¡¯t realize you were a type of man that could tell such bold faced lie,¡± said Serina with big eyes, as if she saw him for the first time. ¡°Quit messing with him you little brat!¡± rebuked Taron. ¡°Don¡¯t you see that he lied in order to save his face?¡± Taron joined in on the fun. ¡°OH!? Is that what it was huh, grandpa?¡± said Serina, sending a grin in Calbs direction. ¡°If you two are not going to listen, then I won¡¯t say another thing! You can make fun of me all you want, but nothing will change anything in that what I say is the truth!¡± retorted Calb. ¡°Ha..ha..haha..,¡± laughed Serina. ¡°We believe you Calb¡­we were just having a little fun. Though I didn¡¯t think that grandpa would join in on the fun. That must mean he likes you, oh honorable, disciple number 2,¡± smiled Serina. Shaking his head at his granddaughter who manages to turn anything into a tease, Taron shook off his smile and looked seriously at Calb. ¡°So, if it is like that, you have a much to learn in the next few weeks, but knowledge in mana cultivation and its manipulation comes first.¡± Looking around, he spotted a little tree sapling. ¡°Take a look at this sapling, Calb, and tell me what you know about how this little sapling matures into a tall and strong tree,¡± stated Taron. ¡°Well, the leaves from the tree gather energy from the light and it uses it for growth,¡± summarized Calb. Of course he knew much more than that, but he doubted Taron was aware of science terminology such as photosynthesis and krebs cycle so he just kept it to a bare minimum. ¡°So are you saying that they convert energy from light into mass?¡± asked Taron. ¡°Well, no. The mass portion comes from the nutrients from the ground.¡± ¡°So in a sense, this little sapling requires two main things in order to fulfill its potential and become a tree. One, light¡¯s energy which is above the ground, and Two, nutrients within the ground, which in a sense, is below the ground correct?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± answered Calb. ¡°Good, I want you to reflect on that thought as we continue on our journey, but I also want you to think back on what I have told you about mana on our way to town yesterday. What you gain today will depend greatly upon how much you really understood of the definition of mana, as well as any additional insight you may attain as a result.¡± With that, the three continued up the mountain in silence. ¡°Grandpa, are we stopping at that spot up ahead?¡± asked Serina. ¡°Yes, I think that would be the best place for him to learn to sense mana on his own. It would have been better if we did this right after that mana flow of his, but who would have known he would be joining us? Surprisingly, after that mana flow incident, it seems like he had, again, lost the ability to sense mana, or rather, he only gained the ability to sense mana briefly at that moment. In terms of sensing mana, he is like a new born baby. He must learn how. Hopefully he can pick it up quickly considering it has only been a day since he had felt that massive mana flow.¡± While Taron and Serina were talking about above, Calb was immersed in the two definitions of mana that was told to him by Taron yesterday. At the same time, he was thinking about the dream that he awoke with this morning. ¡°It seemed like God timed his visit just in time for this new development about mana¡­, or was it the other way around?¡± thought Calb. ¡°It could have been that God wanted me to learn how to sense mana, and thus left me on that boulder to be discovered by these nice folks? And what was it that he told me this morning? Something about getting in tuned with the nature?¡± his mind was filled with many questions. After a while, they came to a narrow, chasm that seems to split the gigantic mountain into two equal parts. The walls on each side of the chasm were so tall and steep that the surrounding became at least three shades darker than what it was outside. Also, the whole mountain path was filled with weird noises caused by the wind blowing through the crack of the mountain. However, the noises caused by the wind currents weren¡¯t the weirdest thing about the path. The lower section of the walls were carved inward to give a concavity throughout the whole length of the chasm, and in the concave surfaces were etchings of weird writings and intricate drawings, also, running throughout the whole length of the chasm. Basically, the overall view of the chasm is that of a very smooth circular tunnel with weird inscriptions and with a 2 feet crack running all the way up to the top of the mountain, revealing the sky. ¡°Wow, what an unusual mountain path,¡± remarked Calb. ¡°This is truly amazing! Who could have done this? It must have taken ages to carve out a whole mountain path in this manner! How long does this go?¡± ¡°Oh, you haven¡¯t seen nothing yet Calb,¡± replied Serina. ¡°What you see here is only a fraction of the whole thing. You see, this is a part of one gigantic magic inscription.¡± ¡°What is magic inscription?¡± ¡°Calb, there are two categories of magic. Of course the duration of the casted magic is dependent on availability mana, but provided that the availability of the mana is not an issue, there are temporary kinds and then there are more permanent kinds. More times than not, the permanent ones tend to require what is called an inscription that sort of binds mana to whatever the inscription is written on so that the mana does not dissipate as quickly as if it was just left to chance where the mana can just drift away before it can be of use. Also, when the magic consumes a lot of mana, it is easier to cast such magic with an aid of inscription. How it works is, because mana is bound to the inscription, the inscription sort of becomes a container where mana can be temporarily stored while the magician gathers more mana. The significance of this is that if a magician is not capable of gathering and holding onto a required amount of mana for a specific spell, that magician can use an inscription to hold the required amount of mana that he or she can¡¯t otherwise. Once combined mana of the magician and the stored mana equal that of the required amount for the spell, that magician can then cast that spell. You follow?¡± asked Taron. ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Where we are right now is, actually, inside of a gigantic inscription that was carved onto this mountain range. The geometric shape of the interior of this mountain path is rounded like this for the whole length of this chasm. Actually, as you will see when we get a bit further, this place will resemble that of a maze in the canyon. As for the significance of this geometric shape, it facilitates these air currents that you feel right now to stay in the bottom section of the canyon rather than dissipate through the cracks up top, not that the magic placed on the whole canyon would allow that. However, every now and then, you will see that these carvings will extend upwards to the top of the canyon also. Anyway, just like there are 5 Continental Towers in this continent, there are, also, 5 of these gigantic inscriptions in this continent, near each of the towers.¡± Taron paused to look at Calb before continuing, ¡°Now, from what little I¡¯ve told you about inscriptions, what purpose do you think this mountain inscription hold?¡± ¡°Well, if you say that there is one of these near every tower, and the inscriptions can hold and store mana, an inscription that is this big will probably hold enough mana to power up the tower when it is activated right?¡± ¡®That¡¯s right.¡± Taron started walking again while continuing, ¡°Truth be told, the magic spell that was casted through this inscription is not that powerful of a spell, but what it is capable of achieving is so much more than what can be expected of the so little power utilized to make it work. It does that in a two step process. Do you notice how the temperature of the currents changes from warm to cool from time to time?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°In the very center of this inscription canyon, there are two magic statues that are responsible for these two different air currents. There has been a magic spell that was casted on those statues to blow warm and cool currents that will eventually fill this whole canyon. When these currents travel to fill, and thus trace, the whole inscription, a magic is activated to gather mana to this location. So, one magic sustains these two currents of air, and another magic stores tremendous amount of mana to provide power for the activation of the Continental Towers. Of course, very small amount of that gathered mana is also spent on sustaining spells that activated the two statues. It is a very efficient magic system.¡± Calb was amazed at different patterns of the air currents. Once they got in the main part of the canyon, not knowing how the inscription was supposed to look, all the twists and turns, as well as the redundant loops of the inscription, really made Calb think of a gigantic maze. He experienced multiple different patterns of warm or cool currents, and in some locations, the two currents blew together synergistically, whereas in other, in opposing manner, causing miniature tornadoes to rise up through the vertical wind tunnels. Then, pretty soon, something started to change. The inside of the canyon was not as dark as it was previously. There were flickers of red and blue lights shooting outward in various patterns. At first, he barely saw them, but further along they went, more distinct the colors became, and they got brighter and bigger! ¡°We are almost there,¡± informed Taron. ¡°Do you see the lights Calb?¡± ¡°Yes,¡­I do,¡± responded Calb, somewhat hesitant. ¡°Good! That is a good sign. I was worried you may not be able to see them. You see, these are not normal lights. They are not like others in that, though they seem to appear like normal lights, they have no illuminating property to them. It may seem to you that this section of the canyon has gotten a bit brighter, but that is only an illusion caused by the dispersing of the mana lights around the area. Yes, these are mana lights. As for the colors, mana does not have to be red or blue, as they can take on any color, but they are blue and red here because of the type of magic that is being dispersed throughout the canyon. Blue corresponds with coolness and red corresponds with warmness of the current, and because these currents are being produced by magic, mana surrounding this area is taking on characteristics of the mana that produced these currents. I¡¯ve brought you here in order to help you sense mana, and I had hoped that you would be able to see these colors, as they will help you during meditation. Of course it was not a necessity that you would see them, but the progress achieved from added benefit is so much greater!¡± Taron was certainly delighted. ¡°Okay, in just few minutes, we will get to the spot I have had in mind. Then I will begin my lesson on meditation. In the center of the canyon, where the mana lights were the strongest, stood a perfectly cylindrical pillar that was carved out of the mountain. Of course, the only way one was to see this pillar was to stand right next to it, as this cylindrical pillar was not standing by itself out in the open. On that pillar, there were two tunnels facing exact opposite of each other. From one of the tunnels blew out warm wind and from the other blew out cool wind. ¡°Okay, here we are,¡± said Taron. ¡°Now we just have to open the door¡­.¡± He walked around the pillar while he scrutinized every inch of the wall. ¡°There is a spell that is casted on this pillar, as a safe mechanism, that moves the location of the door every so often. The only way to find the door is to look for a very shallow indention in a shape of a small pentagon. The indention is so shallow that you wouldn¡¯t normally see it unless you are looking for it. Ah, there it is.¡± Taron finally located the pentagon, and just as he said, it was hardly noticeable to Calb. Taron stood facing the indention and covered the pentagon with his right palm. He then concentrated to infuse his mana onto the pentagon, and soon, five straight yellow lines, like that of a crack in the rock, shot out in five pentagonal directions and started to draw boundaries of a door. When the entire door has been traced by the yellow lines, the whole door disappeared leaving a thin transparent barrier like screen where the door used to be! It was nothing like anything Calb saw in his entire life. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go in.¡± Taron stepped in, and all of a sudden, light came on inside of the room, which was big enough to hold 6 people comfortably. There was also a square table by the wall and four chairs, a set that can be found in any average restaurant. In the back wall, there was an unusual booth that was emitting blue light near the top and red light near the bottom. The lights were obviously mana lights, but unlike the mana lights from the outside, these were more gentle and continuous in nature. ¡°That is the reason for us coming here today,¡± informed Taron, pointing at the booth that Calb was looking at. ¡°I am sure you have noticed the same two mana colors, in the booth, that you have been seeing from outside, and they are pretty stationary at the moment. However, once you go in the booth to meditate, the two lights will start to interact with each other, and with you sitting right in between the two lights, you will start to sense the motions of mana around you. Of course, how soon you will be able to sense the mana will depend on your aptitude, but because you are able to see the mana lights, your senses will be a bit more acute versus if you weren¡¯t seeing them.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°If said in another way, the light serves as a means for your mind to verify the motion of the mana that your body is sensing as either real or as a figment of your imagination. It is similar to how we sometimes create false sensation of bug biting us as soon as we realize that we are in an area infested with bugs that like to feed on humans. Similarly, when we are trying to sense mana, our mind kind of fools us into believing that we are sensing mana when, in actuality, we didn¡¯t really sense the mana at all. Such occurrence happens more often to a person that is less proficient at sensing mana versus those that are experts. However, if you are able to verify what your body is sensing with your eyes, you will no longer be fooled by figments of your imagination, and thus, cutting down on time it takes to develop accurate mana sensing capability. Do you follow?¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± replied Calb. ¡°So then, here is the basic of meditation¡­. Meditation is an effort to quiet the voices in our minds of our souls. Throughout the day, our minds are scattered, busily thinking and doing multiple things. What results from such multifaceted activities is spreading or directing of our mana in multiple directions, and thus, thinning out our mana core of its mana. Meditation is done to reverse that process¡­to refill our mana core. When our mana core is refilled, our soul power is increased, because our soul, then, have more mana to do bigger work, whether that work is enhancing our physical defense or enhancing our attack, and in case of magicians, increasing power of their magic.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s look at this from military¡¯s point of view. If you, as a commander, send few groups of soldiers in many different locations to accomplish small missions, you end up with fewer soldiers at your main camp right?¡± Calb nodded. ¡°If an enemy attacks your main camp at that point, your means of defense is reduced and the same is true with your counter attack. In that sense, you are no longer capable of doing anything significant that your company is normally capable of handling. At that point, even though your company as a whole is accomplishing many things, it is accomplishing many of little things when in actuality your company, when all the soldiers are gathered in one place, is capable of accomplishing bigger and grander things.¡± ¡°Going back to the matters of the soul¡­ Throughout the day, our soul is thinning out its power by sending out mana in all different directions¡­because our minds are going in all different directions. What I am trying to say is that mana follows where our mind directs. You see, in an absolutely basic sense, mana does what our mind tells it to do. When we are thinking about walking, our mana is making that ¡°thought¡± a reality by activating our body to do what we want it to do, and we DO many things throughout the course of the day. Even when we are casually scanning our surroundings, we are sending mana to where our eyes are focusing. For example, have you ever felt like someone is looking at you, and almost subconsciously you look in the direction where you ¡°felt¡± someone looking at you, only, to see that someone shifting his or her eyes away from you, now that he/she has been ¡®caught¡¯ staring?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve experienced it many times in my life.¡± Calb answered. ¡°What happened was that you felt the mana that was sent toward you by that person focusing his/her eyes on you, whether that person realize it or not. It was for that reason, why, you were able to pinpoint the direction of the stare from that individual. You see, the difference between a casual look versus a stare is the intensity of the stare where mana that is bombarding you through their eye sight is so much greater and noticeable whereas mana from a casual look is hardly noticeable. This phenomenon leads to another understanding relating to souls, but that is a topic for another time.¡± ¡°So when you meditate, you are pooling in all of your scattered mana resources, so to speak, to your soul where it can make better use out of it, and such are the basis for epiphanies and heightened awareness gained through meditation. I am not saying that meditation always brings about epiphanies or heightened awareness, but what I am saying is that meditation allows for that to happen more often than by chance, when all of your mana is scattered about around you. Of course, what we are trying to accomplish with meditation this time is enhancing your body¡¯s mana detection, and eventually to its ability to sense mana flow. In other words, we are actively directing our mana to accomplish sensing of mana and mana flow. However, we are only focusing on mana detection for today.¡± ¡°Now, to start off, let¡¯s have you go inside the booth and sit, facing the front, with your legs crossed. I want your hands spread open and have them facing up while you rest them on your legs. Try to find hand positions that allows you to somewhat open your arms.¡± Calb did what he was told. ¡°It is kind of weird, feeling warmth and coolness at the same time,¡± remarked Calb. ¡°It is because those two statues I told you about earlier. One of them is above you in the slot to your left and the other is below you in the slot to your right.¡± The statues were about the size of a chair. The statue that was making cool current was blue in color while the other was red, just like the mana colors. Surprisingly, they were simple looking statues. The blue one was rhombus while the red was a trapezoid. Only thing peculiar about the two statues was that they both were suspended in the air. As soon as Calb sat down, as if the lights came to life, they started to move. The red ones moved horizontally, and the blue ones moved vertically. Then, as if reacting to Calb, the two lights started to move in erratic manner, and some even entered Calb¡¯s body while others simply bounced off of his body and the surrounding walls. ¡°Okay, once you have settled down, I want you to take a closer look at the mana lights. See how they are all over the place? That is because, not only have you activated the intended magic by occupying that little space, mana from your body is contributing to the disruption of the mana flow. Once you settle down even more, and focus on relaxation, your internal mana flow will stabilize into something more predictable for the exterior mana to adjust accordingly. So one way of knowing whether you are doing the right thing in meditation is to take a look at these two mana colors to see how organized they are in their flow and, most importantly, the simplicity of their flow. Simpler the better. By allowing the mana flow to become simple, you are allowing your body to sense mana without too much distraction from multiple, chaotic mana flows. It is similar to how you have a greater chance of hearing me speak when few people are speaking at the same time versus when hundreds of people are speaking at the same time. Does it make sense?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Oh, I almost forgot. The reason why you are able to see these mana lights now is because mana is very condensed in this part of the canyon. In actuality, mana is condensed all around this canyon, but they are condensed, the most, at the very center. That¡¯s why I was glad when you told me that you could see them. If you weren¡¯t able to see them even when the concentration of mana is this great, I might have thought you may never be able to see them, even if there have been some instances where someone that was not able to see eventually learning to see. Thankfully, that was not the case for you.¡± Taron smiled as he relayed his relief. ¡°Oh, I am so glad my fellow disciple is not a ¡°hopeless¡± case.¡± Serina winked at Calb with a smile. ¡°Okay, continuing on, the key to settling down, is to, First, take three nice deep breaths, and as you relax your lungs during your exhale, you also allow all other muscles to relax as well. Of course you don¡¯t want to relax the ones that are keeping your body straight while sitting. Keeping your body straight is very important for internal mana flow. You must remember that.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Second method of settling down is to focus on one thought only. Some people say to clear the mind of all thoughts, but it is not necessary. Once you advance through learning meditation, focus of your attention will shift to the point of it being like you have cleared all thoughts away anyway. So there really is no sense in trying to clear all thoughts. That is too hard in the first place for the beginners.¡± ¡°Now, as you sit there, imagine that you are breathing through your whole body rather than through your nose. That means you are breathing in through your body as well as exhaling through your body, as breathing is a two step process. More times than not, beginners normally feel the mana flow through palm of their hands first. Then, once they have gotten used to feeling it in the hands, they focus on feeling it throughout the whole body. Since this is new for you, this process may take a while. It may be that we will have to come back at another time, but even if we have to come back, we can still use this opportunity for you to pick up something for you to improve upon next time.¡± Taron turns to look at Serina and says, ¡°Serina, since we will be here a while, why don¡¯t you take this opportunity to meditate as well? We are in an area where mana is concentrated so you should benefit by meditating also.¡± ¡°Ok grandpa.¡± Not wanting to take too much time in the canyon, they only stayed in the room for couple of hours. Of course another reason for the short stay was because meditation is very hard for a beginner. Even though all you do is sit still in one position, sitting in one position is harder than one can imagine. When meditating, one must sit straight up without moving. It may seem like it is not difficult, to sit in one position without moving, but what people do not realize is that we subconsciously move our bodies throughout the day in order to relieve stress on various parts of muscles. So the point is that even though we may be thinking that we sit in one position all day, we don¡¯t, and we fool ourselves into believing that we sit in one position anyway, and thus, we then think that doing meditation shouldn¡¯t be hard. For example, when standing, people tend to shift from side to side or switch out the feet to alternate weight bearing from one foot to another. It is a means for lessening the stress of the leg muscles, and we do that subconsciously. Same thing applies when we are sitting. We either lean forward, hunch our backs, lean back, cross our leg, and etc. All of these change in body postures, as well as switching of the feet when crossing legs, shifts body weight and lessens the load on various different muscles. However, when meditating, all of that shifting of body or repositioning or sitting in different manner is not allowed. That means all those muscles of sitting that have been getting relief by change in body mechanics throughout the day are no longer allowed such relief. The end result is aches and pain of those overworked muscles, not to mention aches on the legs from blood circulation being cut for a prolonged period of time. Meditation is an art of patience and discipline. Just as it takes a while for one to get used to working out, same is true for meditation¡­because, in a way, it is a workout for the muscles of sitting. Not only that, it is a means for legs muscles to produce more blood vessels in order to counter the prolonged period of cut off from blood circulation to various parts of the leg. So when the body adapts by producing those extra blood vessels, overall efficiency of the leg improves, because our leg muscles has more blood vessels that can supply the muscles with blood and nutrients. Taron and Serina¡¯s residence was a simple hut just on the other side of the canyon to the right of the canyon exit. Beyond the canyon was a little meadow overlooking another larger meadow, bound by more mountains in the distance, and there was a little road that passed the hut and around the front garden to start a zigzagging pathway leading to the larger meadow, across a little bridge. There was a waterfall to the left side of the mountain that formed a decent sized basin big enough for a swim, and at the end of the basin was a little watermill that seem to have been made for some kind of use rather than for looks. Sitting on the wooden platform in front of the hut, the three master and disciples began their discussion. ¡°Calb, were you able to gain anything from the meditation?¡± asked Taron. ¡°Well, I am not sure. I felt like I¡¯ve spent more time thinking about the aching back and leg muscles to really get the hang of meditating. It was very difficult for me to keep still and settle down. My mind wondered about quite a bit as well. I feel like I didn¡¯t accomplish anything today,¡± said Calb, as he scratched his head in shame. ¡°Well, meditation is not as easy as it looks. Those that meditate on a regular basis are able to do it because they have done it for a long time, and thus, their body is used to it. They do not feel the aches and pains of sitting in one position unless they meditate for longer than usual. It takes discipline and dedication to meditate on a regular basis, and your duty from today on will be to meditate everyday for at least an hour for five days, 2 hours for one day, and 1 day of rest from meditation. This cycle will continue for rest of your stay here. Of course you would benefit by meditating as much as possible so I encourage you to do so.¡± ¡°As for martial arts,¡± said Taron, grabbing Serina, ¡°Serina will be your instructor on basic martial arts, and you will accompany her on her hunts once a week for now, to eventually progress to everyday. Of course this is just the tentative plan for now. Much will be changed depending on how fast you progress with your training.¡± Taron seemed like he was done with the briefing, but upon looking at Serina, he hastily looked at Calb, and said, ¡°One last thing, this little brat has a tendency of giving other disciples her chores¡­be sure you don¡¯t get tricked into doing her chores. I¡¯ve lost many disciples because of her schemes!¡± ¡°Ugg..hmmpf! Oh grandpa I am heartbroken! I can¡¯t believe you would say something so terrible about your own granddaughter. I wouldn¡¯t do such a thing to Calb. I like Calb. Don¡¯t you know that your other disciples were just plain bad and lazy? I¡¯ve done you a favor in getting rid of them for you, you know.¡± ¡°Troyst was a good disciple!¡± Yelled Taron. ¡°He was disciplined and he had the most talent of all of the disciples I have had in the last ten years, but he left because you kept on bullying him!¡± ¡°Grandpa! That trash was just that, a trash. He only pretended to be diligent when you were around to make himself look good in your eyes, but when we went out to hunt or do other work that you assigned us, he always tried to do little as possible. You should be glad that I got rid of him for you!