《The Secret: Hidden truth in rotten lands》


 Prologue: Regret

    "Brothers and sisters from all nations, we kept our existence hidden for a long time and only revealed ourselves to the public today to announce our dissolution, the organization we kept on this world as deities, is definitely... dissolved" said the masked man wearing a decorated dark military uniform from the organization.


    The TV then placed the video of the man without sound while other people were discussing it, the man''s voice was cold and clear, and the announcement was made quick.


    But the weight of the words mentioned was only known to the people years later.


    "That broadcast was a shock for humanity but those words are even heavier each year since that day"said Mike in his mind. He was wearing formal clothes.


    Not the kind of thing he was used to wearing but needed to bear with it, it was about to be his usual clothes for work.


    Mike was the only one paying attention to the TV when they played the video of that dark-clothed man, most people act like they don''t care, but for ability users, that was a different story.


    But at the same time, he had certain eyes on him just he couldn''t tell from where he was being watched.


    After some minutes a chubby adult came close to him accompanied by a muscular guy in formal clothes, probably his bodyguard.


    "So, you are Alex''s grandson, right? is sad to know what happened to him, my condolences" said the chubby man, Mike didn''t feel his words sincere, being trained by this world and educated by his mother''s words, he developed a natural talent to feel the emotions from people.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Your words are kind and enough for my grandfather, sir Slades"


    "Well, I can let you work for me as we discussed before; and looking at your physic, you are trained, so it won''t be hard for you, I saw your curriculum so you fit right, and your PhySEC ability..."


    He paused while trying to remember his PhySEC ability "...oh! I remember, telekinesis variant, yes yes, I just have the best job position for you, and as a token of my respect for your grandfather I will make an exception so you don''t need to take the tests" said the man.


    Like if Mike wouldn''t pass some tests made for normal people, PhySEC users were naturally gifted with more muscular strength than average people, at least most of them, including Mike.


    They talked for some time, and then the chubby man left and Mike followed a secretary for his registry.


    But Mike still felt a certain gaze on him, just he couldn''t just look everywhere trying to find where they were looking at him and why.


    Just as he finished his registry, he left the office and went to the building''s exit;


    He would start working tomorrow after all, but a certain woman stood in his way looking at him, he just wanted to be polite and leave, but then he felt the eyes of the woman looking at him were the same he felt before.


    The woman was just maybe a little younger than him and wearing casual clothes, she had short hair and had some urban simple style but still exuded an attractive aura.


    "So, you are Mike Blood, right?"she asked him, clearly knowing who he was.


    Mike couldn''t help but think that she was here from the start waiting for him, just that still there was no way of knowing why.


    "...Hi, do you need something I can help you with?" he just tried to be polite and leave when he could, but days later he regretted his words...

 Chapter 1: The failed mercenary _ Part 1

    In the buildings of one of the low-class zones, a clock alarm making its noise on one of the small apartments, the alarm doesn''t show any signs of stopping, and the apartment''s resident doesn''t show any signs of wanting to move.


    But after a few moments, he finally woke up, and with all the rage a person deprived of his sleep could have, he hit the alarm clock on the shutdown button, which, sadly for his ears and his neighbors'' ears, since it''s just 4:30 in the morning, it doesn''t stop the alarm sound.


    After a few seconds, a second hit, then a third hit.


    And... finally the fourth hit and it stops. The clock showed signs of not being the first nor the last time receiving hits to shut down the alarm sound in the morning, only a miracle is the answer for how it still works after such a treatment for a long time.


    "Another day after a long training... why didn''t I change the time for the alarm just yesterday? Idiot" says Mike, the resident in the apartment while holding his head after sitting down in the bed.


    After a moment he checks out the time, still already knowing the time anyway. "4 hours of sleep, I had worst days" he thinks, and then finally decides to start his day as usual, a light food, preparing things for the day, and so on, 5:30 taking a running while heading to the gym, entering the Gym at 6:00 and then returning home at 7:00 or 7:30, nothing out of ordinary for him.


    Just yesterday he returned from a training test for a private military force for people with supernatural abilities, a 7 days long test with many kinds of hardships. And after successfully passing the test what did they say?


    He had a very poor talent with his ability, and also it wasn''t very powerful to start with, what annoyed him was that he still took the 7 days training test before being informed about his being rejected, and after returning home, he didn''t change the time for the alarm, poor clock.


    But all in the past it wasn''t his first time being rejected, at 25 years old this was his third rejection.


    His country was in a bad moment to hold its own supernatural forces, so he only could apply for those private military organizations, all of those from out of his country, but lucky... he could take the tests, and unlucky... rejected.


    His country once a very prosperous place, was under a current problem filled with terrorists, on the verge of starting another civic war, God knows how it was still functioning.


    As he approached his home he still was thinking what to do with his live, now being part of a mercenary group wasn''t an option, so he should sort out his remaining options, using his powers for his own benefit was always an option, but still thinking it wasn''t necessary to become a delinquent he kept talking in his mind while his phone woke him up.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    It was a message from a governmental organization, about a house his deceased grandfather had, he already knew about this, but just didn''t have time, it was a good thing to sell the house, but it was good to go there to live.


    But most importantly he could just see what was there before deciding, who knows, maybe he can find something interesting;


    Anyway, he didn''t have much savings since his last trip to take the test to become a mercenary, and the gym, in his country, was not something everybody could just use. most people would use their money to try to keep surviving in a land in decay, if he went there he could not return since he doesn''t have enough money, returning by walking?