¡± ¡°That¡¯s just your story, and besides,¡± said Taron, turning to look at Calb. ¡°You did hear it from the cat¡¯s mouth didn¡¯t you Calb? She¡¯s a mean one. So you better watch out! You saw how she roughed up that poor ringbo didn¡¯t you? Did you think that was a correct method of handling ringbo? No Sir! No sir indeed. She beat that poor ringbo to a pulp because she liked it! That¡¯s how she chased away all the other disciples, being rough with them!¡± ¡°Grandpa! That is not true!¡± Looking flustered, she looked back and forth between the two men, and finally looking at Calb, she said, ¡°Calb, don¡¯t listen to this old geezer! He is lying!¡± She then sharply turned to her grandpa to defiantly stick her tongue out. Then she stomped her way into her room. Taron silently laughed and pulled Calb over to talk to him quietly. ¡°That is how you handle a woman like her, you better remember that.¡± Taron giggled to no end, and in the middle of his giggle fits, he said, ¡°You better get some rest tonight. Starting tomorrow, your day may seem like living hell! Heh heh heh.¡± Taron continued his giggles and waved Calb to his room. Calb listened to Taron and went in his room, and not a second went by, that face that was uncontrollably giggling just a second ago changed to a frown. Something was on Taron¡¯s mind. ¡°I guess things are about to start to turn sour soon. I had hoped I would be lucky enough to not have to deal with what is about to come, but I guess I was hoping for too much. Do I have enough time to train him before the worst gets here?¡± He looked at the stars and silently sighed in contemplation. --------------------------------------------------- There you have it folks! Taron is thinking of something unpleasant. I do not know whether you have noticed or not, but Taron do not always provide "all" of the info on things. He sometimes gives just basic, minimum amount of info or sometimes gives half truths.... He was obviously hiding something from Calb and Serina. It may be that much of what Taron knows will never be revealed to the two until they..... I didn''t want to reveal too much before things happen :). However, next couple of chapters (I don''t know how many segments the two will have, but....) will have some surprises. Truth/secret about Calb will be revealed in these two chapters. I think many readers will appreciate what will be revealed.... Until next time!............. -----MooShoo----- 7. A New Recruit. Hello Readers! Here is the chapter, that I mentioned, that will shed some light in the mystery of what is going on with Calb. I am sure reading this chapter will make the mystery even more so, but all will be revealed real soon....enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°Listen up BRATS! You are now in NASA, North Academy Space Association. This is Earth¡¯s finest Space Academy that Galaxy Star Federation (GSF) has to offer!¡± Space Cadet Sergeant yelled at all the new recruits that signed up for space academy. The new recruits have been standing in the NASA Recruit Parade Ground for, already, an hour getting briefed on various functions of the military before this loud man walked up the podium to pound their eardrums. ¡°You maggots, when you graduate¡­correction, IF you graduate, will become one of the finest in our Galaxy! However, achievements don¡¯t come without a price. Starting today, every one of you will be getting one of these.¡± The Space Cadet Sergeant (SCS) brought up his forearm to show a device wrapped around his wrist. ¡°These are what are called PIDOs. PIDO is a Physiologically Integrated Dimensional Oracle. It is a space age personal computer that monitors your health as well as all the other functions a regular desktop computer can do at a much faster rate. It also serves as a dimensional storage device that can store any object as a data and reconverts stored data of the object back into the physical object upon recall. Lastly, it is an oracle that automatically scans unexplored lands and creates a map of those lands within minutes! Its main feature is that it can detect an enemy within a mile radius, show their current movements, and predict their movement based upon the geographical feature of the land with up to 80% accuracy.¡± ¡°This PIDO will be your lifesaver if you ever crash on an unknown planet crawling with hostiles. And you SISSIES out there, yeah you!¡± He sweeps his pointed finger at the new recruits and continued, ¡°You SISSIES that want to run away from your enemies while your comrades are duking it out with the enemy, this PIDO, though is wasted on you, will help you find a hole in the ground for you to hide in!¡± ¡°In order for these to work, we must implant a chip in your forearm where you will wear this PIDO over it. The chip is designed so that it will interact with PIDO, and at the same time, it coordinates with your nano-brain that was created with the injection of the nanobots before you all signed up with the GSF. Every one of you will be getting a chip in your forearm, no questions asked! However, upon discharge from NASA, these chips can and will be removed!¡± SCS paused to look at the recruits before continuing. ¡°Now, there are two different chips. First of the two chips is the one that is implanted underneath your skin, and it is also smaller than the other one. The other one, as I have just told you, is bigger, but unlike the smaller one, this one will not be covered by your skin. Instead, it will be like that of a skin graft in that it will become your second skin! Even though we are making you get these implants, you do have the option of choosing from either of these two chips. I am sure all of you can tell the obvious advantage of one and the disadvantage of the other in that one is bigger and visible while the other is smaller and is not readily visible. If given the choice, I am sure most, if not all of you would want the small and invisible one, ESPECIALLY YOU SISSIES!¡± SCS pointed at the crowd again. ¡°However, you SISSIES out there, listen and listen well!¡± continued SCS, ¡°You do have the option of choosing the smaller chip. However, the effectiveness of PIDO will be cut in half with the smaller chip. That means, when you SISSIES want to run with your tails between your legs, chances of you making out of the conflict alive would be depended upon whether you chose the big chip or the small one.¡± ¡°Now for you future heroes of GSF, this PIDO will be like a sidekick that you can¡¯t do without. If you want to shake the Galaxy with your terrifying presence, you can¡¯t afford to not implant the bigger chip!¡± At this point, SCS¡¯s tone changed from that of mocking and ridiculing to that of a sensational sales man targeting the hearts of all the vain individuals amongst the recruits, as he continued on for another 10 minutes telling the recruits about the advantage of the bigger chip. Any sensible individual would be able to tell that the NASA was out to sell its recruits this so called space age technology just by listening carefully to this obnoxious man standing in front of all the new recruits, and the fact of the matter was that the GSF was really pushing this PIDO made more effective by the ¡°bigger¡± chip to all the recruits as well as those already in the military. However, contrary to what many thought, such movement was not driven by money, but its actual usefulness out in the battlefield. GSF was in a corner, and it needed any advantage they can possibly have over the Filtons. After about another hour of the verbal abuse and initial brainwashing attempt by the SCS, half score of VIPs and military higher ups all gave short, little speeches to further brainwash the recruits of their valor and dedication to GSF. Calb sort of expected it, but after speaker after speakers pretty much saying the same thing, just in different manner, he was so glad when the last VIP finally had his say, and without any waste of time, they were moved to their temporary barracks. Though it¡¯s kind of crude to have been ¡°moved¡± to their temporary barracks, but that was the case. When they were gathered at the opening ceremony to listen to the speakers, it seemed to Calb that there weren¡¯t much order, as they were simply placed in line as they appeared. However, upon completion of the speeches, there were designated exit for the VIPs and the same for the new recruits. The VIPs were escorted to their personal vehicles, and the new recruits were lead to the large platforms with moving plates that individually carried each recruits to their destinations like as in conveyor belt, but much more technologically advanced. Initially, those moving plates were all heading in the same direction, creating an appearance of multiple heads moving in mass, but after a while, with emergence of separate lanes and exits, many were increasingly taken to the said lanes, and soon, mass became small groups, and small groups became select few as each individuals ended up in their intended barracks. Calb wondered what was going on. He couldn¡¯t tell how it was that the moving plates ¡°moved¡± everyone to where they were supposed to go. It was not like everyone was assigned to a specific moving plate, carrying them to where they were supposed to be. There was no such organization at the platform. They were rushed to the platform and were rushed onto the plates to be sent on their way without any kind of registration. The plates just knew who they were and took them to their respective barracks! Just as the others were taken to their respective barracks, Calb¡¯s plate also brought him to his barracks building. However, somehow, it seemed different from the other barracks. He had passed many fellow recruits that had reached their barracks before him, and it seemed like they were taken to big buildings, whereas his building was much smaller¡­and much more refined¡­more taken cared of. Also, there were many other recruits at those other, bigger buildings, but where he was, there weren¡¯t any other recruits besides him. He was alone! ¡°Maybe the plate that brought me here was malfunctioning,¡± thought Calb. ¡°Well, whatever the case, lets go in and see.¡± He walked over to the front of the building, and the door automatically opened for him. He definitely seemed out of place. ¡°Oh, you must be the new recruit?¡± asked the receptionist. ¡°Ah, yes, but I must have been brought to a wrong place. I was told I would be taken to the barracks building, but this place definitely does not look like barracks building to me.¡± Calb awkwardly turned to leave, but he was stopped by the receptionist. ¡°No..No! You are in the right place,¡± said the receptionist quickly. ¡°Tell me kid, what was your assimilation rate for your nanobot injection?¡± ¡°Umm, I had 100% assimilation. They told me it was rare for someone that was already grown to achieve that.¡± ¡°You are right indeed. It is very unusual for someone that has fully grown to achieve 100% assimilation, and the reason for you being here is because of that 100% assimilation!¡± The receptionist cheerfully smiled at Calb as he cleared Calb¡¯s doubt. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. What does my 100% assimilation of the nanobot injection have anything to do with me being here?¡± ¡°Well, you just came from the recruit parade ground right?¡± Nodded Calb. ¡°Then you have also listened to the guy talking about the PIDO right?¡± Calb nodded again. ¡°Tell me what you know then,¡± asked the receptionist ¡°Well, according to the Space Cadet Sergeant PIDO is equivalent to personal computer that monitors vital signs and is able to produce map of uncharted area up to a mile while having function to predict enemy movement. It also serves as a storage device. He said that it needs to interact with the chip that is implanted in the forearm in order for it to work, and that the bigger chip serving as the second skin, if chosen, will double the effectiveness of PIDO.¡± Calb summarized what he remembered. ¡°Okay, what he said is generally correct, but what he didn¡¯t tell you guys was the fact that the effectiveness of PIDO is also influenced by the assimilation ratio. Think about it. Why do you think the effectiveness of PIDO would increase by using the bigger chip? It provides a cleaner connection to the PIDO, and it also has greater surface area of contact with the PIDO. That can be guessed pretty easily. However, what about the chips coordinating with the nanobrain? What do you think makes the coordination between the chip and the nanobrain more effective? Don¡¯t you think that if your assimilation ratio is higher, the coordination between the chip and the nanobrain be that much more effective? In other words, your body will make much better use of PIDO as compared to others.¡± After hearing the receptionist¡¯s logic, Calb¡¯s face somewhat cleared of its confusion and doubt and changed to that of a sudden epiphany. ¡°Ahh¡­I understand!¡± Then with his next question, his face furrowed again. ¡°But what does that have to do with me being here?¡± As if he was reading Calb¡¯s mind, receptionist continued with unabated smile, ¡°I was getting there. I knew you would still have no idea. You see, the effectiveness of the PIDO increase so much with each percentage of assimilation that those with 100% assimilation are given preference in various jobs in the GSF. So in other words, you are a VIP, so to speak.¡± Continuing with his cheerful disposition, the receptionist looked at Calb briefly to observe his reaction before he said any more. ¡°Kid, you disappoint me,¡± said the receptionist with a frown. ¡°I was expecting some excitement or some haughty demeanor from you after hearing what I had to say, but you didn¡¯t bite.¡± Receptionist smiled again. ¡°The truth of the matter is that you are only a VIP when it comes to those that are from Earth, as 100% assimilation is not that rare among those living out in the space, as they get their nanobot injection when they are babies, thus guaranteeing 100% assimilation. So in that sense, if you were to ask me why you are being treated so nicely it would be perfectly normal.¡± ¡°So why am I?¡± asked Calb. ¡°Well, as for that, I don¡¯t think I am qualified to divulge that information to you right now,¡± said the receptionist with a friendly wink. ¡°Just enjoy your stay here for rest of the day, and come tomorrow, you will be briefed by the science officers regarding the VIP treatment. So go to that front desk and register to get your room key, and I will see you tomorrow if I am lucky!¡± The receptionist pointed to the front desk near the elevator. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Calb was relieved that he was at a right place, but the tone of the receptionist and his mannerism toward him didn¡¯t quite settle well with him. He knew something was up, but he had no way of knowing, and thus, all he could do was to do what he was told. So Calb signed in at the front desk and grabbed his room key. The next morning, he was awoken by the front desk, and was informed that he needed to report to the front desk. He was told that there will be someone there that will take him away for a briefing. He was given 30 minutes. Feeling nervous, Calb quickly got up and took his shower and got dressed. He had wished he had some time to eat, but he didn¡¯t want to be late for the briefing, so he decided to head straight down to the front desk to be on the safe side. Even though he was early, when he got out of the elevator, he found a woman in a military outfit standing by the front desk waiting for him, he guessed. Facing him, the woman addressed him, ¡°Are you Calb?¡± ¡°Yes,¡­I thought I was early, but I guess you have been waiting for me?¡± Calb didn¡¯t know what else to say. ¡°No, I just got here so I didn¡¯t wait long, and yes, you are early so don¡¯t feel bad. My name is Karen Forso. I am an engineer heading the PIDO project for the GSF. Nice to meet you.¡± She extended her hand. Shaking her hand, Calb responded, ¡°Nice to meet you. I am Calb Colbert¡­, a new recruit.¡± Calb felt kind of awkward at the formal greeting by the head engineer for the Galaxy Star Federation (GSF). He felt out of place, not having any kind of title to his name to return the greeting, and not knowing what to do, he just went with his status as a new recruit. ¡°Have you had chance to eat anything?¡± Karen asked, trying to make Calb more comfortable by initiating casual conversation. ¡°Umm, no actually,¡± replied Calb. ¡°To be frank, I was a bit nervous about what was going to happen to me, and I didn¡¯t want to be late so¡­.¡± ¡°Good!¡± Smiling Karen. ¡°Let me take you over to cafeteria, and we can eat while we talk. I didn¡¯t have a chance to eat breakfast either. I was working on my presentation for today. So shall we?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Karen lead Calb in the cafeteria, and she was trying to find a spot to speak privately, but it being a military facility it was very difficult, as there were already many soldiers from various different companies coming in and out before the start of the day. In fact, for some, their day had already started, as they were coming back from morning workout. ¡°Well, it looks like it may be a while before we can find a quiet table, so why don¡¯t we first get our meal and enjoy it while we wait for a private table?¡± suggested Karen. ¡°That sounds good, but I think I left my wallet in my room¡­.¡± Calb felt ashamed. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to worry about your ID. You just write your name on the roster over there, and I can sign you in,¡± smiled Karen. ¡°It takes a while for people to get used to military lifestyle, and for someone that just got in yesterday, I am sure you will make plenty of mistakes. I am not sure what was told to you, but everything in here is free, and you can grab as much as you want. Of course I would only grab what you can eat now and perhaps a little something for a snack later.¡± The cafeteria was pretty much automated where the meals were on a conveyor belt for people to pick up if they wanted it, but at the same time, there were cafeteria ladies that cooked meals to the likings of those that wanted something more fresh or those that had particular style of eggs that they liked. Also, there were various vending machines that had stocked items from beverages to snacks and condiments, and all anyone had to do was simply push a button and out it came. Surprisingly, there were also fresh fruits near the table where the rosters were. Fresh fruits were almost a rare commodity, as Calb only had access to fruits in cans or in plastic containers when he was growing up. Calb knew, for sure, what he definitely won¡¯t forget to grab! Military cafeteria certainly is not a luxury restaurant where one can have fancy meals and such, but one thing about military is that they are well funded, and they do not skimp on their meals. They keep their cafeteria full of reasonable amount of assortments of food, and for Calb, being an orphan, what he saw at that moment was more than what he imagined he would ever get to eat in his lifetime. With the prospect of filing his empty stomach with all the things that he had wished as a kid and a smile of a nice lady waiting by the roster table, the nervousness that he felt when he first got out of the elevator faded away like it never happened. There definitely was something about food that sets people at ease. ¡°Did you get all you wanted?¡± asked Karen. ¡°Yep!¡± Smiled Calb. ¡°Good. By the way, while you were getting your meal, I reserved us a table at a quiet place over there.¡± She pointed at a table near, what appeared to be, tables reserved for the staff of the academy. Karen had already grabbed her meal and placed her plate on the table. ¡°Wow, I must have taken some time to get my food,¡± said Calb, feeling a bit guilty for taking his time to look at all that the cafeteria had to offer. ¡°Nah, I just knew what I wanted. I have been eating here for a long time, you know. Plus, I am pretty predictable in that I eat same thing every morning. Even though they have some varieties here, after a while, it¡¯s all the same,¡± pouted Karen. ¡°Let¡¯s go sit.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Karen gave Calb some time to eat before she revealed the reason for her visit. As she had already informed Calb, she was an engineer in charge of the PIDO project. For a while, GSF was looking into an idea of further developing the effectiveness of PIDO, and what resulted was the chip system coordinating with the nanobrain, but they realized the limitation of the chip system in that coordination between PIDO and the nanobrain was not as fast as they had hoped, as they were using the chip as a bridge to connect the two. What they really wanted was a direct coordination between the two rather than having to depend on the chips. In other words, they were trying to find a way to make PIDO into an implant itself. The problem with that idea was that body¡¯s own electric polarity, as well as biorhythm from blood circulation caused disruption of electric circuits in PIDO. As such, they had to develop a whole new PIDO based predominately upon nanobots. However, that option had its own drawback in that the nanobots, when introduced into the candidate¡¯s forearm, couldn¡¯t fully assimilate into the nerves of that region. Instead, the nanobots ended up spreading throughout the whole body, thus effectively, shutting down PIDO. Karen, as the originator of the PIDO, she was trying to solve the assimilation problem when she heard of a candidate with the 100% assimilation of a nanobot injection as a fully grown adult. She had pulled all the files available concerning Calb, and she had also studied the reactions of the nanobots, from multiple angles, as they interacted with Calb¡¯s nervous system. The result of her study? It wasn¡¯t conclusive, but she was fairly confident that there was something unique about Calb¡¯s DNA that allowed the nanobots to ¡°settle¡± where they were introduced. In Karen¡¯s eyes, even though this was not a complete solution to assimilation failure in terms of the adaptation for all of the candidates, at least in this one individual, adaptation was a possibility! That was the reason for her visit with Calb, and that was the reason for Calb¡¯s VIP treatment. ¡°So what do you say Calb? Would you be willing to try this out?¡± asked Karen. ¡°There won¡¯t be any danger to your life, as there have been many other candidates that have gone through this procedure without any danger to their lives. We were able to retrieve nonessential nanobots out of their bodies without any complication. It is just that PIDO couldn¡¯t stay functional with the nanobots leaving the vicinity of the implant. However, with you, the chances are great that the nanobots will stay in the vicinity of the implant, thus making PIDO functional.¡± ¡°Well, I guess I sort of understand where you are coming from, but aren¡¯t there others that have achieved 100% assimilation as well? I was told that there were numerous individuals that were born out in space with 100% assimilation.¡± ¡°You are right Calb, but at the same time you are wrong. You see, the reason why they were successful at 100% assimilation was because they were injected with the nanobots before their body, especially their nervous system, fully matured. If we can implant PIDO in a little baby we would definitely do that, but that is not possible. First of all, PIDO is fairly large. Too large that it can¡¯t possibly be implanted into such a small forearm. Second reason is the matter of ethics. We don¡¯t see any problem of injecting nanobots that were designed to produce second set of brain for the purposes of human enhancement and language proficiency, but implanting a device designed for usage in warfare in a minor is unethical. No, we must be able to implant PIDO into an adult, and in that sense, the fact that they were able to be assimilated when they were young does not mean anything anymore, when it comes to their ability to be assimilated as an adult. In other words, even for them, they are, in a sense, back to zero. You, however, having achieved assimilation as an adult, is highly likely to succeed at assimilation for PIDO as well. Do you follow?¡± ¡°I think so. At least it sounds reasonable.¡± ¡°Of course it does! I am a genius you know,¡± Karen gave a sly smile. ¡°You say the effectiveness of PIDO will increase tremendously as a result, if this succeeds?¡± ¡°Yes. Currently, the most efficiency we were able to record was 2.2 time the effectiveness of the small chip. As I have said, those chips serve as a bridge between the nanobrain and PIDO. With the elimination of that bridge, in other words, direct communication between nanobrain and PIDO, the effectiveness will quadruple that of the small chip! That means your PIDO will be able to map out a distance of 2 miles radius versus 1 mile radius by the big chip and .5 miles radius by the small chip, not to mention the increase in the processing speed. Can you imagine how much of an advantage you will have over those that can at maximum see only a mile out?¡± ¡°Yes, I can see how that would be very useful.¡± ¡°So what do you say?¡± ¡°I say yes!¡± smiled Calb. ¡°Calb! Get up you sleepyhead!¡± Yelled Serina. ¡°It is about time we head back!¡± ---------------------------------------------------------------- There you have it folks! Now, some of you may be wondering why I started a chapter about Calb''s recruit days. Is it one of those flashbacks? If so, how significant/necessary are the flashbacks? Once you catch on to the pattern, I think you will appreciate the anticipation that such flashbacks provide for the upcoming chapters.... :) This chapter talked about a little hardware only Calb was capable of obtaining. In other words, this is a little segment where author has the privilege of making the protagonist just a little bit "special" :) Though I didn''t go through the whole process of implanting the PIDO on Calb as I have with his nanobot injection in the prior chapter, I think everyone understood that Calb, indeed, was successful in achieving 100% assimilation for PIDO-bots. So what is the significance of this development? Do I need to say? :) Ummm....I will be taking a pretty long break this time...I think.... So....until next time.....:) -----MooShoo----- Authors Corner 3 Hello Readers! I have combined my chapter segments, as it was suggested by one of the readers. I didn''t really realize that I would, then, end up erasing a lot of replies/posts that were posted on the deleted chapter segments. For those of you that posted something in the chapter segments that I have erased....be assured that I have read them and appreciated them! This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. As for what is to come.... I can''t promise you that I will no longer write chapters in segments, but I will make my best attempt to not write chapter segments. Thanks! :) ----MooShoo---- 8. A New Power Hello Readers! It has been a while since the last chapter. So here is the promised chapter that will reveal a bit more of Calb''s secret and what is really going on with his body. Enjoy! :) ------------------------------------------------------ It has been 4 months since Calb was taken in by Taron to learn the way of the martial artists. Calb realized real quickly that the life of a martial artist in the world of magic was not as easy as he would have guessed. Having lived a military lifestyle for most of his previous life, he was not foreign to a life of discipline and training. However, his new life in the world of magic as an apprentice martial artist proved to be challenging in that his new lifestyle required discipline of a different sort. Gone were the days where he could get a meal simply by just pressing few buttons. But instead, he had to learn how to cook, as he and Serina took turns cooking. The problem with that arrangement was that he had never cooked before in his life, not to mention his lack of familiarity with the cooking utensils and unfamiliar herbs and spices of his new world. What resulted was that when he messed up a meal, he was forced to eat the messed up meal for the next few meals by himself while Serina and Taron enjoyed newly cooked meals properly made by Serina herself. Why? Food was not so plentiful out in the mountains, as he was accustomed to, while in space, as an all important, legendary Commander Calb Colbert. There was no wasting of food allowed, especially when he was, now, a lowly junior disciple, a peon, with less than adequate amount of mana to the point of being a cripple! Almost. He missed the technologically efficient beds that healed away the aches and pains of the day prior by simply sleeping away the pain to wake up the next day all refreshed. Not only had he had to sleep on the hard floor with bare minimum cushion, his aches and pains from the day prior only added onto the ever increasing toll on the body brought on by new aches and pains of the brand new day. To Calb, a man that was 70% machine before he came to this new world where he is, now, 100% flesh and bones, the daily aches and pains of training seemed like a long forgotten nightmare revisited. Of course, problems relating to basic necessities of life, above, weren¡¯t the only things Calb missed. He missed something that is only allowed in the weightlessness of the outer space. He missed pressurized thermal bath chambers which allowed him to get a nice, refreshing warm baths while gently floating in midair, as his bath, now, consisted of sitting underneath a cold waterfall, as a training method to trying to learn to utilize mana to instantaneously convert cold water into warm water. The problem with this arrangement was the fact that the water was not stationary, as they all had to flow downstream. That meant, no matter how much he converted the cold water into hot, unless he was able to instantaneously convert it, he would gain no benefit from the newly ¡°warmed¡± water, as it would be downstream of him, already, by the time he could properly enjoy the warmth. Any sane, intelligent individual would know that such task was impossible, but that would be the case of an individual living in a scientific world. Calb was, now, in a world of magic where greater acquisition of mana depended upon him being ¡°in tuned¡± with the nature. So what does that mean? Of course Calb had no idea what that meant, as he had been pondering about that concept for the past 4 months. However, he did make a slight progress in that he had learned that his initial understanding of the problem, as presented above, was not quite correct. Initially, he was brooding about how to turn the cold water into warm water, which was logical. However, as already mentioned, logics of the scientific world does not necessarily work in the world of magic. Once he understood that concept, he was able to realize that he was going about it all wrong. What he should have been focusing on was the question of, ¡°How to make the cold water not cold?¡± If said in another way, the question would be, ¡°How to make it so that coldness of the water is not felt?¡± If taken even further, ¡°How to make it so that the coldness of the water is felt warm instead?¡± This is where the concept of being ¡°in tuned¡± with the nature is so paramount. When an individual is ¡°in tuned¡± with the nature, affects of (coming from) the nature, produced/introduced upon the individual, is not effect, but it becomes affect, as the said individual is now one with the nature. In other words, whatever affects the nature affects the individual. If taken a bit further, whatever affects the nature, an individual that is one with the nature can make it so that the affect is reversed. So, for example, water from the waterfall is cold, and for, whatever the reason, something affected nature to produce that cold water. As a recipient of that cold water, upon the body, an individual that is one with the nature will naturally feel the coldness of the water, as the individual is also affected by that something. However, since the individual is one with the nature, that individual can negate that coldness by way of obliviousness. In other words, ignoring the temperature sensor, just as how an individual can sense clothing on his/her body, but do not sense it constantly the whole time s/he is wearing the clothing. It is only when the individual focus his/her mind on the clothing does s/he sense the clothing. So does it mean that the secret to being in tuned with nature, with the respect to the coldness of the water, is ignoring the cold? No. When an individual is one with the nature, one does not have to consciously ignore the cold, just as an individual do not consciously choose to ignore the sensation of clothing. No, it just happens. In summary, an individual with individual consciousness joins collective consciousness of the nature to become the new collective consciousness, and the process of ignoring the cold is done while still part of that new collective consciousness, not the individual consciousness before the ¡°in tuning¡± with the nature¡­before becoming that new collective consciousness. Understanding of this concept of joint consciousness is the reason for the disparity between two individuals where one believes nature is alive with a soul of its own versus the other not believing in nature¡¯s soul. In other words, one must first accept the fact that nature (or the whole Plane) is a sentient being with its own soul, before one can truly be ¡°in tuned¡± with nature, and it is that ¡°in tunedness¡± that determines how readily nature¡¯s mana enters an individual and infuse with the individual, rather than simply passing through an individual. So the disparity of the two individuals is clear in that former will gather mana more optimally, versus the latter that do not believe in the nature¡¯s soul. If looking at this from relationship point of view, being in tuned with nature, or that of a Plane, is a fellowship shared between two souls at the most intimate level. With that said, would it be so difficult to understand that mana shared between two souls would be so much more efficient and abundant between two souls where the fellowship between the two is at such intimate level versus fellowship with others where the fellowship is not so intimate? The former is a fellowship established after both accepting each other as sentient beings whereas the latter is a fellowship established where the one side does not accept the sentient status of another. How can there not be such drastic disparity between the two different groups with regards to gathering and utilization of mana? With regards to above, Calb, unfortunately, has not made much progress. Though his hard work at learning to meditate paid off greatly in that he had learned to sense, gather, and utilize mana, he still was nowhere near proficient at it like that of an average martial artist, and compared to a master level martial artist¡­, he has got a long way to go yet! Of course it could be understandable if looked from the stand point of an individual that had lived, practically, a lifetime in the world of science to only just started to live in the world of magic four months ago. How easy is it to forget about laws and logics gathered through one lifetime to start over in a new world that had new laws and logics of its own? It certainly was not easy for Calb. On the bright side, Calb has progressed fairly well in terms of his martial arts training. It turned out that Serina wasn¡¯t all giggles and fun. When it came to martial arts, she was very serious and it reflected in the amount of effort she put in during her training hours. It can be assured that her seriousness had a positive impact on Calb. He couldn¡¯t afford to be outdone by Serina. Calb wanted her to see him as her equal, not as someone that had to depend on her for safety. Of course, from a shallow perspective, such decision could make Calb seem like that of a man that didn¡¯t want to be taken cared of by a woman, but the motivation behind Calb¡¯s mentality was far from that. As Calb saw it, Serina was someone he wanted to protect. Again, his desire was not stemming from a male¡¯s egotistical stand on ¡°needing¡± to protect his ¡°woman.¡± No, his desire stemmed purely from his equalitarian view on relationship, but not necessarily based on what is traditional. From his stand point, he believed that a man and a woman both had an obligation to protect each other. That means whenever they are in danger, it is not Serina that does all the protecting, but Calb must be able to hold his own and come to her aid if the situation allowed, and vise versa. In other words, Calb wanted to be someone that Serina could also depend on for her safety. Calb wanted a mutual respect to be the center point of their relationship. Over the past four months, Serina and Calb got to know each other well, and once Calb digested all the different way of doing things, as well as some improvements in his mana manipulation and his martial arts training, he became more talkative and relaxed enough to joke around with Serina, but of course, no one was more laid back and cheerful than Serina. Calb enjoyed that aspect of her the most, and he was evermore thankful of his second chance at life as a result. As for hunting, Calb was appreciative of the fact that he was the one that was hunting the animals instead of the other way around. In fact, he has become proficient enough that he was capable of going out to hunt by himself, but for the sake of training, Serina usually went out with him. Currently they were on their way back from two day¡¯s hunting trip to the northern side of the Imea Mountains. They had decided to take a little breather to give Calb some chance to rest, as he ended up hauling all the games that they caught because he had lost a bet to see who would catch the most by the pound. Not to be beaten, Serina made sure to put in 100% effort in catching her share, thus, Calb never had the chance in the first place. Feeling sorry for Calb, she had suggested a little meditation break to give Calb excuse to rest, but he ended up falling asleep instead! Today wasn¡¯t meant to be Calb¡¯s day, as Serina just gained another little thing to tease him about. ¡°Calb! Get up you sleepyhead!¡± Yelled Serina. ¡°It is about time we head back!¡± ¡°Oh, sorry Serina, I fell asleep a bit. I don¡¯t know what was wrong with me.¡± Calb quickly pushed himself off of the tree that he fell asleep on, and knowing what was to come, he immediately added, ¡°It must have been all the extra weight I had to pull since someone was very adamant about not losing today¡¯s bet. If I didn¡¯t know any better, that someone was still bothered about losing the bet to a rookie last time. I didn¡¯t realize that person was such a sore loser. I think I may have to reevaluate my opinion of that someone¡­Hmmf Hmmf...¡± Calb acted aloof as he looked away into the horizon to drive in the finishing touch to the countermeasure to Serina¡¯s would be thwarted tease. ¡°You think you pulled one over on me huh OLD MAN?¡± Serina had taken notice of how, recently, Calb had been a bit sensitive in his reaction whenever she called him ¡°old man.¡± She was sure that it didn¡¯t bother him before, but something changed in him to be a bit more self-conscious about it. She didn¡¯t want to pull this weapon out, but since she was denied of her chance to tease him, she couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know, that no matter how heavy the load, if you had better efficiency in manipulating your mana, it wouldn¡¯t tire you out as much.¡± She straightened herself a bit more to pull out her next weapon, ¡°Do you want me to show you how it is done? I will pull the load rest of the way, and you can see for yourself how much of a difference a more proficient mana manipulation makes.¡± Now that she had delivered her punch, she knew that Calb was lost. She looked at Calb expectantly, and not to be denied, he took the bait. Calb held his hand up with his palm facing her and said, ¡°Nope. It is not necessary. A bet is a bet. I won¡¯t let you pull an inch of what is supposed to be my loss.¡± He got up real quick to grab the games and started walking again. He knew in his heart that he had lost this little battle of the wits¡­again. He helplessly shook his head, subtly, thinking about how Serina got her thumb all over him, but at the same time, he laughed in his heart thinking about the joy of his life. As for Serina, she appreciated Calb for being a good sport. In the past 4 months, Serina found that Calb was different from other guys she had met in the past. It was not just the fact that he represented a male from whole different world with whole new set of values. She saw in Calb a gentle old soul that seemed to look through the general fa?ade of everyday life that everyone hides under to see the real person behind the mask, and he treats everyone according to their real self. Of course, the fact that he had been a 90 years old man in his old world had no bearing in the ¡°old soul¡± that she saw in Calb because in terms of actual age, their souls didn¡¯t differ much due to difference in the rate of physical growth between the two worlds. No, she was thinking such in terms of quality of his soul, as if maturity was added unto Calb¡¯s soul. The fact that he let her win this little banter of the wits with such giving attitude was a plus in her heart toward Calb. She quickly caught up to Calb and asked, ¡°So what were you dreaming about this time?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Calb looked surprised. ¡°How did you know I was dreaming?¡± ¡°I just took a wild guess, you see. For some reason, watching you sleep today reminded me of that time when we first found you sleeping on that boulder. I didn¡¯t tell you this before, but you were drooling while you were sleeping with your mouth open. You looked quite silly that time, you know, and you had the same look just few minutes ago that took me back to that time. Maybe I should call you Mr. Drools from now on huh?¡± Serina giggled while looking at Calb questioningly. ¡°No..no. I don¡¯t think I can take another nickname from you. You have come up with enough as it is,¡± replied Calb with an uncomfortable laugh, thinking about how pathetic he might have appeared to Serina. ¡°I dreamt of my military academy days.¡± Calb quickly continued on with Serina¡¯s original question to bury the unsightly reminder of his uncoolness of few minutes ago. ¡°Academy days huh?¡± Serina looked at Calb with interest. ¡°Yeah, it was when I first got in the academy. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I just knew I had to get in. There were many of us that signed up, and they had many speakers talking to us on the very first day. I thought I was gonna die of boredom, but I got through it. I don¡¯t recall much, but I do remember this jerk of an instructor that was talking down to us, and he was talking to us about our PI¡­our wrist pads with some neat¡­umm magics¡­in terms of this world¡¯s way of speaking I suppose.¡± Stolen story; please report. ¡°Oh? Why don¡¯t you tell me about it. What did it do?¡± Serina¡¯s interest clearly peaked when she heard Calb mentioning about ¡°magic¡± of his world. ¡°Well, it was a small metal device that everyone wore around their wrist, but I had it implanted in my wrist instead. They said that by having it implanted in me instead my device would function better than others, and boy, were they right.¡± Calb was about to continue with the explanation, but he realized that he had a rare chance to make himself look good in front of Serina so he went on a little tangent. He straightened his body and said, ¡°They told me I was special you know. No one but me was able to have that device implanted into the wrist because it would not function well in others. As such, on the very first day, they had assigned everyone else to sleep at some poorly taken cared of building while they gave me a fancy place¡­¡± Before Calb can finish patting himself on the back, Serina elbowed him and said, ¡°I asked you to tell me about the magic device, and not about your ¡®oh I am so special¡¯ speech. Do you think I care one way or another about how you were so special in your old world? Huh, oh Legendary Commander Calb Colbert?¡± Serina gave Calb one of her teasing, ¡°I don¡¯t care¡± look. ¡°As expected of you, you won¡¯t even let me look good for even a second before you have to knock me down huh?¡± Seeing Serina continue giving him her ¡°I don¡¯t care¡± look, Calb shook his head with a sigh. ¡°Right¡­the magic device¡­.¡± Calb resumed talking about the PIDO and its functionality to Serina as they continued their way back to their little hut in the mountains. In a darkened room sat an old man facing a little hole in the floor, and in that hole was faint light of 5 different colors that escaped out of the mouth of the hole. The old man stuck his hand in the hole to retrieve the object that was emitting a green light, and what he brought out was a scroll. On that scroll was a bright green cord of light that kept the scroll bound, and with a light tap with two fingers on the cord of light, the light broke and the scroll opened on top of a table next to the little hole in the floor. Then, suddenly, what was, once, a blank paper lit up with colors and what resulted was a drawing with blue background and 5 islands. Taron looked intently at the 5 islands and after a brief scanning, he again tapped with his two fingers on one of the islands with a beacon, and the island with a beacon expanded while the other 4 islands gradually shrunk and shifted to the corner of the scroll. On top of this newly expanded island was a word Dan, and inside of the island were drawings of 5 towers spread around the island. The beacon of light was right on top of one of the 5 towers. ¡°Marina, what are you doing over there? Your daughter is nearly ready to leave this continent to look for you, thinking she will find you in one of the four continents, and yet you are not even on the same Plane anymore. Are you on your way to God¡¯s Courtyard? You had told me you wouldn¡¯t go further than the Plane of Magic, but you are now on the Plane of the Beast! What is going on in that head of yours¡­, and what is Hernig doing? Trouble¡¯s brewing Marina, in all of the Planes. You had better find Hernig soon before things get too big for you two to handle!¡± Taron couldn¡¯t help but to worry about his daughter and his son in law Hernig. Taron, as an overseer of the Intercontinental Tower, had the means of tracking everyone that he had given the Blessing of Ascension, and even though anyone with the means of challenging the tower can utilize the tower, only those with the Blessing of Ascension from the five continents had the means of traveling to the Plane of next level. Naturally, Taron gave his Blessing of Ascension to his daughter that went looking for her husband. However, in case of Hernig, Taron had somehow lost all trace of his beacon. It was a result of a very rare malfunction of the tower where the traveler gets sent to another Plane without getting all the required Blessings of Ascension. In such occurrence, due to break in sequence of the Blessings, any trace from the Blessings prior to the malfunction gets erased. Unfortunately, for Hernig, the malfunction happened with the very first Intercontinental Tower that he accessed. That means, even before he had the chance to explore the other 4 continents of the Plane of Martial Arts, he was sent to another Plane! That meant Marina was faced with overwhelmingly time consuming task of visiting every single overseers on all the other Planes she visits in order to pick up the trail from where her husband left off! ¡°Grandpa, we are home!¡± Caught off-guard, Taron quickly rerolled the scroll, and with his thumb, he circumscribed the scroll to recreate the green cord of light to reseal the scroll. Once that was done, he quickly returned the scroll in the hole, and he placed a palm of his hand on the opening of the hole to close the hole to resemble that of a solid floor again. As soon as the floor returned to its original arrangement, Taron sat in a meditative posture, and leisurely turned his head to the door when Serina opened the door to his room. ¡°What are you doing in the dark grandpa?¡± ¡°Oh, I was just trying something new. I was trying to see whether I could find a better way for Calb to improve upon his meditation. Of course, it may be still a while, yet, before he can actually utilize it, but preparation never hurts!¡± Like a seasoned master, Taron turned his little excuse into a note of a lesson. ¡°Phmmf! Who do you think you are fooling grandpa? You were asleep weren¡¯t you?¡± Serina shook her head with a sign of pity, and before he could respond, she turned around and yelled to Calb while in the process of walking out to the yard. ¡°Calb, guess who else was caught sleeping today? I must say, master and his second disciple are like two peas in a pod. What is our martial arts world coming to when both master and his disciple feign meditation while sleeping?! Shame on you grandpa!¡± Serina¡¯s justified tone of reproach echoed inside Taron¡¯s room. Normally, when hearing a report of one of his disciples falling asleep while in meditation, he would get in the mood for a little punishment, as such is one of the perks of being a master, but today, he was caught in a bind where he couldn¡¯t afford to dish out punishment to Calb, as he had just been, groundlessly, accused of doing the same! ¡°That little brat¡­.¡± Taron could only shake his head in shame with a laugh. ¡°Alright, Calb, show me how much you improved this last week. I want you to spar with Serina.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± ¡°Yes grandpa.¡± The two disciples stood in the grounds near the waterfall where they normally practiced their martial arts while Taron was sitting on a simple chair to observe the two. Even though Calb had made some progress, the difference in their levels was still obvious, therefore, the object of the spar was for Calb to land at least one hit on Serina. However, Calb would get the first two attacks to start off the spar. Thus far, Calb was only able to infuse his staff with enough amount of mana to defend adequately without being outstripped by Serina, and also, though he would be frequently pushed into a corner, he was able to offer up some counters to some of Serina¡¯s attacks. The two sparing partners faced each other. As they got in their attack stands, Taron immediately started the match with a yell, ¡°Start!¡± Not missing a beat, Calb rushed at Serina with the pointy end of the staff. As if anticipating his move, Serina half-stepped to the left and swatted down at the tip of Calb¡¯s staff. Her goal was to try to knock his staff down to the ground to fight off his first attack, but unexpected happened. She was expecting some resistance to her downward movement of the staff, but she hardly felt any resistance, but what she got instead was an ingenuous adaptation on Calb where, using the inertia of the force, he dug into the dirt, and while still hanging onto the staff, he flung himself, feet first, to Serina, trying to catch her off-guard. To dodge the attack, Serina also followed through on her staff stroke, and she too, using the tip of her staff as a fulcrum, initiated a cartwheel, but she did something additional in that she caught his feet in between her two legs and brought him to the ground with his face on the ground. Once she had him on the ground, she immediately, intending to strike back, struck down on his back with enough force to knock him unconscious. Calb, on the other hand, had no idea his improvisation would be countered so easily and was in, somewhat of a daze, but something told him he was about to be hit in the back, and not being completely out of option, he blindly brought his staff to his back with both of his hands just in time to block the finishing blow! THUD!!! ¡°Stop!¡± Yelled Taron. ¡°Serina¡¯s win! Break up and go back to the starting position!¡± Both combatants returned to the starting position. ¡°Start!¡± This time, Calb ran with his staff in the diagonal position, and as he got closer to Serina, he brought his staff back as if he was about to do a simple diagonal stroke with his staff, but instead, when his front tip, the attacking tip, reached his rear at the apex of his rewind, he didn¡¯t swing forward, but instead switched the attack pattern to that of a poking the face with the back end of the staff. It seemed like a good attack pattern, but unfortunately, Calb was too wide open, and all Serina had to do was duck while bringing her staff for a horizontal swing, and it was her win again. ¡°Stop!¡± Yelled Taron. ¡°Serina¡¯s win! Go back to the starting position!¡± ¡°Start!¡± This time, both combatants rushed to the middle. Calb had his staff pointing toward his front, near the ground, in diagonal fashion that would allow him to swing his staff up instead of from top to bottom. Serina, on the other hand, charged with simple pointing of her staff to Calb¡¯s stomach. It was a probing stroke. As he already had his staff ready for an upward sweep, that¡¯s exactly what he did. He hit Serina¡¯s staff hard from the bottom, hard enough to open up her defense. Once he did that, he followed through with a reverse kick aiming at her stomach, but she blocked his kick with her staff and allowed the kick to send her back to allow some distance between the two. Not wanting to allow the space to be created, Calb continued on with the kick by bringing tip of his staff in a reverse thrust, followed up by diagonal slash...,and that was the end of his assault. Serina solidly blocked his slash with a slash of her own, but her slash was made heavier with her mana. Calb was forced back with recoil hard enough to nearly jar his hand, and just as he was about to bring his staff back for an attack, he realized that he didn¡¯t have any room for attack. All he could do at the moment was to block¡­, and block¡­, and block. Calb was getting pushed and he hands were keep getting jarred with each block, and he was trying all he can to infuse as much mana as he can possibly muster, but his mana store was nearly running dry. With every stroke that he blocked, he exhausted big portion of his mana, and he knew deep down that he would soon lose the grip on his staff! Serina knew she was tiring Calb down. She had always known that once she started to attack with mana infused staff, he would be easily pushed and forced into losing his mana store. She struck left! She struck right! Soon she was just swinging her staff left and right in perfect rhythm without a worry of counter or solid defense. It was just a matter of time. She felt sorry for Calb, but battle was a serious matter, and once he had lost his edge and rhythm for defense, that would be the end, a routine ending¡­, just like all the other spars they have had up to this point. Calb knew he had finally exhausted all of his mana with that last block. Now, all he had left was pure physical power, whatever that was left. But he didn¡¯t want to lose like this again. Granted this was just a friendly spar, but he didn¡¯t want to lose as if he was a simple sparing dummy for Serina to bash near the end of a workout. He wanted to, at least, lose because he lacked skill, but not because he simply ran out of juice! As he was thinking of all these thoughts, he saw Serina staff coming at him from his right, and his luck was so miserably bad that even his supposed last attempt at blocking with all his might¡­.is to be done with his non-dominant arm! Not wanting to give up till the very last moment, he focused all of his will on this arm! He would exhaust all of his remaining energy on this one last block! Calb screamed at his left arm in his head. ¡°Left arm¡­¡± ¡°DON¡¯T¡­¡± Taron¡¯s eyes opened wide! He was expecting the usual end to a sparing match, but after Calb exhausted all of his mana, and was now struggling with his last ounce of strength, he started to see something unusual. As Calb swung his left arm forward to block Serina¡¯s stroke one last time, Calb¡¯s left forearm was shining with a bright flow of mana like back at the mountain path where he first met Calb! But this time, the brightness was twice that of the one on his neck. It was more concentrated, and its flow was so much more intense! ¡°FAIL ME¡­¡± Though Serina was not as sensitive as Taron, and thus, couldn¡¯t see the mana flow, she sensed something was amiss. She was pretty sure that this stroke would be the stroke that would make Calb lose his staff, and thus, end the spar with another win under her belt, but she felt uneasy somehow. Why was she feeling this mana flow!? She saw her staff heading in the perfect line, with the perfect power, and with perfect accuracy, but when the two staffs met¡­, ¡°NOW¡­!¡± <<<<< CR-ACK! >>>>> Serina¡¯s staff split into two! Small wood fragments burst out to the side, and the upper portion of Serina¡¯s staff flew straight toward Taron to land right below his feet. When Taron took a look at the broken upper portion, he saw that it was nearly cleaved in two with very minimum splinters, as if Calb¡¯s staff pulverized the whole section of the staff into powder as it pounded through the opposing wood. ¡°What was that!?¡± Serina had lost grips on her broken staff and fell forward due to sudden absence of resistance from Calb¡¯s staff as it, practically, mulched through her staff. She looked around to find her grandpa with wide eyes and Calb with his butt on the ground looking dazed. She noticed him looking at his left palm, as if he couldn¡¯t believe the sudden power surge from his left hand, but she quickly realized that he was looking at the wrong side. She saw some kind of elongated black crystal drawn on outside of Calb¡¯s forearm, going down the length of his left forearm to end at the back of his wrist. ¡°Calb, what is that thing on the back of your forearm?¡± Serina pointed at the drawing that she just spotted. ¡°Huh?¡± Calb was puzzled as he looked at his forearm. ¡°T-this is¡­this is a PIDO!?¡± ------------------------------------------------------------ There you have it folks! As promised, this chapter revealed a bit more of Calb''s secret. However, I am afraid it will take another chapter to really clarify what is really going on. I had a bit of dilemma about how I would include that into this chapter, and I decided that I couldn''t. So.....you will have to wait until next chapter. So, until next time...... ;) -----MooShoo----- 9. A Revealed Power In the afternoon, in which Serina and Calb returned from their hunt, they had their usual afternoon practice spar, in which Taron evaluated Calb¡¯s growth as a martial artist. Serina, being a veteran martial artist, was no match for Calb, but as a veteran and as Calb¡¯s personal trainer, she knew just how much force was too much for Calb. She also knew when Calb¡¯s mana had just about run out. It was at such moments that she would push Calb just a little bit more, to make him want to squeeze out that extra little heart felt cry for mana. What is the reason? In order to make Calb frustrated! Frustration is the key to success. It is a fuel that promotes personal growth, and it is a sole indication that one is alive! One can breathe the elixir of life and consume food of the Gods, but if one is never ignited by the sparks of frustration that says, ¡°There has got to be more to me than THIS,¡± that individual is no different from any other animals or beasts that roam the Earth. It would be just as well if that individual becomes a vegetable, to be swayed by the wind and grow only when the Sun comes out. Calb was tired of being helpless, and he was tired of being small in his mind¡¯s eye. He wanted to grow. He wanted to yell to the world that he is alive! He cried to his soul, berating it to give him just a little bit more mana, to make him feel alive! He yelled his heart out to give one more solid swing! <<<<<>>>>>> Calb felt a sudden warmth on his left wrist that quickly permeated to the rest of his body, and without knowing that he had it in him, sudden power surged to his legs and it ran up his spine, then to his arms, and what resulted was an overwhelming force that struck Serina¡¯s oncoming staff and pulverized its core as it split it into two parts. Surprised at what just happened, Calb took a look at his left arm to find the source of that fleeting warmth, and what he found was that he had, somehow, regained the lost technology from the world that he had left, the world of science. What he regained was the PIDO! However, this PIDO was a bit different from what he was used to, in that, there were no metal or any other solid implants. Instead, what he found was drawings of bunch of intricate lines and symbols that covered the exact same area that his original PIDO used to be. ¡°T-This is a PIDO?!¡± Calb cried out. Minus the general shape, it looked nowhere near how it used to look before, and the only reason he knew it was PIDO was because of an obscure sense of ¡°knowing¡± that had surfaced into his core, consciousness from the back of his neck. It was like he had reattached the sensation of PIDO that he had lost upon crossing over to this world, but at the same time, he felt that something was missing, thus the obscureness. ¡°Did you say PIDO? Isn¡¯t that magic device from your old world that you were talking to me about earlier?¡± asked Serina. ¡°Yeah, it is, but at the same time, it is not quite the same PIDO that I knew. PIDO that I was telling you about is a metal piece, but what is on my forearm is a drawing that somewhat resembles PIDO. I don¡¯t quite understand what is going on, but it is just my instinctual understanding?¡± Calb looked baffled. ¡°Hmmm, let me have a look at the drawing Calb.¡± Taron grabbed Calb¡¯s arm to have a closer look. He, first, touched the drawing, and then, he poked and pinched the drawing lightly. Finally, he put his palm on the drawing and concentrated. ¡°It appears to be some kind of a magical inscription. I can sense great gathering of mana around this drawing as if I would from another magical inscription. However, it gives off additional energy that is foreign to me. In addition, it seems like Calb¡¯s overall mana flow around his body has increased. What do you sense Calb?¡± After a brief pause, internally scanning his body, Calb answered, ¡°It is just as you have said. I definitely feel more mana around me, and it seems as if my internal mana pool has increased also¡­, and I have this understanding that it is a PIDO. Well, more accurately, it is as if I am back to my old self¡­as if, I regained the part of me that I have lost when I crossed over onto this world.¡± What Calb was explaining was the sensation of dependency that all human beings feel for something of theirs that they take for granted. For those individuals that have had prolonged career as soldier in the Galaxy Star Federation, having PIDO on their forearm became natural thing to them, and all the sensation, awareness, and habit forming behaviors that developed as a result of having PIDO on them for that extended period of time became like a second nature to them to the point of them forgetting that they weren¡¯t born with it. In other words, what Calb described was a sense of permanence of an exterior object that gets incorporated into our daily bodily senses, that if we lose that exterior object, for whatever reasons, would generate a sense of loss in our bodily senses as if portion of our body has been amputated. So, when we regain that lost exterior object, our body will, in a sense, celebrate reestablishment of that long forgotten exterior object being reincorporated into our daily bodily senses again. However, refamiliarization with the PIDO wasn¡¯t the only thing Calb was sensing at the moment. Calb was initially enveloped with intuitive understanding that there was more to this magic version of PIDO than the metallic nano-PIDO that he had been carrying around inside his forearm for 60 years in the scientific world. Nano-PIDO of world of science was a unique implant device that, due to its coordination with the nanobots from the nano-brain, allowed Calb to access big percentage of its functionality via thought only, but the fact still remained that he didn¡¯t have full access to all of its functionality, as it still required some input through physical contact. The same didn¡¯t apply for the magic version of PIDO. ¡°It definitely is a PIDO, but I have a general ¡®knowing¡¯ that there is more to this PIDO than what I was accustomed to with my old PIDO,¡± puzzled Calb. ¡°For example, I can access all the functionality of this PIDO with mere thought alone, whereas my old PIDO still required physical manipulation/access for many of its functions. Not only that, I can tell that there are additional functions to this PIDO, but for some reason, I am currently unable to unlock much of those functionalities. It is as if I don¡¯t meet the pre-requisite for unlocking certain capabilities in store. However, I do have full access to the basic functionalities.¡± ¡°What functionalities are you talking about?¡± asked Serina. ¡°Well, for instance, I am able to do this.¡± Calb turned his palm face up, and from his palm, a 3D holographic map of the surrounding came up for all to see. Taron and Serina was a bit startled by the holographic map, but at the same time, they were intrigued by what they saw. Looking at the holographic map, Serina shouted, ¡°Grandpa, this is a model of the Imea mountains! Look at the center, that is the Maze Canyon, and this is our house. There is the waterfall and the meadow down below¡­.¡± Serina pointed at all the familiar landmarks of importance to verify that what she was seeing was really the map of the surroundings. ¡°That¡¯s not all,¡± commented Calb as he brought up his finger to point at something in the map. As he pointed his finger, the model gradually changed to amplify the area where Calb pointed. ¡°Do you see this little dot? You see how it moves?¡± Calb looked at Serina. ¡°Yeah, you are right. It is moving. What is that Calb?¡± Serina asked while curiously looking at the moving dot. ¡°That is a boar. Here, let me zoom in.¡± The 3D image expanded in to show a general silhouette of an animal that resembled a boar. ¡°It won¡¯t zoom in any more than this, but I am sure you can make out an outline of a boar. See how it is digging around that boulder?¡± ¡°Yeah you are right. That boulder is the one where we saw bunch of hoof marks earlier today. We couldn¡¯t find the culprit that has been digging around that boulder, but there it is.¡± Serina looked amazed. ¡°So this thing is not just a model of the surroundings, but it can even track animals!¡± ¡°You know what that means right Serina?¡± Calb gave Serina a sly smile. ¡°Huh?¡± Serina was too preoccupied by the strange hologram that she couldn¡¯t quite catch on to what Calb was leading on. Calb stuck his chest out nonchalantly and said, ¡°I guess certain someone,¡± pointing his thumb at himself while feigning ignorance as he looked side to side as if he was trying to find that ¡®someone¡¯ he was referring to, ¡°will win all the hunting bets from now on don¡¯t you think so?¡± Calb continued his scanning of the imaginary person as he turned occasionally to look at Serina to give mischievous smile. Finally catching on, Serina retorted, ¡°Hmph, well, that certain someone can do all the hunting from now on since he will be so good at it won¡¯t he?¡± Serina looked straight at Calb to make a point. ¡°H-Hey, hey, hey¡­What are you looking at me for? I am looking for that certain someone still. Don¡¯t you see me looking? Hmpf! Besides, I am sure that certain someone still lack in other areas of hunting. R-right? Huh?¡± Calb started looking more uncomfortable by the second as he tried to come up with some deficiencies in his hunting skill. ¡°Oh, really? Then what was the thumb for? Huh?¡± Serina kept on boring at Calb with her eyes. ¡°What thumb are you talking about? Something was stuck in my wind pipe and I was kinda feeling it out with my finger. Hmmm¡­hmmm¡­HMMPH! T-there, I feel better now.¡± Before Serina could return with her response, Taron cut in. ¡°If you love birds are done squawking let¡¯s return the conversation back to what¡¯s more important shall we?¡± The two suddenly turned red and Calb was left wordless while Serina was struggling to find a right explanation to refute what was just said by her grandfather. ¡°What we need to figure out is,¡± Taron continued on, not wanting to be sucked into discussion of feigned denials. ¡°What is it doing here, and how it suddenly appeared on Calb¡¯s arm.¡± Relieved to be on a different topic, Calb responded, ¡°I think it has something to do with what God said. After the thing with my neck, God said that I will feel more of such moments further down the road, and this time felt sort of similar to the last time. Also, he told me that my mana cultivation will quicken with every new future ¡®moments,¡¯ and it seems to be the truth, as I feel like I have recovered much of my depleted mana quicker than usual today.¡± ¡°Hmmm, you are right. I do sense greater mana flow around you than before the spar,¡± commented Taron. ¡°So it seems we should be expecting more of this phenomenon in the future?¡± asked Serina. ¡°Right. That is my guess,¡± Calb responded with an unease look. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Calb?¡± Serina looked at Calb¡¯s disturbed face. ¡°Well, it seems like I am missing something. I felt like I almost had it, but I lost it. I had this aura of understanding, but as soon as I focused on it to get a better look, I lost it.¡± As if he understood the meaning behind what Calb was trying to say, Taron asked, ¡°Is it something related to the special circumstances in which God chose you? Didn¡¯t you say that God told you there is something special about you, how you are the only one that is capable of doing what He had planned?¡± ¡°Yes. It was related to that. I was just reminded of that line from God, then I was thinking about what made me special¡­then¡­.¡± At this point, Calb¡¯s eyes opened real wide and he had an epiphany. ¡°That¡¯s it! I know what is special about me!¡± ¡°Well, what is it, Mr. ¡®Oh I am so special?¡¯ Share with us.¡± Serina looked at Calb with a little, extra wide smile so that Calb wouldn¡¯t mistake the intended sarcasm. ¡°It is kind of ironic, really, but what makes me special are what I was self-conscious about back in my old world, and that is the fact that over 70% of my body was artificial. I have had numerous surgeries that replaced my original body parts because of the injuries acquired during my times in combat. I think that, since those artificial body parts became a part of who I am, they are manifesting themselves in my body in a form that is more compatible with this world, such as this inscription.¡± Calb looked at this forearm, falling into a little daydream about how something polar opposite to magic adapting itself into a conduit for mana. ¡°If that is so, why aren¡¯t there any changes in the rest of your body now? If 70% of your body was artificial, shouldn¡¯t we see more than what is shown on your forearm?¡± Taron asked, pondering more to himself than to the group. ¡°Well, I think that relates to what God told me about the ¡®future moments.¡¯ The impression that I got at that time was that there will be many more of these ¡®occurrences¡¯ in the future so my guess would be that, in time, I will regain rest of my artificial body parts.¡± ¡°Then I would guess the next obvious question would be to ask whether these so called body parts that are returned to you, though with modifications, are returned at random.¡± ¡°In regards to that, I am not sure, considering such happened only twice now, but it seems like the occurrences are following the order in which I obtained them, as the nanobrain was the very first thing I have obtained that was introduced inside of me, and PIDO was the very next.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Hmmm, interesting. Interesting indeed.¡± ¡°Okay, now that we got that problem solved, what else can it do?¡± Serina was brimming with anticipation as she stared at Calb¡¯s PIDO like a little kid seeing a brand new toy. She had gotten so comfortable with Calb that she nearly about claimed his arm as her own. As for Calb, he felt a bit uncomfortable, looking at Serina¡¯s face, at a realization that his arm can no longer be his and his alone, at least for a while anyway. The instant that he thought about its functionality, Calb was able to intuitively access the PIDO just as it was intended to be, back in the scientific world. As he scanned all the functionalities that he can currently access, he saw something interesting and looked at Serina with a smile. ¡°I can look and see, but before that, I can¡¯t give you my arm so you will have to settle for this.¡± Calb pointed his left index finger at Serina¡¯s arm and with but a minimum access to his mana, a red beam shot out of his finger onto Serina¡¯s arm like a flash! Serina felt a little tingle where the light hit her, and all of a sudden, weird sensation enveloped all over her body and a clear mark of miniature PIDO shined briefly and phased away into her skin at the initial sight of contact. As the PIDO signature disappeared into her skin, the sensation that overlapped her faded away also. ¡°W-wh-What did you do Calb?! Serina was frantic. She had experienced various forms of magic in her lifetime, but nothing ever entered her body and caused such a weird sensation. At this point, Serina acted like any normal human beings should when something unknown to her enters her body and causes a sensation she has never felt before, but she was not just any normal human being. She was a martial artist that honed her inner self to remain unfazed regardless of the surprise. She looked at Calb with a frightened face. No longer was she the confident and fearless martial artist that she prided in. Enjoying the new look of Serina, Calb calmly looked at her and said, ¡®This.¡¯ Calb smiled at her. ¡°Huh?¡± Serina looked at Calb with a surprised look and quickly turned her head to her right and then to her left. She then looked at Taron expectedly, and what she saw was a confused face of her grandfather. ¡°Did I miss something? Why are you looking at me like that?¡± asked Taron. ¡°You didn¡¯t hear that?¡± ¡°Hear what?¡± Taron was even more confused and looked at Calb to see whether he understood what his granddaughter was going on about, and what he saw was even more perplexing. Calb was smugly looking at Serina as if he was enjoying this unusual moment where all of Serina¡¯s perfect guard was broken. ¡°What did you do Calb?¡± Taron asked, unable to stand the confusion any longer. ¡°I just talked to her in my mind,¡± Calb replied with a smile. ¡°Huh? You talked to her with your mind?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°So that voice was yours?¡± Serina was flabbergasted. What people do not realize is that the voice of the people they hear is due to the inflexion caused as muscles around the vocal cord twist and slide to move the vocal cord. As such, there is no way a voice that is generated inside a person¡¯s mind would make a sound that is identical to what is generated from a physiological process. No wonder Serina was not able to pin point the source of the voice. ¡®Yep, that was me.¡¯ Calb looked at Serina and responded to her with his mind. Taron, too, was surprised at what he was hearing, but at the same time, he didn¡¯t know whether to believe it or not. Not knowing what to say, he looked back and forth between Serina and Calb, realizing something was happening between the two. ¡°You really answered! You really answered in my mind!¡± ¡°How can this be?¡± It was Taron¡¯s turn to be shocked out of his wits. ¡°I have never witnessed such magic before! Can you elaborate on its function?¡± ¡°Well, what I did was I shot her with a miniature copy of my PIDO, and it acts like a temporary transponder that will stay inside of her as long as I desire, or if Serina, forcefully, expel it out with her own mana. I said transponder, but it is a bit more than that. For example, I can communicate with Serina with my mind, and she can also respond with her mind as well. For now, that is all this will allow, but I suspect its functionality will evolve in time, perhaps when I am capable of accessing more mana? I am not quite sure about that aspect.¡± ¡°That is something to look forward to¡­.Do you have access to more functions, or was that the last one?¡± asked Taron. Even though Calb¡¯s demonstration of the PIDO made an impression on him, Taron was not too drawn to it except for the sake of information, but the demonstration of its communication utility was something that was so out of the ordinary that Taron was pressed to find whether there were any other unique functions stored in PIDO. ¡°Well, there seems to be many other functions, but most are not accessible right now, and out of those that are accessible, transponder was the most eye catching function. The remaining functions are just utility type functions such as storing of the physical objects as well as just plain information or knowledge, and, as you have seen already, visual projection of the surroundings. The key feature of the surround projection is that it can be used to predict movements of the animals or people appearing in the projection. Since it was mainly designed for the purpose of military campaign, it is supposed to predict enemy maneuvers.¡± ¡°Of course the most important thing that came out of this is that I have better mana flow, and I can also tell that my mana pool have increased, as well as the access of it. That means my combat prowess just got a little upgrade since I have more mana to utilize. In other words, I will make it more difficult for Serina to humiliate me during sparring times.¡± Calb finished the last part of the statement with a little self-satisfied smile. Seeing Calb¡¯s confidence getting a little boost from the new phenomenon, Serina couldn¡¯t resist to say, ¡°Oh ho! Our Calb just got a confidence boost. Wanna have a go again?¡± Serina¡¯s warrior spirit ignited. ¡°Are you sure you are ready for this Serina,¡° Calb pointed at himself with some of his usual flare from his old world, ¡±especially after you having let your guard down just a little while ago? Huh?¡± Calb shot back with a sly smile. ¡°W-Why are you talking nonsense? Who let who¡¯s guard down? I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.¡± Serina¡¯s face turned bright red due to embarrassment. ¡°Speaking of which,¡± Taron jumped in. ¡°You did let your guard down just a few minute ago didn¡¯t you? You got all flustered at the Calb¡¯s new skill and lost all your warrior¡¯s composure. And here I thought you were ready to go challenge the Continental Tower once again, but I guess I was wrong.¡± Taron gave Calb a wink. ¡°What are you talking about grandpa? I am ready. I have BEEN ready! I can go clear my way to the tower right now!¡± Serina, realizing her momentary weakness, frantically tried to regain her grandpa¡¯s confidence in her, and not seeing the desired response from Taron, Serina turned to Calb and said, ¡°Here, Calb. Let¡¯s have a go right now, and I¡¯ll prove to you grandpa that I am ready!¡± ¡°What will beating up someone that just started learning martial arts just a few months ago prove? Enough of this nonsense! Just face the fact that you have let down your guard. The fact that you let it happen means that you need more training! Besides, even if you are ready now, I won¡¯t send you off just yet. I have a mission for you. Actually, it is for the both of you. I need to send you two off on a little journey to the Chamea Falls, but the detail can wait until tomorrow. Go wash up for today and we can talk tomorrow.¡± ¡°Okay grandpa¡­.¡± Serina hesitantly turned toward the house. Just hearing what her grandpa had to say dampened any of her usual playful response that she would normally throw at her grandpa¡¯s orders. Chamea Falls is the location where the chief overseer of the Continental Towers was residing. As for him being the chief does not necessarily mean that he is most powerful of the five overseers, but because he was at the center most part of the Garmea continent, he was designated as the overseer that would keep all other overseers informed of all the pertinent information floating about in Garmea, thus the title of ¡°chief¡± being assigned to him. The fact that Taron was sending them to Chamea Falls meant that there is something important that was happening in Garmea. ¡°Oh, Calb, hold on a minute. Let me talk to you a little bit.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Besides what you have already said regarding that PIDO of yours, do you feel any different with your body or your feel of your surrounding?¡± ¡°Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit refreshed and at ease, as if my body had gotten lighter, but that is not exactly correct. It is almost like I am feeling something grander than myself. Not only that, field of view has changed a bit. It is as if things sort of slowed down for me. I can see every aspect of movements of any sort more clearly than before. For example, the birds flying over there¡­.¡± Calb pointed at a pair of birds flapping away from them at an angle. ¡°As of now, I can see every aspect of their wings, whereas before, I probably would see faint blurs where the wings are flapping due to the speed at which the birds flap their wings. My guess is that I am seeing little more of the details is because I am processing things at a faster rate than before.¡± ¡°So you see things a bit more distinctly¡­.¡± Taron looked up into the sky to consider something and he continued. ¡°Do you see anything else, maybe something that sort of connects your physical senses with what you see?¡± ¡°Emm¡­No. Not that I can tell.¡± ¡°I see. Okay, that just about does it for me. Go ahead and you get some rest too. It seems like you have gained much with the appearance of PIDO, and considering your lack of confidence resulted from having such a small amount of mana, this addition of extra mana should boost some of your confidence. However, just because your mana pool has increased, that does not mean that all of your skills will be upgraded with it. You still have to get used to the different amount of mana, and you also have to understand what changed inside of your body as a whole, resulting from that excess mana before you can produce higher performance that is befitting of your mana pool. Also, it is definitely a possibility that you may find some changes during your meditation. Something should feel a little different than usual. That is a natural result of sudden change in mana pool. Be sure to explore that aspect of your training too. Do you understand what I am getting at?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Good. I don¡¯t know what other kind of transformations you will experience in the future, but you will not always have someone like me to make you be aware of things at every step. As I have said, I am sending you and Serina on a trip to this place called Chamea Falls. It is a place that Serina have visited on few occasions so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems, but unforeseen things are known to happen from time to time. Though the distance is not that great, circumstances may pop up along the way may to make the trip be much longer than usual, and if any new developments arise within your body while on the journey, your ability to adjust to the change and making the new development work for you may save your life someday. Never take anything for granted. You must keep that in mind!¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± Calb turned around and headed for the waterfall. Unlike Serina, who took baths inside the house, he was still learning to be ¡°in tuned¡± with the nature and taking baths under the cold waterfall was the usual practice ever since his training began 4 months ago. Calb wished he would at least make some progress soon. At the rate he was going, he had doubt whether he would ever graduate from having waterfall as his private bath house. ¡®Enjoy your luxurious bath Ca~lb!¡¯ Serina was peaking outside of her bathhouse to see how long the two will talk, and when she saw Calb heading to the waterfall for his usual bath, she remembered the miniature PIDO. Not wanting to respond to Serina¡¯s tease, Calb withdrew the miniature PIDO from Serina. ------------------------------------------- Hello Readers! It has been a long time since my last post. I have had some very important thing to take care of so I had to concentrate solely on that task. I am done with that task, as of now, but I am afraid I won''t be posting my chapters like I have done in the past. Therefore, I will only make monthly posts from now on. I know many of you were waiting for the result of the new occurrence in Calb''s body, and I hope you enjoyed it! Until next time. -----MooShoo----- 10. A Departure Hello Readers! So I lied about the next post being a month from now. Actually, I suddenly gained some extra time, and I started writing and I just couldn''t stop. There are a lot of sensitive stuffs in this chapter folks! I cried a few times while writing because it was just so sad....Sniff Sniff :) Enjoy! ---------------------------------------------------- Calb stepped out of the waterfall with a renewed frustration. He had started his meditation like always. However, he felt as if he was doing it for the very first time. Calb understood that, in any task, there will be some off days and some good days, but today was an off day like no other. Nothing went right with his meditation tonight. In fact, he even stayed in the waterfall a little bit longer than usual, trying to get it right. The truth of the matter, though, was that even though he had felt like he hasn¡¯t made any progress during all these months, he realized his error. Because of the change that came over him due to the arrival of the PIDO, as well as the increased quantity of mana, his method of accessing the mana no longer was sufficient. In fact, it felt like his mana was being drained by the water running down over his body, as if somehow the water was sucking all the mana out of him, and he had no way of stopping it. What he realized from that experience was that, in contrast to what he have been thinking these past weeks and months, he had, unknowingly, established a ritual and a feel for the process. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t wholeheartedly denounce that he had not made any progress at all. So even though he was, initially, dissatisfied at his predicament of having to get in tuned with the nature, he was, at least, optimistic. However, for the fault of being somewhat of a perfectionist, not a second passed before he was pounced with another realization that PIDO, in effect, had made all the sweat and toils of past 4 months into near nothing because his body is no longer the same body that he had used to make the progress with. So in a way, he felt like he was starting from scratch. He had wanted to take a step forward, but he ended up taking a step backward instead. Calb, now, understood what Taron was telling him about earlier when he told him there would be some need for adjustments to the increased mana pool, in order for him to advance in his training. He had initially told Taron that he understood what he was telling him, but he now realized that he really didn¡¯t understand what Taron was talking about after all. Just thinking about the magnitude in which what Taron had said differed from what he thought he understood, Calb felt overwhelmed and discouraged. In order to shake off the, what seems like, a never ending cycles of frustrations and doubts, Calb walked down the road heading toward the valley. He wanted a change in scenery, and for some reason he thought of that place. He took a detour and entered a wooded forest, and after about an hour, he came to a small clearing on a mountain ridge. In actuality, it was a white rock formation about the size of a small hill surrounded by trees on all sides. Calb came to this spot often whenever he thought back on his life in the space. This lofty spot was an ideal spot for him to lie down and look at the stars. Even though he saw the stars every day of his life while living in space, there was something about looking out into the space from a planet, and even though he was now on a plane rather than a planet, the feeling of awe didn¡¯t differ at all. For some reason, tonight, he was being reminded of all of his glory days where he had everything at his disposal and had the confidence to do anything he thought of doing as the Legendary Commander of the Phoenix! Even though he would never want to go back to the old days, in real life, in this moment of insecurity, Calb half-heartedly wished he was back there again, if only for a couple of weeks. Even though he is at a right place in life, even though he gained a second chance at happiness, and even though he regained the second chance at love, he just felt so alone. ¡°Calb....¡± A deep and gentle voice echoed. ¡°Calb....¡± The gentle voice rang out again. ¡°Calb, the Lonely, hear my call.¡± Calb awoke at the voice of someone calling his name¡­, but he was not where he should be. He was lying on a bed of grass and wild flowers, and there were nothing but assortments of wild flowers in all directions from where he lay. And the sky¡­was nonexistent, just a white luminance. It was as if all things other than the field of grass and wild flowers did not exist. Calb got up and looked for the owner of the voice. Not seeing anyone, he yelled. ¡°WHERE ARE YOU?¡± ¡°I am right here.¡± The voice was neither far away nor near, but it still had the deep, dense tone that seems to come from all directions. ¡°I am the Warrior Lamea.¡± Calb was dumbfounded. ¡°Are you talking about THE Lamea?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The voice rumbled again from all directions. Not knowing what to say in such situation, Calb blurted out what came to his mind first. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡®What can I do for you? What kind of dumb question did I just blurt out?¡¯ Calb talked to himself in his mind, feeling foolish and self-conscious. ¡°That question is something I should ask of you, Calb the Traveler.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I felt your heartache and I heard your cry of the soul. I know of your frustrations, and thus, I have called your name. Now speak.¡± Calb didn¡¯t know how to take in what Lamea, THE Lamea, was saying. He understood what he was saying, but at the same time he didn¡¯t really comprehend, as if Lamea was speaking in little segments or in his own jargon. It almost seemed like ancient way of speaking where the language was still at its infancy, like a dialogue that didn¡¯t depend on the completeness of the spoken word and using only the essential words. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. I don¡¯t know what I am supposed to say. I am hearing you, but I don¡¯t understand the message that you are sending me with your words.¡± ¡°You feel alone, but you are not. Now feel.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are telling me to feel. I don¡¯t feel¡­.¡± ¡°Now feel.¡± ¡°Feel what?¡± ¡°Now feel.¡± Calb didn¡¯t know what to think. His mind was going haywire without any hint of knowing the meaning behind Lamea¡¯s repeated phrase. ¡®Feel what? What am I supposed to feel?¡¯ As he was thinking that, a gentle wind blew across his face. He recognized the breeze for what it was, and was about to refocus on the Lamea¡¯s words when he felt it! He felt the tingling of his skin, he felt the subtle warmth that phased through his body, and he felt the gentle pulse coarse through his body, but unlike that of a blood pulse. Whereas the pulse from the blood circulation is localized to the specific artery in which one¡¯s attention is focused, the pulsatile sensation that Calb was feeling right now was more diffused in its travel, where the feeling almost resembles that of a permeation of senses heading along the direction of the pulse. ¡°What is this that I am feeling right now?¡± asked Calb with a hint of excitement. ¡°You are feeling that which you have been struggling to feel since the time of our meeting.¡± ¡°Time of our meeting? What are you sayi¡­.¡± ¡°I am Lamea. Now feel.¡± Just when he thought the conversation was going a bit more smoothly, Calb was hit with another road block. He didn¡¯t know what to do. He was raking his brain trying to make some sense out of all this, and he was about to give up when Lamea spoke again. ¡°I am Lamea. Now feel.¡± A subtle difference in Lamea¡¯s repeated direction caught Calb¡¯s ears. ¡®Instead of just simply saying, ¡°Now feel¡± only, like he had done before, he is adding ¡°I am Lamea¡± this time? There has got to be a reason behind the addition.¡¯ As he was thinking this, he felt a similar pulsatile feeling again, but this time, it was coming from the ground! ¡°I am Lamea. Now feel.¡± Again, the pulse ran up Calb¡¯s feet to permeate through the rest of his body. Calb¡¯s mind was on hyper-drive. He was sure now. He was so close to understanding Lamea¡¯s meaning, and he enlisted the aids from the nano-brain and the PIDO to decipher the meaning behind this message. ¡®What was the difference between this pulsation from below and the one due to the wind? What are the similarities?¡¯ As if Lamea was answering his inner dialogue, Calb felt the gentle breeze and the resulting pulsation at the same time that he felt one from the ground, and what he felt were the same! Calb had his answer. ¡°All these time I was trying to be in tuned with the nature, I was trying to be in tuned with you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I am Lamea, the Source. Calb the Traveler, lonely no more.¡± ¡°I guess you understood the frustration that I was feeling, along with my insecurities huh?¡± ¡°Calb the Warrior, Lamea the Warrior grants you a gift that was delayed.¡± A ball of yellow light emerged out of the ground and floated toward Calb¡¯s PIDO and stopped 1cm from the PIDO. Calb then felt a sensation from his forearm and PIDO started to suck in the green ball of light, and the green light started to stain one of the inscriptions all along the length of the whole inscription. ¡°Calb the Wise, Pleevon the Mage grants you a gift that was delayed.¡± This time, a ball of red light descended from the sky, and as before with the yellow ball of light, the red ball of light stained another inscription pattern on the PIDO, all along the length of it. ¡°Calb the Young, Manvil of Life grants you a gift that was delayed.¡± A ball of white light descended from the sky and stained, yet, another inscription pattern on the PIDO, all along the length of it, and there remained two other untouched inscription patterns. ¡°Calb the Old, Nigel of Death grants you a gift that was delayed.¡± A ball of black light descended from the sky and stained one of the remaining inscription patterns on the PIDO, all along the length of it. ¡°Calb the Phoenix, Kazan the Beastmaster grants you a gift that was delayed. Open your hands and receive this gift.¡± Unlike the first four balls of light, this time, a small egg of pure green light descended upon Calb¡¯s open hands, and as soon as it touched Calb¡¯s hand, sudden jolt of electricity shot out from Calb¡¯s hand into the egg, and at the same time, a different jolt of electricity shot out from the egg to enter into his hand. Then, with a bright spark, the egg of light transformed into a little baby eagle with a touch of green aura, and the residual light from the egg floated toward the PIDO and stained the last remaining inscription on the PIDO, all along the length of it. ¡°Calb the Orphan, this baby chick feeds on your mana. May it protect you in your time of need.¡± The surrounding started to dim out, and at the same time, started to fade away. ¡°Calb the Instrument of God, God sends his blessing on your journey that is about to start.¡± ¡°Calb! Wake up!¡± Serina woke Calb with a shake. ¡°O..Oh! Hey Serina¡­?¡± Calb didn¡¯t expect Serina to come out here this late. ¡°Why must I always be the one to wake you up? I have already woke you up twice earlier, and this makes third time today! I guess I really should call you Mr. Sleepy Head from now on huh?¡± ¡°How did you find me? I didn¡¯t tell you where I was going?¡± ¡°Do you think this master huntress can¡¯t even find one Sleepy Old Man at this hour?¡± Serina sat next to Calb. ¡°So what was bothering you that you came this far from the house?¡± Serina¡¯s voice turned gentle with a hint of worry. ¡°I was frustrated. I have been struggling to be one with the nature for so long, and it seemed like I was going nowhere. When the PIDO arrived and gave me the boost in mana I was very happy, but when I started to meditate, it seemed like my mana was seeping out of me uncontrollably, and I couldn¡¯t make any sense out of anything as to the reason for such chaos. Then I have realized that, without knowing, I have actually made some progress, but upon my realization that, due to a sudden increase in my mana, my body is not like what it used to be, and thus, it is almost as if I am having to start all over again. I just felt so hopeless at that point, and I just started off walking to clear my head. I didn¡¯t really have a destination in mind, but when I started walking, I just had this urge to come here.¡± After a brief pause to scan the stars again, Calb resumed. ¡°I was looking at the stars, and I started to think about my previous life where I was the Hero of the Galactic Star Federation. People looked up to me. I had everything and could do anything I wanted. It seemed so easy to look back to those days of glory when I am so helpless at this point. Then I felt so pathetic at the thought of me reminiscing about the past.¡± ¡°Calb, face me for a little bit.¡± Calb turned as asked, and what saw was a genuinely caring face of a beautiful woman looking straight at him. ¡°Calb, I don¡¯t think that you are pathetic at all. I haven¡¯t told you this before, but I am really glad that you came to this world. Even though it may not look it to grandpa, but I was very lonely before you got here. Only thing I thought about was going after my mother, and deep down inside, I was kind of hurt and felt rejected by my parents. Then you came along and my life turned around for the better. My daily life is full of happiness, and I live with healthy sense of purpose now because of you. Do you remember what you have told me at that cliff side overlooking the Continental Tower? I was self-absorbed at the time and was feeling sorry for myself. Then you came along, and you gently, but firmly, set me straight by telling me about your childhood, living as a foster kid. You made me realize just how spoiled and immature I was being, and that was the day that I have decided to change myself.¡± The two turned to stare at the stars, and they sat side by side once again. Then Serina continued, ¡°Do you know what I see in you? I see in you a gentle man with kind and generous heart. I see in you a conscientious man that strives to do what is right, and I see in you a man that, despite all of his successes from his old world, is capable of humbling himself to common folks. I see a man that tries hard to improve, and I see a man that is worthy enough of having me.¡± Serina grabbed Calb¡¯s hand and locked her fingers between his and looked deep into his eyes. Calb didn¡¯t know what to say. He didn¡¯t realize that Serina knew of his feelings for her. He was waiting until he became her equal before confessing his feeling for her, but, as usual, she took the matter into her own hands rather than waiting on a man to make the move. ¡°How did you know?¡± asked Calb. ¡°Hmmpf! Do you think you are so difficult to read? I knew a long time ago, but it took me a while to get used to the idea that I would be getting into a relationship with an old geezer from another world.¡± Serina stuck her tongue out at him playfully. ¡°So you are okay with it then?¡± Calb asked, not that he agreed with the ¡°old geezer¡± comment. ¡°I am giving you the honor of holding my hand am I not?¡± Looking at the interlocking hands, Calb replied, ¡°I guess so.¡± Calb gave her a warm smile. ¡°So tell me, what did you dream this time?¡± She leaned her head on Calbs shoulder. ¡°Hmmph, it is a bit more complicated than usual. A lot had happened, and I am still sorting out the details, but here.¡± Calb pulled Serina¡¯s hand and gave her a shot of the miniature PIDO. ¡°Now, cup your hands together.¡± ¡°Like this?¡± Serina did as told. ¡°Okay, this will tingle¡­, I think.¡± Calb concentrated and green light started to gather around Serina¡¯s hand. The light started to take form and out came the baby chick, a gift from the Kazan the Beastmaster. Serina was intrigued by the light and when she saw how the light turned into a baby chick, she was pleasantly surprised. ¡®This little chick is a baby eagle. It was a gift to me from Kazan the Beastmaster.¡¯ Calb spoke to her with his mind. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡®Kazan the Beastmaster? Who is that?¡¯ asked Serina still holding onto the baby chick. ¡®I am not sure who that is, but Warrior Lamea told me it was from Kazan the Beastmaster.¡¯ Serina¡¯s eyes got real wide when Calb mentioned Warrior Lamea. ¡®Are you talking about ¡°The Hero Lamea¡±?¡¯ Calb nodded. ¡®That¡¯s the one. I know what you are thinking, I was shocked too, but how else can you explain this little baby eagle? Plus, this baby eagle isn¡¯t the only gift that I received. Lamea gave me something else too, but I haven¡¯t really studied it yet.¡¯ ¡®It is hard to believe, but why are we speaking with our mind, by the way?¡¯ It just dawned on her that they were speaking through the PIDO. ¡®It is because of this little chick. It can hear our conversation through the PIDO as well, and you should be able to communicate with it too, with your mind. Isn¡¯t that right little one?¡¯ Calb turned to the baby chick and ask the question. ¡®Wow, it nodded. I can¡¯t believe it can understand you!¡¯ Serina decided to talk to the baby eagle also, ¡®Hey little one, can you hear me?¡¯ The baby chick nodded. Serina¡¯s face brightened at the realization that she was communicating with a baby eagle. ¡®Do you have a name?¡¯ The baby chick shook its head. ¡®Why don¡¯t you give it a name?¡¯ suggested Calb. ¡®Are you sure? It was a gift to you, you know?¡¯ Though Serina was giving Calb the room to take back what he said, but it was written all over her face that she wanted to, and Calb was more than happy to let her. ¡®I don¡¯t think this little chick would mind.¡¯ Calb looked at the chick. ¡®Can my friend Serina give you a name?¡¯ As if sensing Calb¡¯s heart, the baby chick nodded. Serina was holding her breath, hoping for a yes, and she was ecstatic when the baby chick okayed it. ¡®Go ahead Serina,¡¯ smiled Calb. Serina seemed ready, but at the same time there was some hesitation. She then asked the baby chick, ¡®Are you a boy or a girl?¡¯ The baby chick seemed helpless. ¡®Are you a boy?¡¯ The baby chick shook her head. ¡®Then you are a girl?¡¯ She nodded. ¡®Can you not speak?¡¯ The chick shook its head to say ¡®no.¡¯ Serina was a bit disappointed at the response. She would have liked it if it could speak to her, but a thought occurred to her. She asked the chick, ¡®Will you be able to speak when you grow bigger?¡¯ The chick nodded. Serina felt relieved and happy, and she immediately started to think of a name. She pondered for a few minutes, and it seemed she had one, but then she scratched the thought right away, and after multiple trials and scratches, she looked at Calb and said, ¡®What do you think of Corea?¡¯ ¡®It seems like a nice name, a beautiful name,¡¯ smiled Calb. Serina looked at the baby chick and asked, ¡®Do you like Corea?¡¯ It seemed to the two of them that the baby chick smiled to them as she nodded her answer. Liking the response, Serina said, ¡®Then your name will be Corea! It is nice to meet you Corea. My name is Serina.¡¯ ¡®Serina¡­Serina.¡¯ The baby chick named Corea suddenly spoke Serina¡¯s name. ¡®WOW! Corea, you spoke! Calb, Corea spoke!¡¯ Serina was really delighted. Calb was delighted because Serina was delighted. ¡®Hello Corea, my name is Calb. Nice to meet you.¡¯ Calb smiled at Corea. ¡®Calb¡­Calb¡­.¡¯ Corea then flapped her wings, and she managed to flap her way over to Calb¡¯s shoulders and rubbed her cheek against his. Then, after a while, she flapped her wings again, and she jumped and flew at the same time, over, to Serina¡¯s shoulder to rub on her cheek as well. ¡®She is so CUTE Calb!¡¯ She brought her finger up to Corea and started to pet her head. ¡®I wonder when she will be able to speak fluently.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know. Lamea told me that she feeds on my mana, so I guess it could be that her growth may depend on my advancement.¡¯ ¡®Well, then, mister. You had better stop feeling sorry for yourself and make some progress so I can play with her better.¡¯ ¡®Hey..hey¡­hey. You should be saying that for my benefit!¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t you know anything? Do you not realize that you have just lost your spot in my heart to Corea?¡¯ She stuck out her tongue again. Calb helplessly shook his head, and thought to himself with a defeated smile, ¡°I have been replaced already!¡± They stayed at the spot for a while longer to play with their new found friend, and they headed back to the house. On their way back, Calb told Serina of the whole conversation that he have had with Lamea the Warrior, but because Serina was not knowledgeable about the four mysterious figures, they had just decided to mention it to Taron the next day. ¡°You met who!?¡± Taron was awoken out of his groggy state the next morning. It turned out that Calb and Serina weren¡¯t the only ones that didn¡¯t get much sleep the night before. Taron was busy applying sealing inscription on a scroll that he had written to the Overseer of the Chamea Falls. He had faith in his granddaughter to safely deliver the scroll, but because of the sensitive information written on the scroll, he had to make sure no one else besides the Overseers can break the seal to the scroll. However, if he had really grasped the real capacity of the PIDO, he could have had a better rest. ¡°I met Lamea the Warrior, master.¡± ¡°¡¯The¡¯ Lamea¡­.Lamea the Hero?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And he had given you a gift as well as the gifts from Kazan the Beastmaster, Pleevon the Mage, Manvil of Life, and Nigel of Death!?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Serina! Bring us a drink, we had better sit down for this.¡± ¡°O-kay¡­grandpa¡­.¡± Serina responded with a smile. Though she, herself, didn¡¯t know of the four names, the mere mention of the name ¡°Lamea¡± was a big news. She anticipated much enjoyment from watching her grandpa losing all his composure after hearing what Calb had to tell him. ¡°Tell me everything!¡± Taron and Calb sat down, out on the front deck. Not wanting to miss any of it, Serina quickly brought the drinks over and sat next to Calb, across from her grandpa with a smug face. ¡°Have you had time to decipher all the things that were given to you?¡± asked Taron ¡°I didn¡¯t get an in-depth look at everything, but I do have a general understanding of the gifts.¡± ¡°Can you demonstrate?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± Calb concentrated and brought out Corea onto his palms. ¡°This is Corea. She is a baby eagle that I received from Kazan the Beastmaster.¡± Corea, first looked at Calb and Serina. Then, realizing that there was a third person, she turned to face Taron. Taron looked over Corea, and the first thing he realized was the green aura that was about her. His look, then, became somewhat distant while looking at Corea, and he returned and said, ¡°She really is from the Beast Plane, but unlike the other beasts from there, she is a bit special in that she is a familiar of an actual beast in the Beast Plane. I would imagine if you were to head over there, now, you would see the original over there.¡± ¡°What are you talking about grandpa? I have never heard of the Beast Plane, and I didn¡¯t even know there were other planes besides Lamea Plane.¡± ¡°Well, you didn¡¯t know because I have never told you about it. In fact, those four names that Calb mentioned, they all are the ¡°Heros¡± of their respective planes, just as Hero Lamea is that of Lamea Plane.¡± ¡°So there are four other planes besides the Lamea Plane?¡± ¡°Well, to be precise, there are five other planes, including God¡¯s Courtyard, to make 6 planes in total.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me about this before?¡± Serina was confused. ¡°Because you didn¡¯t need to know! If Calb was not visited by the Hero Lamea, I would not have told you now.¡± Taron seemed a little flustered, as if he didn¡¯t know what he should say to Serina. ¡°But WHY grandpa?!¡± ¡°Because I didn¡¯t want to lose you too!¡± This was the first time Serina ever heard her grandpa really yell at her. ¡°That¡¯s what happened with your foolish mother, and that idiot of a father of yours. I told them about the Planes against my best judgment, and look what has happened? That idiot father deserted the two of you, and that foolish daughter of mine followed, leaving you behind. Do you think I want the same thing to happen to my precious Cooky?¡± Serina¡¯s eyes were brimming with tears, and in an instant, she bolted to her grandpa and hugged him hard. ¡°Your mother, right now, is on the Plane of the Beast, and as for your idiot father, I don¡¯t even know where he is. I would imagine your mother is still searching for him.¡± Taron¡¯s face softened as he returned his granddaughter¡¯s hug. ¡°Now, listen, both of you.¡± Taron pushed his granddaughter off to look at her and Calb. ¡°Initially, I wanted to send you off to Chamea Falls, only to deliver a message to the Overseer of the Chamea Falls and come back. However, visitation from Hero Lamea changed all that. It seems like I need to prepare you two to make your way up through the Planes to God¡¯s Courtyard.¡± Taron looked at Calb. ¡°Calb, the fact that you were brought here was the main reason for this mission. Throughout the history of Lamea Plane, there were only few major catastrophic events that really shook the planes, and each and every one of them was preceded by the so called ¡°Messengers of God¡± visiting us. You, Calb, are that being that is about to shake the foundations of this Plane. Well, to be exact, you are here to lessen the devastation that is about to come. I had hoped that I could stall your inevitable journey through the Planes, but things are moving faster than I had hoped. Therefore, here is your mission.¡± Taron looked at the two of them. ¡°You are to deliver this scroll to the Overseer of the Chamea Falls. Upon completion, you are to immediately head up to the next plane, which will be the Plane of Magic. However, the journey to the next plane is not that simple. In order for you to be able to head up to the next plane, you have to first visit every other continents on the Lamea Plane and visit at least one Overseer in each continents. There are 5 Overseers on each continent, just as there are 5 on this continent. Here are the names of the continents that are on the Plane of Lamea: our continent Garmea, Romea, Farmea, Dormea, and finally, Zormea.¡± ¡°I will give you a scroll with detail of all the Planes before you leave, but the same thing applies to the other planes. In order for you to advance to the next plane, you must visit each and every continent on the Plane and visit the Overseers, in order to gain their Blessings of Ascension. A Blessing of Ascension is like a ticket that is tallied at the InterPlane Towers. If you get to the so called InterPlane Towers, and yet, you have not received all 5 Blessings of Ascension, the tower will not activate. Also, you can¡¯t cheat by visiting 5 Overseers of one continent and get their Blessings of Ascension and hope to go up to the next Plane. Overseers of each continent have different Blessings. Therefore, it is useless to gather 5 from one continent. Do you understand?¡± Taron looked at the two of them. Serina and Calb, both, nodded. ¡°Now, Calb, I do realize that you are, currently, not at a level where you are able to challenge the InterContinental Towers on your own, and I apologize to you for my lack of skill in developing you faster.¡± ¡°No..No Master Taron. I don¡¯t think it was lack of skill on your part, but lack of talent of my own. You have provided me with much knowledge and insights that I failed to utilize to the best of my ability. I don¡¯t blame you at all.¡± ¡°Ha.Haah¡­. You do not need to humble yourself so much Calb.¡± Taron chuckled to himself. Disciple¡¯s shortcoming is the Master¡¯s shortcoming. Do remember that. Is there a fault in an ignorant man in not being able to accomplish something he has no knowledge of? Of course not. It is the duty of the Master to lessen the ignorance of his disciple. In my selfish desire to hold onto my Cooky a bit longer I failed you.¡± ¡°But I¡­.¡± ¡°Calb¡­, you are a good man, much better man than that idiot father of hers. You got a good heart. There is no need to make excuses for this old man. The fact is the fact. What we must consider is to determine what we must do now.¡± Taron looked at Serina. ¡°Serina, you better get packing while I try to catch Calb up to speed.¡± ¡°Yes grandpa¡­¡± Serina rose from her seat to leave. ¡°One more thing Cooky.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You better thank the God that he brought Calb into your life!¡± Serina smiled, looking at Calb and then to Taron. ¡°I will grandpa!¡± Serina walked off to her room. ¡°Calb, take good care of my Cooky.¡± ¡°I will sir.¡± As if everything has been settled, look on Taron¡¯s eyes changed. ¡°Now that everything has come to light¡­, Calb.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°It seems to me that the key to getting you caught up in a short time is the PIDO. Why don¡¯t you tell me every detail of that thing of yours¡­.¡± Calb and Taron spent the next 5 hours discussing about the function of the PIDO and how its functionalities could best be utilized for the most optimum growth, as well as combat proficiency. As Serina began to pack for the departure, tears started to flow. She was reminded of all the good moments that she had with her grandpa. She recalled the times where her grandpa gave her piggy back rides as her mother chased him, scolding him for spoiling her, and how she would always run up to give her grandpa hugs whenever he would come back from his trips. Of course, he had never forgotten to bring her treats that her mother specifically forbade him from giving to her, from the market. She then remembered the time when her grandpa came to her rescue when she had failed to conquer the InterContinental Tower and was about to be killed by the Wood Snakes. She would never forget how much he cried thinking she may never recover from the damage done to her by all the psychic attacks she had received from the Wood Snakes. He had never left her alone for a whole month after that incident, fearing she would run off again on her own. Even though she didn¡¯t have much to pack, as she had already packed most of her stuff the night before, it still took her a while. Everything tasks that she did, every steps that she had taken, and every turns she had made for the preparation of her departure brought back memories. She watered the plants for the one last time; she looked at her grandpa¡¯s room for the one last time; she readied the meal for her grandpa for the one last time; she warmed her grandpa¡¯s bath water for the one last time; and she folded her grandpa¡¯s laundry for the one last time. She walked out of her house for the one last time¡­. When she joined her grandpa and Calb again, they had just about wrapped up the last details of their training. She looked at her grandpa with a tear filled eyes, and seeing her granddaughter doing her best to keep a smile on her face, Taron sent Calb to go wait for Serina at the road, as the master and disciple had already finished their goodbyes. It was already prearranged that Calb would be storing both his and Serina¡¯s luggage in his PIDO since there was no transference of weight, considering all the items would simply morph into energy packets to be stored in his PIDO. ¡°Well, Cooky, I guess this is a goodbye.¡± ¡°Yes grandpa.¡± Tears in Serina¡¯s eyes finally overflowed and trickled down her face. ¡°Come here Cooky. Give your grandpa one last hug.¡± ¡°Yes grandpa.¡± ------------------------------------------------------- Yes, the long awaited departure! I hope you guys understood all the tear jerkers (at least, I hope that you have sensitive enough soul to develop some fluid around your eyes ;) ) in this chapter. Okay, since I lied about my next post date, I won''t tell you when I will post my next chapter. At the most, however, will be a month from now. How about that? :) Thanks for reading! -----MooShoo----- 11. A Secret Race Calb and Serina left the Imea Mountains with heavy hearts. Though Serina had always been readying herself to challenge the InterContinental Towers to go after her mother, when the time actually came for her to truly leave her grandpa, who had been like a father to her, she found herself hard to hold back her tears. As if she had matured over the years, the thought of leaving her grandpa all alone in the Imea Mountains broker her heart. She was no longer a little girl thinking only about herself. However, she knew she must go, and thus, she gave her grandpa one last hug and started on a journey that one must make, at least, once in their lives. ¡°Are you all right Serina?¡± ¡°Yeah, I am just little bit sad, that¡¯s all. I mean it was inevitable that I must leave sometime right?¡± Nodded Calb. ¡°Besides, if I didn¡¯t leave now, when will I ever find another human luggage carrier?¡± Serina teased Calb, trying to lighten up the mood. ¡°Human luggage carrier huh?¡± Since PIDO was capable of converting objects into weightless energy particles that can be stored in it, Calb became the load carrier, by default. It didn¡¯t bother him to store their luggage in his PIDO, since the stored luggage would not weigh him down any, but to be called a ¡°Human Luggage Carrier¡± made him feel a little, abused. But then, ¡®What else is new?¡¯ he thought with a smile. ¡®That is the way things should be because that is who she is, someone who hides her inner most part with feigned abuse.¡¯ He was glad that he can be there for her to ¡°humor her,¡± so to speak. ¡°Hey Calb?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Would you let Corea out? Since my hands are free, I can carry her with my hands.¡± Serina¡¯s staff was tied to her back. ¡°Sure.¡± Calb called Corea out on Serina¡¯s hands. As Calb had never withdrawn the miniature PIDO from Serina since last time, he didn¡¯t have to reestablish connection with her. ¡°Wow! Look Calb, she grew quite a bit since this morning!¡± Sure enough, Corea was bigger, and her baby feathers were replaced with juvenile feathers, so to speak. ¡®Hi Corea!¡¯ Serina spoke with her mind. Corea jumped onto Serina¡¯s shoulder and rubbed her cheek against hers and said, ¡®Hi Serina! Like my new feathers?¡¯ Serina¡¯s eyes opened wide with surprise. ¡®Corea! You can speak much better now!¡¯ ¡®Yeah. Me smart?¡¯ Corea rubbed her cheek against Serina once again. ¡®Of course you are smart! Boy, Calb must have made some big progress this morning huh?¡¯ Serina was so delighted. ¡®Yeah, it was due to your grandpa. Once I told him everything about the PIDO, he was able to tell me what had happened and how to utilize all the gifts that I¡¯ve received from all the Guardians.¡¯ ¡®Guardians?¡¯ ¡®Yeah, apparently that¡¯s what they are called. They each have different powers granted by God, and they became the planes that manifest the respective powers as a law of nature.¡¯ ¡®Corea was given to me by Kazan the Beastmaster, and as his power being that of Kingship over all the animals, he gave me a very special baby eagle. Apparently, Corea¡¯s mother is a Matriarch of one of the ruling species on the Plane of Kazan, and at the same time, she is an Overseer of one of the InterContinental Towers, according to Corea. Right Corea?¡¯ ¡®Right! My mom best!¡¯ ¡°Keeoo!¡± Corea was so hyped up, bragging about her mother, that she even let out an audible shout. ¡®Corea, don¡¯t you miss your mother?¡¯ asked Serina. ¡®Nope, me with mom.¡¯ ¡®Huh? How can that be?¡¯ ¡°Corea is a familiar of herself. I guess you can say she is a spiritual clone that exists in two different places at the same time. Her original spirit resides in her body while Corea resides in PIDO. As such, she can talk to her mother anytime she wants through her physical self.¡¯ Looking at Corea, Calb asked, ¡®Did I say it right Corea?¡¯ ¡®Yep! Calb right!¡¯ Corea lifted into the air and started to circle around top of Calb and Serina¡¯s head. They enjoyed looking at the gleeful Corea fly around them, and in that way, within few hours, they have reached the farthest point that Calb has ever been away from the Imea Mountains. ¡°From here on out, everything I see will be new to me huh?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. As I have said before, Imea Mountains is one of three major mountains in the Garmea Continent. Garmea Continent is shaped like a crescent moon with the arched side facing north. Two other major mountains are Chamea Falls Mountains and Loomea Mountains. Chamea Falls Mountains is at the very center of the continent while Imea and Loomea Mountains make up the two ends of the crescent moon, with Imea Mountains being on the East side and Loomea Mountains being on the West side.¡± ¡°Hmmm, if the Overseer that we are going to see lives on the Chamea Falls, I could, sort of, guess that there is another Overseer that lives on the Loomea Mountains, but where are the other two?¡± Serina paused and turned to look at Calb. ¡°There is something different about you. You have impressed me quite a bit lately. Not only have you made a big progress with the mana issue in a day, you have just proven to me that you are not a dummy.¡± Serina feigned a serious look. ¡°Is that a praise or an insult?¡± Calb smiled. ¡°Of course it is a praise. What else could it be?¡± Serina feigned a shocked face. ¡°Would I make fun of you at a time like this Calb?¡± ¡°I would think something is wrong with you if you didn¡¯t,¡± returned Calb. ¡°What are you saying Calb? Are you saying I am some kind of a sick person that gets a pleasure out of making fun of people?¡± ¡°No, you just get a pleasure out of picking on me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s only because I like you Calb. Don¡¯t you know a sensitive maiden like myself can only express their love in this manner?¡± ¡°Sensitive maiden huh?¡± ¡°Yes! A sensitive maiden. You got something to say?¡± Serina grabbed Calbs waist with her fingers and gave a pinch of his life, or so it appeared. ¡°Okay,,okay¡­I have learned my lesson oh fair maiden.¡± Calb kneeled on one knee and bowed to Serina. ¡®How many did you sense?¡¯ Calb spoke with his mind. ¡°That¡¯s right! You should know your place.¡± ¡®Just one, 10 meter to my right. Get ready.¡¯ ¡°Now get up and give my hand a kiss.¡± As Calb made a motion to get up, he immediately bolted to his left while Serina bolted to her right. Their goal was a pincher attack. ¡°Who¡¯s snooping?!¡± The two yelled. Unprepared, the snooper tried to run away, but before he could get way, his escape route was already barred by two staves. ¡°Huh? A kid?¡± Calb let out a surprise. ¡°Who are you calling kid!?¡± The, once, running away snooper defiantly stood his ground while sticking out his chest at Calb. ¡°I am Kormor the Stout!¡± Contrary to his short stature of 1.2 meters and fresh, face of a child with clean-cut short hair, so called, Kormor¡¯s voice was that of a mature male. Also, unlike what his title suggested, he was not stout at all. He was wearing unusual clothes, in that, he had a leather tunic with silver corded belt with a huge buckle that can be called a modified armor covering his entire abdomen. There was a design of a very big sledge hammer and a helmet with two horns placed on each side of a large rectangular shield, in the center of the said armor-buckle. Lastly, every part of his skin, excluding his head was covered in grey and, somewhat, shiny cloth, appearing to be serving as second skin. ¡°Whoe! Sorry. I only saw your height at first so I figured you were a kid, but maybe not. My apologies.¡± Calb gave him a short nod. As if he was bothered by Calb¡¯s word ¡°height,¡± there was a slight twinge in his facial expression, but all of that disappeared with Calb¡¯s cordial apology. ¡°Phmph¡­, humph, apology accepted¡­, and sorry for snooping.¡± Kormor said the last part with a muffled tone. Though Kormor never met Calb and Serina, because of what he had already observed of the two and Calb¡¯s cordial apology, he was assured that they were not hostile. As for Calb, he couldn¡¯t be too tough on an individual just for snooping, and as he didn¡¯t see any weapon on Kormor, he treated him with cordiality, though still vigilant. ¡°So why were you snooping on us?¡± Serina joined in on the conversation, making sure her tone was appropriate, even though she could have chosen better words. She decided on the middle ground, unlike the ¡°na?ve¡± Calb. ¡°It was unintentional. It isn¡¯t often that I see people up here so I was curious. Nearest town is two days away, and as you weren¡¯t carrying any bags, it seemed logical to say that you live around here, but I don¡¯t remember seeing either one of you in these woods so¡­.¡± ¡°Ahh, I see.¡± The two looked at each other and sighed. ¡°We are not from the town, nor do we live around here. We actually are from the Imea Mountains. My grandfather is an Overseer that lives over there. With that said, I come here to hunt every now and then, but I have never seen you here either, but you speak as if you frequent this area?¡± Kormor looked a bit uncomfortable at Serina¡¯s question, and noticing the discomfort, Calb jumped in. ¡°If you don¡¯t feel comfortable talking about it you don¡¯t have to. We will be on our way then. Let¡¯s go Serina.¡± Calb walked on without waiting for Serina. Serina stood there, a while, looking back and forth between Calb and Kormor, and as if deciding that it is not her concern, she followed Calb. ¡°W..Wait!¡± Kormor yelled after them. Calb and Serina turned to look back at Kormor. Kormor came running after them and said, ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to be rude. It is just that¡­well¡­I am forbidden from making contact with the Lameans¡­.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Serina and Calb looked at each other. ¡°Don¡¯t you mean Garmeans?¡± asked Serina. ¡°No, Lameans,¡± corrected Kormor. I am not from Lamea Plane. I am from Pleevon Plane, and I am a Dwarf.¡± ¡°Huh? How can that be? My grandfather never mentioned people from different continent, let alone, different Plane. I did mention that he is an Overseer right? There is no way he would not be aware of people coming from different plane. Even if your people came here before my grandfather was an Overseer, he would have heard something from the previous Overseer about a whole different race coming to Garmea! I would understand if your people had secretly come by the sea, to which it would be impossible for it to have happened secretly anyway, but if your people had come by the InterContinental Tower, it would be even more impossible to do so without an Overseer knowing about it!¡± ¡°You are correct in what you say, but we came neither through InterContinental Towers nor by the sea. We were granted special, one-way passageway to Lamea Plane from Pleevon Plane by the grace of Pleevon the Mage and Lamea the Warrior.¡± Serina looked at Calb, dumbfounded. ¡°Would you like to visit our city?¡± asked Kormor. ¡°City? Not a town or a village, but a city? Up in these mountains?¡± Serina¡¯s mind was about to overload. Too many things have been told to her, today, that she had never known. It seemed like the world she had known throughout her whole lifetime was nothing but a lie, carefully camouflaged to keep her from knowing the truth. ¡°Yes, a city, but not necessarily up in the mountains, but rather inside the mountains.¡± It seemed like Kormor said the last part with pride. Serina and Calb looked at each other, and as if agreeing that they really are not in a great hurry, they decided to follow Kormor. Then, suddenly, they heard Corea flying toward them from afar. Calb had let her fly about to let her see the surroundings, and as if she sensed the change in their plans, she rushed back to Calb and Serina. ¡®Do you want to go back in the PIDO?¡¯ asked Calb. ¡®Nope. Me want to see,¡¯ responded Corea as she landed on Serina¡¯s shoulder. As if on cue, Serina greeted Corea with a little rub. They travelled about an hour and a half through the thick woods before they got to the bottom of the mountain range. Serina had not come this way often whenever she did come this far from the Imea Mountains, but she was sure that there wasn¡¯t anything of importance here. However, when they came to a small boulder that was protruding out amongst other bigger boulders, Kormor stopped. The small boulder was only about another head-length taller than Kormor. Kormor retrieved a little rod from behind his buckle and started to write something on the small boulder, and similar to what happened to the door leading to the secret room at the center of the Maze Canyon, light dispersed from where Kormor wrote the inscription and, soon, an outline of a small door appeared, along with a tiny little hole big enough for the rod in his hand. Once Kormor put the rod into the tiny hole, the door became transparent and allowed them to enter. He informed them that once they enter, the door will close on its own. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Kormor lead them inside, and though the hole was just the right size for Kormor, Serina and Calb found the experience to be, a bit, uncomfortable, to say the least. The ironic thing about the door was that it was too high for them to crawl in, as that would make them look foolish, but at the same time, it was too low for them to walk in without having to bend almost to their waist, which made them look awkward. So in a sense, they were left with either looking foolish or looking awkward. They only hoped that they wouldn¡¯t have to do that for the entire way to the Dwarf City. Thankfully, once they traveled about 10 meters, they came to a little chamber with very tall ceiling and a very tall double stone door that had numerous inscriptions and carvings that epitomized artistic talent of the dwarfs. Serina and Calb both had their mouths wide open as they imagined the spectacular masonry skills required to make such doors. As if expected, Kormor waited with a wide grin as he watched the two gawk in wonder. He had waited because he had much more to impress the two with. He wanted their excitement to die down before inducing another by showing them the pride of the dwarves, their magnificent Halls of the Heroes. Once the two travelers had settled down, Kormor, once again, inserted his rod into a similar tiny hole that they saw outside. However, this time, the two double doors did not disappear; but instead, they swung inward to reveal a massive inner chamber with the ceiling that doubled the height of the entrance chamber! The whole place looked as if the dwarves had carved out the whole interior of the mountain to suit their artistic flare. ¡°Wow! Kormor, this is amazing!¡¯ shouted Serina. She was, then, welcomed by her own voice echoing off of the distant walls! Then, all of a sudden, they heard clamors all around them, followed by sounds of numerous footsteps that filled the entire chamber. Within seconds, the big chamber that, initially, thought impossible to fill was crawling with bunch of short, stocky men with war hammers and axes. They were wearing impressive helmets with horns on each side. Though their garment were similar to Kormor¡¯s, these dwarves all had long, unkempt hairs and long beards, whereas Kormor¡¯s appearance was very presentable, as described earlier. ¡°Who dares to enter the Hall of the Heroes of the City of Tovon!?¡± Angry, groups of dwarves shouted in unison. ¡°Wait brothers!¡± Kormor stepped in front of the two travelers and faced the crowd. ¡°They are visitors, and they were invited by me, Kormor the Stout!¡± As he said that, he tapped twice on his belt buckle and Serina¡¯s and Calb¡¯s mouths were floored, instantly. That little, skinny, clean-cut dwarf they had known as Kormor suddenly bulged out at the waist, and his immaculate hair started to grow uncontrollably. At the same time, in his baby like face suddenly blossomed long stumps of beard that went down to his knees. Then he tapped his belt buckle once, again, and a helmet with two horns popped out. Then he tapped his belt buckle once, yet again, and his gigantic sledge hammer popped out for him to hold. Seeing, now, the transformed Kormor stand in front of the two strangers, the shouts of anger redirected toward Kormor. ¡°What is the meaning of this Kormor the Stout!¡± ¡°Why did you bring the Lameans to our city?¡± ¡°Why did you put us in danger?¡± ¡°They are not a danger to us. The girl,¡± Kormor pointed at Serina. ¡°She is the granddaughter of the Overseer that is residing in the Imea Mountains, and the boy,¡± Kormor, this time, pointed at Calb. ¡°Is her servant.¡± Calb looked back and forth between Kormor and Serina with wide eyes, and Serina put her hands on her mouth, struggling to not laugh out loud. As for Corea, there was no such self-restraint. ¡°Keeoo¡­Keekeeoo¡­Keeoo¡­Keekeeoo.¡± She, loudly, squeaked out her laugh. The crowd suddenly quieted down, and they all stared at Corea with wide eyes, including Kormor. Maybe because Corea was overly excited, but there was a warm, green glow that was emitting out of her, a glow that was bright enough for the dwarves to take notice. ¡°The Kazanian!¡± Hearing their exclamation, both Calb and Serina looked at Corea. Of course they knew that Corea was from the Plane of Kazan, but how did the dwarves know that she was from there? ¡°Was it the light?¡± They both thought the same, as there was nothing else that distinguishes Corea from other baby eagles. ¡°Serina,¡± called Kormor. ¡°How is it that you have an eagle from the Plane of Kazan?¡± ¡°Oh, Corea is not mine. It is Calb¡¯s.¡± She pointed at Calb. All the eyes shifted from Serina to Calb. Feeling the pressure from all the stares, Calb hesitantly answered, ¡°Umm¡­she is a gift from the Kazan the Beastmaster?¡± ¡°Kazan the Beastmaster!¡± The whole crowd shouted in unison. Apparently, people from other planes were all knowledgeable of the other planes as well as the Guardians of each planes, unlike the Lameans. ¡°Make a way!¡± A loud shout echoed through the hall, and soon, the crowd split and an old dwarf with long white beard walked toward them. Seeing the old dwarf, Kormor bowed to him. ¡°Kormor the Stout greets Sirram the Elder!¡± Looking at Serina and Calb, Sirram greeted them. ¡°I am Sirram the Elder. Welcome to the city of the Dwarves. Welcome to Tovon.¡± Sirram gave them a slight nod. ¡°Thank you Sirram the Elder. I am Calb, and this is Serina.¡± Since cordiality flowed easier in Calb¡¯s veins, Calb automatically stepped up to introduce themselves, not that Serina isn¡¯t capable of such. ¡°I would like to know more about how you ended up with that Kazanian, if you would, but first let us move to a more agreeable location for the guests.¡± Sirram motioned to the mass, and the crowd parted again, but this time, wide enough to allow the whole group to pass comfortably. They passed many halls of wonder, passed through the heart of Tovon, and came to Elder Sirram¡¯s chamber, where they were given tea while he, himself, got a huge jug of beer. ¡°It is my understanding that you humans do not always drink beer, but prefer tea instead. However, if you desire it I can also have my assistants bring them for you.¡± ¡°No, what we have is quite all right,¡± replied Calb. ¡°As long as you are content, everything is all right. Now, since you are a guest, and since you will be sharing with us your story, I will also share with you our story as to how we ended up in this continent.¡± Sirram, briefly, looked at them and started. ¡°On the way here, to my chamber, I was updated by Kormor regarding what was shared with the two of you. As he has told you, we are originally from the Plane of Pleevon. Pleevon is a plane of magic. Just to be sure, magic is everywhere. However, it is especially plentiful in the Plane of Magic. Just as the citizens of Lamea are blessed with the mana flow and innate talent for martial arts, citizens of Pleevon are also blessed with the mana flow. However, instead of the martial arts, they are blessed with the innate wisdom for magic.¡± For some reason Sirram sighed and paused. ¡°Except for the dwarves!¡± Sirram¡¯s facial expression, somewhat, changed to that of pain, but at the same time, resoluteness. ¡°We dwarves are not capable of casting magic. We have the mana flow, and we know how to make magical items, but we cannot cast magic without the aid of a magical item or an inscription. Can you imagine just how embarrassing it would be, to be born in the plane of magic and not be able to do magic, like the other races? We are a laughingstock!¡± ¡°You saw the grand halls as you entered and walked over to this chamber. I am sure you have noticed the grandeur and the massive nature of our halls. Why do you suppose short beings like us would require such high ceilings?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know sir,¡± replied Calb. ¡°We are a proud race, and the reason why we built our halls with such height is to remind ourselves that we are not limited by our heights, that despite our heights, we can still create buildings of high structures better than anyone else. Also, the artistic display shown in our work is to remind ourselves that we can create such masterpieces without the aid of magic.¡± Sirram paused again. ¡°But there is a limit to how much we can fool ourselves into believing that we are just as well as the other race of beings that can cast magic.¡± ¡°There was a discontent among our people. The majority of the older generations and minority of the younger generations still held onto the disillusion while the other half of our race, dominated by the younger generations, thought otherwise. I was the minority among the older generations that was discontent. Our discontent was so great that we split into two factions and discontent faction made a plea to the Pleevon the Mage. We asked to be granted pilgrimage to the other planes so that we do not have to live in disgrace. Plane of Lamea was the most ideal plane for us, considering we didn¡¯t want to give up the plentiful mana flow. The only problem was that all of the Lameans are humans.¡± Sirram looked at Calb and Serina again. ¡°Can you think of a reason why we would find that as a problem?¡± ¡°Well, group mentality is such that those that are outside of the group are considered as dangerous, and in such situations, the group making up the majority tends to pick on the minority. Sometimes such can escalate to harassment and, eventually, to enslavement.¡± Calb replied in honesty. ¡°You are absolutely correct. Anyway you look at it, we are the minority here. Can you understand, now, our fear and hostility shown to you earlier?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Nodded Calb. ¡°Is that the reason why you developed that magical belt buckle?¡± Serina, who had been quiet, jumped in on the conversation. ¡°Oh you mean the thing that Kormor was wearing. Well, we do have to have means of acquiring things that we can¡¯t produce ourselves, and though we do not have anything that can make ourselves look taller, we can come close to looking like humans. So far, it has served us well.¡± ¡°You know, if you would like, you can ask my grandfather to help out,¡± suggested Serina. ¡°He can have some town folks deliver goods to his place and you guys can simply get it from him. Wouldn¡¯t that be a bit safer? I would imagine that would take less time as well.¡± ¡°Yes, Kormor mentioned that your grandfather is the Overseer of this region. That is something to consider. Do you think he would mind helping?¡± Sirram looked at Serina with hope. ¡°You can rest assured. Do you see this guy? We picked him up off of the road when he didn¡¯t have anywhere to go, like a bum. Don¡¯t you think my grandfather is a generous guy?¡± Serina beamed at Sirram. The two men looked at each other with unease. Calb was at unease for Serina calling him a bum. As for Sirram, he had thought that Serina¡¯s demeanor was a bit too relaxed for their first meeting. As if understanding each other, the two men gave each other a strained smile. ¡°Calb, would you give me my luggage? I have something in it that if the dwarves give to my grandpa he would understand it was from me.¡± ¡°Sure. Just a second.¡± Calb was in the middle of drinking his tea, and thus, he made the motion to put his cup down. ¡°Umm, excuse me, but I don¡¯t see any luggage?¡± Sirram asked with hesitancy. ¡°Oh, regarding that, Calb is a bit special.¡± Serina gave him a short reply with a smile. While they were chatting, Calb located Serina¡¯s luggage and conjured it out of his PIDO and gave it to Serina. When Sirram saw Serina¡¯s luggage coming out of Calb¡¯s arm, he was stunned. ¡°H-How is this possible? You do not have any magical item, and though I see some kind of inscription on your arm, inscriptions are not the medium in which magic manifests. I haven¡¯t seen such magic even in the Plane of Pleevon!¡± ¡°Well, I guess this is where my story begins.¡± Calb looked at Sirram. ------------------------------------------------ Hello Readers! I have started to talk more about the different Planes in this world of magic, and I think the readers will realize that the main characters of this story will face different restrictions and, perhaps, advantages depending on which plane they are on. Of course they are no where near being able to get to the next plane, so this information only serves as a guaranteed foreshadowing of what might become.... I hope you have enjoyed this chapter! Until next time. -----MooShoo----- 12. A Dungeon Raid Hello Readers! Today''s chapter may be a bit confusing. I have had couple of mini-time warps that went back in time to explain current situations, as described in below chapter, I had initially separated them with indents in my MS Word, but unfortunately, this site does not allow that, unless any of you readers know how to do it. Anyway, so they are written in different text color. Enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------- On their journey to the Chamea Falls, Serina and Calb ran into a dwarf disguised as a human. After they got to know each other, Serina and Calb were invited to the City of Dwarves, Tovon. While there, they got to hear how the Dwarves from the Pleevon Plane ended up in the Garmea Continent. As the Dwarves were also curious about Corea, Calb shared with them the story about how he ended up being ¡°God¡¯s Instrument of Light.¡± ¡°So you are telling me that thing called PIDO is able to map out any area, and it is even able to detect movements made by anything bigger than a helmet?¡± Sirram, an elder of Tovon asked Calb. ¡°Well, that depends on the scale in which the map is shown. For example, if I set the map to cover the maximum range, it may not be able to detect Corea, here, for example, but if the area is smaller, I am sure it can pick up even a mouse.¡± ¡°I see, everything is relative.¡± Sirram stopped to consider something, and with a strain on his face, he looked at Calb. ¡°Might I request your assistance in something that involves using that PIDO?¡± Even though Sirram asked for assistance, his facial expression was that of reluctance. As dwarves are a proud race, it took a lot out of him to request for Calb¡¯s assistance. ¡°Well, if I can be of help, I do not mind.¡± In the short time that he has been speaking with Sirram, Calb realized that for Sirram to ask for his assistance would mean that whatever it was bothering the dwarves was something big. ¡°Thank you. Let me begin then.¡± Sirram was grateful. ¡°About two months ago, people from our city started disappearing. It started out with the miners and craftsmen that were usually working by themselves in the remote areas of the mountain caverns. We thought that they either got lost or lost track of time, as that has been known to happen from time to time, but the length of time in which they were missing was just too long. So we sent out search parties and only half of them returned. I am sure you could imagine, we were on high alert. We made sure the next search parties were well armed and were from highly trained soldiers, and what we found were scattered signs of struggles, but they were not localized to one region but many regions of the mountain caverns.¡± Sirram sighed and continued. ¡°Only thing we could do was to keep on sending out the troops in rotations to find any other clues while the numbers of the city guards were doubled. However, two weeks ago, even the inner city people were starting to disappear. We didn¡¯t know what to do. We, the elders, then decided that we must look for exterior help. That was the reason for sending out Kormor. Of course we didn¡¯t let the whole city know of our intention because, again, we are a proud race and making it public would delay our actions. As luck would have it Kormor ran into you two on the very first day that he went out.¡± ¡°Ahh,¡± Serina exclaimed as if something clicked inside her head. ¡°So he, definitely, had a reason for snooping on us huh, Calb?¡± Calb gave Sirram another strained smile as an apology. ¡°Ha haha HA¡­.¡± Sirram waved Calb off. ¡°He was snooping was he? Kormor the Stout was snooping! Wahahaha HA!¡± Calb was intrigued by change in Sirram¡¯s demeanor. It seemed to him that the effects of the beer finally kicked in. Elsewhere in the city of Tovon, Kormor suddenly felt eerie prick in his neck, as if he somehow felt Sirram laughing at him. Sirram had finished what he had to say regarding the missing dwarves incidents, and then he moved on to inform the two the general psychological state of the citizens of Tovon. ¡°Yes, as you can see, we had another reason for treating you with such hostility earlier.¡± Sirram laughed off the inconvenience that they might have felt at the entrance of the Halls of the Heroes. Calb was beginning to think that their beer certainly was a miracle drug to turn a dwarf elder, who was so self-conscious about the pride of their race, into a dwarf laughing off any dishonor for what it was and speak of it as if it was spilt milk. ¡°So what is the plan Sirram the Elder?¡± Calb was ready to get started, as this was, initially, designed as a short detour, he didn¡¯t want to spend too much time with the dwarves. ¡°What is this Sirram the Elder stuff? You and the missy can just call me Sirram!¡± Serina, looking at Calb and said in her mind, ¡®Hey, Calb, we have got to get some of that wonder beer from them before we leave. I want to have a taste later on.¡¯ Serina had a mischievous smile on her face. Calb didn¡¯t know how to respond. Only thing that he could think of was the danger of freeing all of her inhibition, as she was already a handful. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan Sirram?¡± Calb asked again. ¡°About that miniature PIDO, how many people can you shoot with that?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really know, but I would say about 6 at the moment.¡± Calb just had an intuitive figure. ¡°Hmmm, I had hoped you could do more, so that you can get in mental contact with all of the search party members.¡± Sirram seemed a bit disappointed. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think it is that bad. I am a soldier, and as a soldier, I understand that communication is vital in any kind of operation. However, I also understand that good leaders make a big difference between success or failure of any operation. As such, if I can coordinate well with your key leaders, I will, in effect, be able to lead large number of soldiers and complete the mission safely. It is how a military operation should be run.¡± All of a sudden, Calb¡¯s persona changed into someone dependable. Serina never expected to see the calm and agreeable Calb change into a person that exudes commanding presence. She didn¡¯t know how to react to this new Calb. ¡°Hmm, you did say you were a commander of this thing called space ship correct?¡± Nodded Calb. ¡°In that role, how many people did you lead in total?¡± Sirram, too, was impressed at Calb¡¯s sudden change in aura. ¡°Well, it varies from time to time, but my total subordinates averaged around 400,000 people.¡± ¡°What?! 400,000 people!?¡± Both Serina and Sirram were astounded. ¡°Tovon¡¯s total city population is less than 10th of that amount!¡± ¡°As you can see, when leading great number of people, communication is a key, and I think that my experience leading such number of people will be vital to your people right now.¡± Even though Calb put on an aura of a commander, there was no trace of arrogance or personal importance. Recovering from his shock, Sirram asked Calb, ¡°Well, if you were to lead a team to solve this problem, what would you do?¡± ¡°Well, first thing that comes into my mind is a general idea about the layouts of the caverns around the city, and an accurate map of Tovon. I don¡¯t think I can make better decision without knowing these two. As such, if you will lend us some guide, I would like to map out your city as well as the caverns around the city.¡± ¡°I understand. I will provide some guides. In the mean time, do walk around the city of Tovon. I am sure you can map out the city while you are sight seeing?¡± ¡°That sounds marvelous!¡± Serina jumped in, as if on cue, to shake off any tension from the discussion, not that such was her intention from the start. Serina and Calb were left on their own to stroll around the city of Tovon, and though it was not necessary, Calb had his 3D projection of the city out, making sure all the functionalities are operational. As for Serina, even though she was enjoying herself, looking at all of the different architecture and things that Tovon could offer, her mind was still stuck on Calb¡¯s commanding presence she felt back in Sirram¡¯s chamber. To her, the change was too drastic, and she was still not sure how to address that with Calb. Noticing the difference in Serina, Calb asked, ¡°You okay? You seem preoccupied with something.¡± Of course there would be no way for him know what was going on inside Serina¡¯s head. ¡°Hmmm? No. I am okay. I am just thinking about the situation with the dwarves, and all the other things about the different planes. I was totally ignorant of all these until today, you know. It is still much to think about.¡± Serina gave him a general excuse. However, Calb didn¡¯t buy it. ¡°Serina, I didn¡¯t know you but for a just a few months, but I think I know you well enough to know that what you have just told me was just an excuse. Do you trust me so little that you have to hide things from me?¡± Serina hesitated. She didn¡¯t know what to say, but not wanting to hide things from Calb, she said what was in her heart. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to take you anymore Calb. You, all of a sudden, became a bigger person, in my eyes. I didn¡¯t know just how formidable you were. All I knew was that you were unskilled in martial arts and untrained in manipulations of mana. As such, I thought you were just a normal guy. I know you have told me that you were a commander in your other world, but hearing and seeing one in action is totally different. The commanding presence that you had shown, while in Sirram¡¯s chamber, was an indication of a greatness that I have never felt, and thus, I don¡¯t know how to react to you. You already had such a presence, but recently, you have, also, been improving quite a bit due to your PIDO and the presents from the Guardians and stuff¡­. I don¡¯t want to be overshadowed¡­like I won¡¯t be good enough for you.¡± Situation that Serina and Calb are currently going through, is seen in many couples when one has accomplished so much more, in life, as compared to his or her partner. However, such is even more common when the one being overshadowed has ample enough of self-pride to be frustrated by it, as demonstrated by Serina¡¯s wish of not wanting to be overshadowed. It could be said that she has already admitted deep down in her heart that she is not good enough for Calb since she had already considered it, but that notion is very flawed. In every relationship, there comes a time when both parties must decide where they stand in their relationship with respect to each other, and in such times, it helps to be honest with their feelings. As such, the fact that Serina had accepted her doubt and insecurity by voicing it does not mean that she believes that she is inferior to Calb. It just means that she was strong enough to accept that she was weak at that point in time, and how she will feel in the future regarding the question of ¡°where do I stand,¡± will only depend on whether she will overcome this temporary insecurity or whether she will be a victim of her insecurity. A point worth mentioning is that in lesser women or those that are naturally weak, such will not even be a dilemma for them because they have already accepted in their heart that they are inferior and that they will have no problem being dependent on their mate. In conclusion, there is a clear distinction between one accepting one¡¯s insecurity versus one accepting one¡¯s inferiority. ¡°Serina, I thank you for being honest with me. I think it takes a strong person to be able to share their insecurity with another, and I thank you for trusting me enough to divulge such sensitive subject with me. However, I don¡¯t think that our relationship has changed, now that I have revealed this side of myself. I have not changed Serina. I am that same person that has been getting picked on by you for the past 4 months. The fact that you found out about my ability as a commander didn¡¯t change me at all. Only thing that has changed is how you decided to look at me. Am I going to say that I am too good for you to be picked on, now that you have found out some things about my past? Do you think a person that you see in me would have let you pick on him just because you didn¡¯t know of his past, if I didn¡¯t want you to? Do you think the person that you see in me right now will be so weak that he will let you pick on him if he didn¡¯t want you to?¡± Serina shook her head, ¡°no¡± to all of the questions. Calb grabbed Serina¡¯s hands and placed them on her heart. ¡°So, the only thing that has changed is your heart, and only you can choose how you will treat me from here on out. Only you can decide whether you will overcome this hurdle in your heart and stay by my side, or be swept by your insecurity and we end up going our separate ways, as I only want to have a relationship with someone I can respect. I can¡¯t respect someone that considers herself inferior to me. You said you knew for a long time that I had feelings for you. Why do you think I didn¡¯t confess my feelings to you? I didn¡¯t confess my feelings for you because I wanted to be your equal first. I didn¡¯t want to go into a relationship with you when I felt inferior to you. Do you think I would have felt that way if I thought that I was too good for you, that you were beneath me?¡± ¡°Serina, you brought me up from that defenseless guy to someone that can fend for himself with martial arts. You are always there for me when I am down. You even came and looked for me last night, when I was down, didn¡¯t you? You are the person I love. How can I look down on you? How could I think myself bigger than you when I benefited so much from you?¡± Tears flowed down Serina¡¯s cheek, and without any reservation, she ran into Calb¡¯s arms and kissed him with all her emotions, and being the sensitive guy that he was, tears ran down Calb¡¯s face also, as if reflecting her emotions in his heart. ¡°Woah-ho! Way to go big guy!¡± Male dwarves cheered him on. ¡°Kiss him sweety. There you go!¡± Women among the crowd cheered her on. ¡°You better not let go of that man. You¡¯d better hold on to that man if you know what¡¯s good for you!¡± Serina and Calb didn¡¯t realize that so many people gathered around them. Though Serina smiled with laughter at all the cheers thrown at them, but, as for Calb, he had never been the one to enjoy being the center of attention. All those years of being a commander of an elite fleet never fixed him of his shyness. Seeing Calb not knowing what to do, Serina grabbed his face and kissed him again! ¡°There you go honey! That¡¯s the way to hold on to a man!¡± ¡°Keeoo¡­Keekeeoo¡­Keeoo¡­Keekeekeeoo¡­¡± Corea joined in on the fun as she flew around the crowd. Then the crowd, hearing Corea, looked up, and as before with the city guards at the Hall of Heroes, the crowd of dwarves pointed at Corea and they all shouted, ¡°A Kazanian!¡± ¡°Huh? Are you sure?¡± ¡°There is no way a Kazanian would be in Lamea Continent is there?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you see the green glow? What kind of eagle will have a green glow, if it wasn¡¯t from Kazan?¡± ¡®Corea, circle around the crowd some more and then find us in a bit.¡¯ Calb spoke to Corea with his mind, and not missing the opportunity, Calb grabbed Serina¡¯s hand and pulled her through the distracted dwarves and ran to the nearest alley to be out of their eyesight. ¡°What were you doing kissing me like that?¡± Calb¡¯s face was still red from embarrassment. On the contrary, Serina¡¯s face was bright as sunshine. She was so happy, and in love. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with kissing someone I love?¡± ¡°Well, it was already embarrassing that, as a man, I was seen crying, and if that was not enough, you had to kiss me, knowing that they were all watching.¡± ¡°What are you saying, you don¡¯t like kissing me?¡± Serina mischievously smiled. She clearly was back to normal. ¡°Well, no¡­I like kissing you¡­.¡± Calb was loss for words. ¡°Well, come here.¡± This time, Serina put her arms around Calb and kissed him again. A small dwarf raid team was gathered at the Hall of Heroes with Calb, Serina, and Kormor at the front, facing the soldiers. Kormor had just finished briefing the gathered soldiers regarding the operation to raid the secret dungeon that was found by Calb an hour earlier. Calb, had initially thought that he would have to make multiple scans as he walked to various points on the interior of the mountain, in order for the PIDO scan the entire interior of the mountain, but thanks to the recent upgrade to his PIDO, as well as personal improvement in mana handling, the range of the PIDO had increased dramatically. Therefore, Calb only had to scan from few points on the outskirts of the city. Unfortunately, during the first run of the scan, he didn¡¯t find any unusual movements or passageways unaccounted for by the dwarves. However, there was a cavern that caught Calb¡¯s attention. It was a big cavern with a wide open area that had numerous crystal rock formations like that of a stalactite, but these were much much stronger, stronger than granite. These rock crystals had, over the years, formed numerous passageways that seemed like an ideal place to hide. In order to have a better look, he decided to head over there. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. On the way, he had noticed that certain passageways flickered in and out of the 3D display, and once he got to the said cavern, what he found was that as he got closer to the cavern, more and more clear detail of the hidden passageways were revealed in the PIDO, but he didn¡¯t know why. The location of the hidden passageways were not so distant from the Tovon that the PIDO couldn¡¯t pick it up, but they only appeared when he had gotten really close to the passageways. After much investigation, though he didn¡¯t have full understanding of how the PIDO actually gather the data for the 3D image, he was able to come up with a reasonable explanation. What he came up with is that he realized that the map that was produced on his PIDO was limited by the open air. In other words, wherever there was an open air, PIDO will be able to scan it. For example, if a house is fully sealed from the outside air, the interior of the house will not be mapped out by the PIDO, but as soon as any of the doors or windows of that same house opens, and thus allowing outside air to connect with the inside air, PIDO was able to map out the inside of the house. So it seemed that the key was the air in the atmosphere, but he later found out it was not the air, but rather, mana that is flowing in the atmosphere. He came to that conclusion because he noticed that if he concentrated on the wall hiding the secret passageway, thus using up more mana than usual, he was able to see through the stone walls, even from afar. As far as he and Serina knew, only thing that can phase through the solid is mana, and the fact that he had to use more mana in order to map out the hidden passageway meant that his reasoning was correct. With that understanding, Calb was able to locate all of the hidden passageways as well as the hidden entranceways, and what he found were four, natural, crystal, rock formations at four different locations that were, most likely to have been, turned into magic doors. Of course one would require special key or special mana manipulating procedures to activate the magic that opens the door, but when breaking in to a dungeon of a hostile, there is no need to be considerate about leaving the door mechanism functional for later use. You simply destroy the door, in this case the crystal rock formation, and the access to the dungeon will be secured. ¡®All the squads ready?¡¯ Calb called out to the four squad leaders. He had shot into the four squad leaders, earlier, with the minature PIDO. ¡®Ready here,¡¯ Dormeer the Tightfisted, the 1st squad leader, replied. ¡®2nd squad ready!¡¯ sounded Urteen the Pounder. ¡®READY!¡¯ yelled Matador the Loud, the 3rd squad leader. ¡®Yep,¡¯ Illyor the Calm, the 4th squad leader, lazily responded. ¡°All right, looks like all of the other squads are ready.¡± Calb informed Kormor and the rest of the 5th squad. As the commander of the raid party, Calb had already sent the other 4 squads to their respective locations and taken leadership of the 5th squad, assisted by Kormor. ¡°Okay, as you all know, while the other squads are engaging the enemy, we will be cutting off the enemy escape route by waiting for them at their outside entrance to their dungeon. I have already disclosed the location of their entrance to Serina here.¡± Calb pointed to Serina. ¡°She will lead you to the location while Kormor and I will remain here a bit longer to monitor the operation before joining you outside. Any questions?¡± Calb looked at the dwarf soldiers. ¡°Okay, it seems you all are ready too. Sirram the Elder had already told me about the might of dwarven soldiers! I look forward to seeing that for myself today. To the victory!¡± Calb raised his fist high to the sky, and all the dwarves followed. ¡°To the VICTORY!¡± The whole group shouted in unison and headed outside. Satisfied with the response, Calb looked at Serina, ¡°Be careful. Kormor and I will join you shortly.¡± ¡°Pffft, who do you think I am?¡± Serina gave Calb a look of ridicule. ¡°Just don¡¯t get lost on the way okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Understood.¡± Calb nodded with a smile. ¡°What do you think Kormor? Do you think we should, just about, start now?¡± ¡°I would say the 5th squad should be in place by now.¡± ¡°Yeah, that was my thought. Well, then, let¡¯s start the operation then.¡± ¡®All squads, commence the operation!¡¯ Calb sent the order. Within each squad, there were at least two dwarves that specialized in hammers as their weapons. With the commencement of the operation, those two hammer specialists each swung their gigantic sledge hammer toward the crystal rock formation with a force like no other. Within every stroke was the force of the hammer multiplied by the magic within the hammer, and when that hammer made contact with the crystal rock, there was a thundering noise that echoed throughout the whole cavern, followed by gigantic fissure that formed along the entire height of the crystal rock formation. Needless to say, the crystal rock formation, which was known to be harder than granite, in the hands of these two dwarves was nothing but a pottery cracking under the light tap of the potter¡¯s hammer. Calb had his 3D display out for Kormor to see the four dungeon entrances. Calb was waiting for any of the four entranceways to open up so that his PIDO can give him an update of the interior of the dungeon before going outside to join Serina and the rest of the 5th squad. ¡°Do you think it will take long for them to destroy those crystal rocks?¡± ¡°Do you doubt the might of our Dwarven hammers?¡± Kormor responded with his chest out while producing his gigantic sledge hammer from his belt buckle. Being reminded of that thin and presentable Kormor sticking his chest out earlier at the road and seeing, now, scruffy and plump Kormor, doing the same gesture, Calb couldn¡¯t help but to be amused at just how the two Kormors differed so much in appearance. ¡°No¡­No¡­No. I was just a bit anxious about the timing, that¡¯s all. I didn¡¯t want any squad being overwhelmed in case other squads have difficulties getting through.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I see your concern,¡± Kormor proudly stroked his beard while considering Calb¡¯s statement. ¡°But rest assured, you will see the might of our hammers today, for sure!¡± As if the four squads were listening in on their conversation, all four entrances to the dungeon opened up at the same time right as Kormor ended his proud little speech about the greatness of their hammer. ¡°Ha, Ha! What did I tell you? What did I tell you?¡± Kormor was excited as he can be. He was so excited that he started dancing. He squatted down with his sledge hammer raised real high while twisting his butt from side to side. Calb couldn¡¯t help but to smile. There was something about a short, fat dwarf trying to do the twist. Enjoying the brief, unintended comedy moment supplied by Kormor, Calb casually turned his eyes to the, now, newly formed 3D map of the hidden dungeon, and what he saw was a disaster. None of the inhabitants of the hidden dungeon were heading toward the dwarves to engage them, which would be the normal reaction when someone invades their territory, but instead, all of them were heading toward the outside entrance where squad 5 were waiting! Also, what caught Calb¡¯s attention was that the inhabitants were already centralized near the exit rather than being spread out all along their hideout, as if they had already known about the operation. ¡®ALL SQUADS! Rush through the dungeon without a rest. All of the enemies are escaping to their outer entrance. They will eventually overrun the 5th squad if we do not come to their aid! Run run RUN!¡¯ ¡°Kormor! We must join the 5th squad, quick! The enemies are, all, heading toward the outer exit. 5th squad is in trouble!¡± ¡°What is their number!?¡± ¡°They numbered about 40. That is four times the number of the 5th squad!¡± Calb was frantic. He didn¡¯t understand why there weren¡¯t any resistance from the enemy. As he was in a hurry, he didn¡¯t bother to turn off the PIDO, and headed toward the outside of the mountain. His attention was fully focused on running¡­running outside to join the 5th squad. Therefore, he didn¡¯t see a sudden appearance of a movement in his PIDO. The mysterious being was, initially, wrapped in the surrounding like it was the part of the natural rock formations, but when it started to move, it appeared in the PIDO like it appeared out of thin air. And its appearance, it was that of a predatory insect the size of a human. It waited until all of the dwarves making up the first 4 squads enter the dungeon before it decided to move, and instead of heading in the opposite direction, it slowly followed the dwarves into the dungeon. Yes, it had been watching the whole operation from the outside of the dungeon! ¡°Hold steady and drive them back! Do not let the enemy come out into the open. We must keep them at bay!¡± Serina was giving orders to the 5th squad. With absence of Calb and Kormor, the leadership of the squad obviously fell on her hands. She knew that there would be some delay in time before Calb and Kormor returned, once the operation started, but she didn¡¯t expect them to come out so quickly. She had thought that, upon the start of the operation, there would be the initial few that would want to run away at any signs of danger, followed by those that are disheartened after having realized the futility of resisting the enemy, but it was far from what she had thought. They all came at once! The 5th squad came to a valley to the north of the mountain in which their city Tovon was built. It took them about 30 minutes to arrive at the present location. Initially, the dwarves thought that the information regarding the entrance was mistaken because all they saw were plain of grass with one, lone, giant evergreen tree in the middle of the plain. However, once they approached the tree and took a better look, what they found was a big circular stone with the diameter of 2.5 meters embedded underneath a 5 meter diameter tree trunk, facing opposite of Tovon. There was no doubt in their mind that this was the entrance. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get set up. They should have started the operation right about now,¡± suggested Serina to the dwarves. ¡°I don¡¯t need to remind you that Lameans are blessed with their innate martial arts ability. Don¡¯t let your guard down when the battle starts!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about us missy, we are veteran soldiers! Looking down on your enemy is the first and last mistake in the battle for death,¡± dwarf number 1 responded with confidence, and he was about to say something else, but he was interrupted. ¡°Look, something is happening to the stone,¡± the dwarf number 2 pointed to the door. ¡°Looks like that is our cue! Be safe all of you.¡± Serina readied herself, as well as the dwarves. ¡°Let them come! I will mince them down.¡± The circular stone flickered, and then, it started to illuminate the surrounding with increasing intensity, and as if it had exhausted all of its mana it gave a final flash with a nearly blinding intensity. What, then, followed was a horde of armed bandits rushing out of the, now, immaterial doorway while the dwarves were still recovering from the effects of the light. The bandits had the heads up on them! ¡°Hold steady and drive them back! Do not let the enemy come out into the open. We must keep them at bay!¡± ¡°Arrrgh! Come, you ruffians! Taste my battle axe!¡± Dwarf number 3 roared with battle cry as he charged to meet the oncoming bandits. ¡°Die you puny little dwarves. How dare you break into our hideout? You will pay!¡± A headstrong bandit swung down with his sword at the rushing dwarf number 3. He knew that, even though the dwarf was rushing at him, the blinding spot - the light residue, from the circular door would still remain in the dwarf¡¯s eye to distract him. That meant that they would be less than optimum, at least, for a couple of minutes. Therefore, he knew his sword will meet its target, but as his sword neared the dwarf, the dwarf had pulled out a shield, big enough to cover his whole body, out of his stomach and blocked his sword. Before he could ask ¡°How could this be possible?¡± the dwarf¡¯s battle axe landed on his chest and he breathed no more. Just as dwarf number 3 pulled out his shield from his belt buckle, the rest of the dwarves readied their shield as well. Normally, they would not have equipped their shield in a small skirmish such as this, for the sake of an offensive battle, but because their vision has not been cleared of the blinding spot, they all resorted to defensive battle instead. As for Serina, not being able to rely on her eyes for a while, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the mana flow around her enemy, instead, to deflect all the attacks on her body with her staff. Until her eyes recover from the blinding spot, she could only defend. ¡°Oh Ho, what do we have here?¡± The bandit confronting Serina spoke in a mocking voice. ¡°We have an expert on our hands.¡± He threw bunch of shadow swings at Serina with his club in order to confuse her. ¡°I¡¯m right here little missy. Oh nope, I am right here¡­nope. Right here. Not-huh, I am not over there, but over here.¡± The bandit was having a fun time. Not to be pulled into the bandit¡¯s taunt, she patiently held her guard. Then when her blinding spot cleared, she kept her eyes closed in order to do some taunting of her own. ¡°Hey, retard. Is that all you know how to do? Run your mouth? You heard of a phrase that says, ¡®People tend to talk during battle because they are scared?¡¯ You have been running your mouth all this time instead of attacking. What are you, a wuss?¡± ¡°What?! You little bitch!¡± The bandit reared his arm back and swung his club with all his might, at least that was his intention. Even before his swing reached a halfway point, Serina¡¯s eyes opened and the end of her staff was already next to his face, and before he knew it, he found himself completing his swing at an air, while his body itself was flying in the direction of a dwarf that had just sliced his opponent and was on a follow through with his axe. ¡°CLANG!¡± The bandit¡¯s head met the blade of an axe, and the body landed motionless. The dwarf, unaware of what just happened, looked at the dead body beneath him and looked back at Serina, and she just gave him a big smile with her body language saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know how that happened.¡± ¡®Serina! There was an unexpected development! Are you okay over there?¡¯ Calb, having exited the mountain, immediately called her on his PIDO while running toward the valley. ¡®Oh Calb, is that you?¡¯ Serina leisurely answered him while sending her enemy flying back into the entrance of the dungeon. ¡®Everything is okay for now. We had a little scare in the beginning, but things are under control.¡¯ Calb was relieved. ¡®I am glad all is well over there. Hold on a while longer, I told the other squads to rush to your help. They should be at the rear of the enemy pretty soon to give you some relief. Of course Kormor and I will be there in a few minutes as well.¡¯ Now that he got the report from Serina, Calb was a bit relaxed, and he turned to let Kormor know of the situation, but he noticed that Kormor was struggling, trying to stay with him due to his short legs. Not wanting to delay any more time, Calb called to him. ¡°Kormor, I am running ahead. I will meet you in the valley, buddy.¡± Calb accessed his PIDO and activated the present that Pleevon the Mage had given him. He started to feel churning of his mana from his mana pool, and his mana started to spread throughout his body in all directions. Once his whole body was enveloped in mana, his internal mana started to interact with the external mana from the nature. The interaction between the two different mana started to swirl in unison, and soon, twin whirlwinds formed on either side of him while his body still had a thin coating of mana that was still enveloping him. As the two whirlwinds swirled outward, and then, toward the back of him, the return motion of the swirl propelled Calb forward, as if he was shooting through the two tornadoes. Naturally, his speed picked up greatly, and he zoomed ahead of Kormor. ¡°AAArrr! Don¡¯t go all by yourself and hog all of the fun for yourself! Be sure to leave some for meeeeeeee!¡± Kormor¡¯s shout was lost in the wind. --------------------------------------------------------- Well, Calb had revealed, yet, another skill that he gained through his PIDO. I am sure you all will reason out, there is much more upgrades left in PIDO, though not anytime soon. Hope you enjoyed it! -----MooShoo----- 13. A Re-Meeting of an Old Evil Race Hello Readers! It has been a while since my last chapter. I must admit that last portion of this chapter was a bit hard for me to write. However, it is done, now, as you can see. I hope you will enjoy it! -----Mooshoo----- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Calb and Serina were told by Sirram that the city of Tovon was experiencing cases of missing dwarves. He told them of their situation after finding out about Calb¡¯s status, as well as the capability of his PIDO. They agreed to help them, and they had formed a raid party to catch the culprits of the missing dwarves, but a mysterious enemy agent who was hiding in the shadows, out side of the hidden dungeon, sabotaged their raid by somehow informing the bandits about the raid. As a result, the bandits, instead of engaging the attacking squads of dwarves, they all gathered at the exit entrance where Serina¡¯s squad, the 5th squad, was waiting for them. The battle strength comparison of the two opposing forces is 40 bandits versus 10 members of 5th squad. The numerical odds favored the bandits. After confirming the safety of the 5th squad with Serina, Calb, for the first time, used the present from Pleevon the Mage. As the Guardian Mage of God, Pleevon¡¯s gift to Calb was an affinity for magic that all Pleevonians, except for the dwarves, on the Pleevon Plane were blessed with. That meant that Calb was given the ability to manipulate basic elements of magic, which are Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Vegetations. Since he was not given any spells or incantations, his magic usage was limited to his imagination in manipulation of mana. This is where Calb¡¯s prior experience of living in the world of science helped him. With the understanding of the scientific property, Calb had created two whirlwinds to be placed on each side of him. He then made the whirlwinds to spin outward, away from him, to return inward toward his back, thus producing forward propulsion. It was an idea only he could have thought of in this world of magic. Aided by the forward propulsion, Calb was making good time. The distance in which the 5th squad took 30 minutes to cover with brisk walk, Calb was taking less than 10 minutes without running out of air. He could have gone faster, but he wanted to preserve his lungs for the battle ahead. When he got closer to the valley, he was able to see both the 5th squad as well as the other 4 squads with his PIDO. The other 4 squads have caught up to the rear of the bandits, and the battle between them ensued, but the dwarves had to go up a steep, narrow, and winding tunnel where they could only advance one dwarf at a time. However, the same was not true for the bandits who had the tactical advantage of being on the higher ground. Not only were they on a higher ground, they had formed a defense line at an open area where they can gather together to simply cut off the advances of the dwarves, one dwarf at a time. In other words, they held the dwarves down from advancing without stationing large number of bandits as rear guards. That meant they could utilize bulk of their manpower to break through the front where the 5th squad was keeping them at bay. As such, even though the 5th squad was doing a good job of holding their ground, they have had five casualties and, from the looks of it, one other was about to join the five that were down. With the bandits still numbering around 20, it was a matter of time before they would crumble to the pressure. Calb clearly saw where he was needed. He had to break through the bandits and allow the other 4 squads to join the battle. That was the only option they had left. He called Serina. ¡®Serina, things do not look good. I don¡¯t think we can last. The other four squads have caught up to the bandits, but they are at a bottleneck, and they are being kept from advancing. We need to break through the front and release the pressure.¡¯ ¡®Do¡­you have¡­a¡­plan?¡¯ Unlike before, Serina was no longer leisurely answering Calb. What was, once, an easy task, she couldn¡¯t even talk to Calb properly now that the situation turned sour for the 5th squad. Her concentration was wearing thin, as if it would break with any additional distraction. She dared not to close her eyes, and she also didn¡¯t let up on her mana sensing skill, in order to keep track of the tiring dwarves while beating her opponent back into the dungeon. ¡®I do, but I will need your help to watch my back once we break through. You okay? You sound little perturbed.¡¯ ¡®We have¡­lost¡­half¡­of our numbers¡­, and they¡­number in the¡­high teens¡­.still. I have been¡­doing okay taking on¡­two dwarves¡¯ job¡­, but my¡­mana is nearly¡­bottomed out.¡¯ ¡°Get back in there!¡± Serina nailed the face of one bandit with the rising swat of her staff, after she followed through a parry that sent her spinning toward the unlucky bandit. Though she was flung by her opponent, her recovery seemed so natural that rather than being forced back, she made it look like she had planned for that to happen, and the result was the, just mentioned, unlucky bandit being sent flying back into the dungeon. ¡®Whatever¡­you have got¡­planned¡­, you had better¡­make it¡­fast!¡¯ After disposing of the unlucky bandit, Serina made her move to go back to the opponent that had pushed her back, in order to pay him back for making her step back unintentionally. It could be said that Calb was to blame for her momentary blunder, as she was forced to divide her attention between Calb and her opponent. Otherwise, she would not have left a momentary opening, in which, her opponent took advantage of the occurrence to push her back. As such, though it was very brief, Serina¡¯s honor as a martial artist was bruised, and she was not about to let it stay that way. Serina¡¯s body mirrored her staff, as it dipped and flailed. It was as if she was waltzing through the battle field with her staff as her waltzing partner, and just as the dancers maneuver around the ballroom without bumping into other dancers, Serina weaved in and out of the other combatants¡¯ scuffle to catch up to her target while dealing numerous damages to those that she happened to pass during her pursuit. She moved as if she was the only one moving while everyone else was in suspended animation. She took a step to her side. Then she stepped back to her original position with a backward sweep of her staff to knock another unfortunate bandit, that was about to deal a killing blow to one of the tired out dwarves, into the air, to be put in a reverse position of meeting the blade of his supposed victim¡¯s axe instead. Finally, catching up to the bandit that had managed to luckily push her back and escape, Serina leaped into the air and somersaulted over the bandit¡¯s head to cut off his hard earned escape. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you thought you could escape!¡± Serina coolly tapped her foot on the ground while leaning on her staff, as if she had been waiting long. ¡°No one is getting past me!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky, you little bitch! I¡¯ll teach you a lesson in humility!¡± The escaping bandit, knowing that Serina was the last obstacle to his freedom reached behind his back to pull out a little rod. The rod was no bigger than his hand, but Serina instantly knew that it wasn¡¯t any ordinary rod. Its shape was that of a three twigs intertwined into one, but it had a metallic shine. Then, suddenly, the ends of the twigs let out a fiery glow as they extended out into three little fire snakes 2 meters long. The three fire snakes, as if they sniffed out the enemy, recoiled in three different directions to a crouch, waiting for an opening to strike at Serina with moment¡¯s notice. Seeing the new development, Serina calmly took her battle stance. Contrary to her calm composure, she didn¡¯t like what she saw. This was the first time she had seen any weapon that seemed to have a life of its own. Though she was confident that she could defeat the bandit, as his stance was full of openings, the three fire snakes coming out of the bandit¡¯s rod added uncertainties that may spell trouble for her. As such, she opted to use the mana she had been conserving for the moment when Calb would arrive. Taking note of the fire attribute of the bandit¡¯s rod, Serina turned her mana to expel all the warmth from her staff, and thus, her staff took on a frosty appearance. What Serina had just done to her staff by manipulating mana into expelling warmth from her staff was similar to how Calb used his mana, as well as the surrounding mana, to create whirlwind, but what she had just done could not be considered magic. Even though both utilized fundamental traits of mana, the potency in which mana manifested into something that can be considered as transformation of substantial magnitude was what made Calb¡¯s whirlwind different from frosty appearance of Serina¡¯s staff. In other words, her means of countering a magical rod with a fire trait can be considered as a subpar countermeasure. However, that did not mean the odds were against her. As long as she kept the contact time short, there was hope. Noticing the grave expression in Serina¡¯s face, the bandit¡¯s composure improved. ¡°Ahh, did someone lose her nerve? Why so serious? Huh?¡± The bandit threw her a menacing smile as he feigned poking motion with his rod. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about any pain. I will make sure to burn you alive. Ha ha haa ha!¡± The bandit made an amateur mistake. Enjoying the sudden turn of an event, he cocked his head up to laugh a little bit too much, and before he knew it Serina¡¯s staff was quickly heading toward his chin. However, even faster were the three fire snakes. Before her staff could actually reach her intended target, the three snakes took a hold of the staff, and thus, halting its advance. At the same time, there appeared light smoke where the snakes bit onto the staff. Though the bites didn¡¯t penetrate the staff, where their teeth made contact with the wood was getting charred as the fire ate away the cool surface of the staff. Serina quickly spun her staff and promptly pulled it out of the jaws of the fire snakes as the spin she had put on the staff loosened the grip the snakes had on the staff. Serina was in a shock! She had expected that the mana cooled staff would not be a match for the heat from the fire snakes, but she had not expected the fire snakes to be able to block a solid object. In fact, she had also not expected that the snakes would grab onto her staff with such strength. ¡°How is it that a fire, which is supposed to be intangible, have a property of a solid? And not only that, how are they this strong!?¡± So many thoughts crossed Serina¡¯s mind. Recovered from the sudden attack that would have knocked him silly being thwarted by the fire snakes, the bandit beamed with delight. ¡°Thought you had me, didn¡¯t you, you little martial arts freak? ¡° ¡°I must admit that it caught me off guard, and I also admit that beating you up will be a bit more difficult task, but don¡¯t you think you are being a bit too pathetic about this whole situation when you are getting cocky just because your magic rod is doing all the fighting for you, since you, obviously, do not have any talent for fighting? What? Did your group of bandits get desperate to recruit someone useless like you into their group? You should be ashamed that you are a Lamean with your pathetic martial arts ability.¡± Serina made sure to pronounce the word ¡°pathetic¡± with extra emphasis to get the bandit¡¯s blood going. She wanted to make him get careless through her taunting because she needed to take care of him before Calb arrives in order for his plan to go as he planned. ¡°You little bitch, take this!¡± The bandit pulled back his rod like he would a whip and flung the fire snakes toward Serina¡¯s face, to which she both dodged and swiped away the fire snakes with her staff for a safety measure. ¡°You think you can dodge forever?¡± He whipped the fire snakes at Serina again and again. ¡°Do you feel lucky, huh? Bitch?¡± Serina¡¯s taunting was a success. Regardless of the weapon, weapon is only good as the person that is handling the weapon. As such, there are right ways and wrong ways of using various weapons. The way the bandit was using his magic rod was not how it was intended to be used. Though it seemed logical to swing about the fire snakes at the opponent, like he was toward Serina, the actual intended purpose behind the magic rod was for the fire snakes to be able to provide defense for its user as well as providing occasional offense when the opportunity arises, on their own. That means the fire snakes were almost artificially intelligent in that they can, automatically, choose the optimal means of defense as well as an attack. In other words, the user can simply hold onto the rod in one position and the snakes would defend as well as attack for the user. In this sense, this magic rod was even greater defensive item than a normal shield where its user must have some skills with the shield to gain full benefit of its protective property. The fact that the bandit chose to actively use the rod as a weapon akin to a whip, he was, unknowingly, putting restrictions on the movements of the fire snakes, as all the flinging motions of the whip make it so that their movements are dictated by the user rather than the snakes themselves. As such, in the eyes of Serina, the fire snakes were no different from any other normal whip. Only difference would be that she couldn¡¯t allow much contact to be established between the snakes and her staff, as evidenced by earlier example. As for the fire snakes, they made endless attempts to bite down on Serina as they got close to her, but all that can be seen by Serina were futile efforts made by the snakes to lunge at her, only to be swayed back and forth, uncontrollably, with every angry flicks of their owner, in his effort to hit her with them. After repeated dodging and many near misses, Serina finally saw an opening! She spun 90 degrees away from the bandit as she reared her staff sideways, and she poked the bandit in his stomach with the back end of her staff. Then she followed through and swung the front end of her staff hitting the bottom end of his magic rod, square on the very tip. The magic rod slipped from his grip, and as soon as the contact between the user and the rod terminated, the fire snakes retracted back into the magic rod, and what landed in Serina¡¯s hand was a short, uniquely shaped little, metallic rod. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The bandit was on his knees, shocked out of his wits. He could not believe what had just happened. The ever so omnipotent feeling that he has had was no more, and the trump card which was in his hands just a moment ago was now in Serina¡¯s hand instead. Though Serina had every intention to return the favor by burning the bandit with his own weapon, she knew that Calb was near. The success of his plan came first. ¡®Okay. I am nearly there, but I need everyone to make a way for me to rush in the dungeon when I get there. It will be a one shot thing. I will knock everyone down with the gift that I have received from Pleevon. I need you to follow in right behind me while the bandits are down and guard my back while I deal with their rear guards.¡¯ ¡®You had better make sure you take care of those rear guards quickly because I don¡¯t think I will be able to hold them back all by myself for long.¡¯ ¡®Okay. I¡¯ll count on you!¡¯ Calb cut off the mental message, and yelled, ¡°5th SQUAD, MAKE WAY!¡± Serina quickly swatted the bandit¡¯s head in front of her with her staff and side-stepped to allow Calb¡¯s passage, and Dwarf number 2, reading the atmosphere, flung himself at the bandits that were attacking Dwarf number 3 to just barely make enough room for Calb to rush in. As for Calb, he had increased the spinning rate on his whirlwinds and charged to the front of the bandits. Then with a swipe of his arms, he sent the two whirlwinds, now, miniature hurricanes into the entrance of the dungeon. Bandits, seeing a new combatant coming at them with two hurricanes at his side, tried to get out of the way, but they forgot that they were crowded inside of a dungeon, and before they new it, they were flung back inside the dungeon. Without stopping to confirm the result of his attack, Calb made an eye contact with Serina and rushed inside before the bandits could regroup. Serina, not losing a beat, followed right in behind him. Because Calb had been studying the interior of the dungeon, while on the run, he didn¡¯t need to pause at all to decide on a direction. ¡®SQUAD LEADERS, BE READY TO RUSH IN!¡¯ Knowing the rear guards for the bandits are just around the bend, Calb pulled out his staff from his back and held it tightly across his waist, and without any hesitation, he rushed straight at them. From the back, Serina thought that Calb was just going to push into the rear guards, but she was mistaken. A bright yellow light flashed out of his PIDO, and as if he was a seasoned martial artist, Calb started to spin. Not only was he spinning his way into the rear guards, he had also started to twirl his staff around his waist at the same time, and with every twirl of his staff, he found an enemy¡¯s face that had conveniently ¡°attached¡± itself to his staff, which at this point, became an extension of his body. Serina couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. The same Calb that she had methodically beaten to a pulp just the other day, all of a sudden, started to weave in and out of the enemy ranks, and he was giving them a sound beating! ¡°Is there a limit to his growth?¡± She thought to herself, but before she could immerse herself, anymore, she had regrouping bandits to take care of. With the reinforcement from the four squads that had come through the dungeon, the remaining bandits were easily captured, and to be sure, dwarves made a second run through the dungeon to see if they missed any bandits. Of course, Calb could easily have used his PIDO to look through the dungeon, but he decided to let the dwarves have their fun exploring the dungeon. Reason being, he had learned enough things about the dwarves from Sirram to know that exploration of an unknown dungeon was the best possible entertainment they could possibly have, next to their love for a righteous battle. The only thing that he was concerned about was Kormor. He had abandoned Kormor, on his way to the valley, for the sake of speed, and he knew that Kormor would be sorely disappointed when he finds out that the battle was already over. He felt sorry for the little guy. ¡°Umm, Serina, why don¡¯t we head back to Tovon through the dungeon?¡± Actually, Calb preferred the outside view, but he was reluctant to run into Kormor. ¡°Yeah, sure, but you will have to tell me about those moves earlier.¡± Serina was thinking back on the moves he had made while beating down the rear guards. ¡°What moves are you talking about?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you forgot all about all that spinning and twirling of the staff you did earlier!¡± ¡°Oh, that. I thought you were talking about the time when I rushed them bandits at the front entrance.¡± ¡°And those twin hurricanes!¡± Serina added with a pout. She couldn¡¯t believe that Calb had kept such things as secret. ¡°Are you angry?¡± ¡°Of course I am! Why didn¡¯t you tell me you could do all that!?¡± ¡°Well, I just found out about it recently when I was talking with your grandfather before we left, and as for the moves with the staff, I didn¡¯t know I would be able to do all that until I have tried it. It just became natural to me. I just knew where to step and where to turn while handling my staff. Do you remember the gifts I have received from the Guardians Pleevon and Lamea?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± ¡°Apparently the gift from Lamea made me similar to native Lameans in that I, now, also have an affinity for martial arts and same goes with magic.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that a cheat?¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that what makes me ¡°Oh So Special?¡± Calb stuck his tongue out to Serina as a tease. ¡°What? Do you think you have outgrown me? Huh? Do you want me to beat the stuffing out of you again?¡± ¡°Ha ha¡­No, that is not necessary.¡± Calb stuck both of his hands out to his front and shook them side to side with a smile, trying to calm her down. Even though he had received the gift from Lamea the Warrior, Calb was still nowhere near Serina¡¯s level. Just receiving the gift of affinity for martial arts does not equal years of training acquired by martial arts experts. ¡°But why don¡¯t we talk about this later, and how about we head back?¡± Serina looked at Calb with suspicion. ¡°What are you hiding? Why are you in a rush to return?¡± Calb returned Serina¡¯s look with a timorous, defensive body language. Though his anxiety was due to his wish to not run into Kormor, his guilty feeling toward Kormor reacted toward Serina because of her suspicious tone of voice. ¡°Well, nothing in particular, but I had thought it would be better if we don¡¯t see Kormor for a while, until today¡¯s excitement settles down¡­.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Huff¡­Huff¡­There you are!¡± The very dwarf Calb wanted to see the least appeared, just like the old sayings that says, ¡®Speaking of the devil¡­.If you speak of a tiger¡­.Speaking of the wolf¡­.etc.¡¯ ¡°So where is the action?¡± Kormor asked eagerly. Even though Kormor had seen the littered bodies of the bandits in the entrance of the dungeon, it was not unlikely that the battle was pushed to the inside of the dungeon. Actually he had hoped that was the case, because, in his heart, he had missed the thrill of a battle for too long! For dwarves that had immigrated to the Lamea Plane from the Pleevon Plane, living as a secret colony of dwarves in the land of humans, that was the one thing they had to sacrifice, opportunity for righteous battles. ¡°Umm Kormor, the battle¡¯s over.¡± Calb responded apologetically. ¡°Yeah short stuff; you missed out on the fun.¡± Serina had obviously gotten comfortable with Kormor to be calling him ¡®short stuff.¡¯ With dejected face, Kormor moped. ¡°So it did end¡­without me¡­. I had my hopes up because it had been a while since, last, I got to re-don a warrior¡¯s spirit. I have missed it so, since our arrival here from Pleevon Plane.¡± There are sacrifices we all must make in life, and Kormor, as well as other dwarves of the Tovon city had given up on their life back on Pleevon Plane, in order to settle in Lamea Plane where they can live out their lives without any disgrace over their lack of magical affinity. They knew that they would be missing out on occasional skirmishes they have had with their archenemies the Goblins and Orcs, and they also knew that they would have to live a life of secrecy so that the Lameans do not suspect other planes besides Lamea Plane, as that was the condition set forth by the Lamea the Warrior for letting them a special pilgrimage to the Lamea Plane. However, we do not always know how we will feel after our future endeavors. We think that we will handle our future happenings with conviction and pride, but we forget to consider what we will miss. It is so because we do not always know what we are taking for granted during our present life. To Serina and Calb, it was obvious that Kormor could hardly contain himself due to disappointment. Of course Serina would have no way of knowing how Kormor was abandoned by Calb, but just seeing dejected Kormor, Calb felt very guilty for what he had done. He didn¡¯t know what to say. Knowing that he must do something, Calb started to walk toward Kormor, trying to think of something positive to say to Kormor. Then a sudden gush of wind passed by both him and Serina, and accompanying the wind was couple of big green blurs zipping front of them and heading toward Kormor. Calb instantly recognized the blurs. There was no way he could not have recognized them. Why? Because he had spent nearly 70 years of his life fighting them, back in the world of science! Yes, what he saw were the Filtons! Though he had been living a pretty, stress free lifestyle in this world of magic, away from the concerns of his old world, it would be impossible for Calb to have erased his memory of the Filtons in less than a half a year. ¡°Kormor!¡± Calb motioned to Serina and ran toward Kormor. Though they had raided bandit¡¯s secret dungeon and captured the remaining bandits, he had no clue as to why they would abduct dwarves. That was until he saw the Filtons. Everything made sense to him now! He knew exactly what was going on. Filtons were greedy race of insects that had insatiable desire for something they do not have, and just from having visited the dwarves in their city of Tovon and seen their exceptional skills in production of magic infused items it was not hard to determine what they wanted from the dwarves. They wanted dwarves produced, magical items, and thus the repeated abductions of industrially skilled dwarves! Taking into the consideration that Calb have been living a life of a martial artist for the past four months, as well as his recent acquisition of affinity for martial arts, his reaction was very quick. However, the Filtons had a jump start, and on top of that, they were flying. As such, even before Calb could reach Kormor, the two Filtons grabbed the, less than vigilant, Kormor and headed out of the dungeon. Not wasting any time, Calb recreated the twin whirlwinds and bolted after the Filtons, but by the time he had exited the dungeon, all he could see were the flying figures of the two gigantic praying mantises sharing the load called Kormor. There was no way Calb could catch flying insects by running, despite the help from the whirlwinds. ¡°How..how is this possible?¡± All Calb could do was stare at the disappearing insects and a small dot in between them with a pair of dangling legs of Kormor. ¡°What are those gigantic insects?¡± Serina caught up to Calb standing by the exit. ¡°They are the Filtons. The enemies I have been fighting for most of my life.¡± ¡°How is it that they are here? I thought you were the only one that ended up in our world from your world?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I had thought as well, but I can¡¯t deny what I see right now. They are definitely Filtons.¡± Calb had brought out the 3D image from his PIDO to monitor Kormor. All he could hope for was for the Filton¡¯s destination be somewhere close enough where his PIDO can track Kormor. The only consolation was that Kormor was one of the individuals that Calb had already inserted his miniature PIDO before the operation, and although he was not able to communicate with Kormor due to the distance between them being so far, Calb was still seeing Kormor¡¯s signature beep on his 3D map. ¡°Can you talk to him?¡± ¡°No. I have tried without a reply. Luckily, I am still able to pick up the miniature PIDO that I shot into him before the operation. Though I don¡¯t know whether there is a limitation placed upon the stability of the miniature PIDO due to too much distance between it and the original, it is my guess that I would be able to pick up the signal, even if it goes out of my PIDO¡¯s range, once I am closer to him. Though I want to follow him right now, considering we don¡¯t know just how many of them are, it would be better to, first, consult with Sirram before we do anything.¡± Calb looked at Serina and said, ¡°We must rescue him!¡± ----------------------------------------------------------- Hope you have enjoyed the chapter! Look forward to the development of the story as Calb and Serina embark on another mission to rescue Kormor on the next chapter! -----Mooshoo-----