    Let''s see who is crazy enough to do that, 2 thousand kilometers from his side of the country to the other side.


    "Still better than living in this shit..." he said loud after opening his apartment''s door, making up his mind.


    His grandfather was a supernatural ability user, but his qualifications were poor since he had the same power''s characteristics as Mike.


    After a few minutes he packed up everything he needed, and it all was just a few things, very light for someone strong due to physical activity every day, even somehow light for a not-so-healthy person. "Come on Mike, you can also find the answer to how your grandfather made his way in this piece on land in decay" he said in his mind, trying to console himself for the long journey that awaited him.


    But it worked in waking up more his curiosity, the country was already in decay when his grandfather made up an empire of his own before disappearing, or so his mother told him.


    Just as he was buying his train ticket, he saw a woman being robbed "another day in the office" he said in his mind, not wanting to be involved in it, he knew that the local delinquents were part of the terrorist living in the country, so the man who robbed was part of the local delinquent''s group or was about to be killed for robbing in other people territory... or being lucky and escape.


    With his heart in conflict, he went to the waiting area thinking "It''s not my fault but the world''s" many times.


    "Ah fuck it" Said in a low voice when passing by the area and trying to not get noticed, he used his poor ability to its maximum power, just enough to make the robber fall to the ground like when having a stumble with a little obstacle.


    Sadly, the police still couldn''t catch him, the policeman just slowed his running while pursuing the robber; clearly, the policeman knew who the robber was and was probably from the terrorist organization "corrupted people, nothing new anyway. Well, I did what was correct in my position, nothing more nothing less"


    He wasn''t worried at all about being discovered, his powers were mainly similar to telekinesis but like having a third arm, it was not very strong and had limited distance.


    When other people use their supernatural powers, other supernatural ability users can barely detect it, unless someone has certain kinds of abilities or being specialized in stealth, or is very well trained, those with telekinesis-like abilities were not part of any, but lucky for Mike, his power could not be detected by others unless one used a certain device.


    "I certainly live... well, used to live in a very quiet area of the country, after all, I am moving today, at least if we compare it with other cities, I was lucky to live here... but my grandfather''s house is in... I hope it is still standing... it would be standing, right?" in his thoughts of worries he boarded the train.

 Ch1: The failed mercenary _ part 2

    Just as Mike reached his destination, he saw some people in the dirty garden, looks like the place wasn''t well maintained, but it had a reason, it was alone for so much time.


    But the terrain, the house, belonged to him now, who would be having a morning after-party in the house that was supposed to be abandoned?


    As he got closer, accompanied by a civil servant the man came to a realization while probably identifying one of the persons there, Mike noticed his reaction but said nothing about it, if he had asked, the answer received would be a lie.


    "Should we call the police?" Mike asked, but teasing. Because he already knew the answer.


    "No, no need. We can talk with them first, people like that have been used to doing this kind of thing recently, tarnishing the rich view of our city" said the man, just as Mike guessed.


    People can decide to do things according to their ways or following a protocol, but that is only in common people''s circumstances, a civil servant, someone who works for the government in administrating the country must always follow a certain protocol while doing things. Anyway, people these days won''t do that.


    "Do you realize I am fucking broke?" Said Mike, for the first time since he met that man he always talked with education, but this time he wasn''t talking like that to him.


    The man accompanying him was lost for a second and then understood immediately and said "then... that''s a problem, you can try to talk with them to reach a deal, don''t you think?" A common person couldn''t understand the words talked by both, but living in a nation in decay like that, anyone there could understand their words, the corruption easily spread around a country when the people in charge were already corrupt.


    "I''ll handle them, give me a minute to do so, then we can end up this... protocol" said Mike and kept walking towards the place, instead of jumping over the small wall of the garden he went straight to the door.


    It wasn''t like he could not jump the wall or like the electric fence above it was working, it was probably shut down after some years, he just wanted to do things according to his ways of solving things like dealing with delinquents.


    "Here''s the key, I''ll wait until you talk with them" said the man after handing him the keys to the house, there were only 2 keys, so it wasn''t hard to find the key.


    "Coward, first talked about we talking with them, so they could ask me for money to leave, but left when I said I''m broke, what a joke of people"


    As he opened the door, the people inside were already aware of him and looking at him, the eyes of the delinquents were fierce and would give people a chill in the spine, but Mike was used to those eyes, living in the country everyone was already aware of people like that, and plus he already had meet people thousands of times scarier.


    With all sense of confidence, he went straight to the people without saying a word, that alone made the people surprised at first, they carefully got their hands prepared to take action, Mike was thinking that maybe not all of them had guns, but all had some kind of weapon, just before one of them asked who was he, Mike spoke.


    "This is private property, what are you doing here? Please leave before things get complicated" said with confidence. Most people would talk about calling the police or something like that, this was news to them to be talked about complicating them, at least from a common person.


    This made these four guys stand up from the dirty chairs in a wary state.


    "And who are you exactly? We have been reuniting here for some time now, how could we leave empty-handed? Haha! What about you helping us with some money? So we can find a place to stay" asked one of the men.


    Their clothes were not dirty enough to be vagabonds so Mike already knew how to deal with them from the start.


    "I don''t have money on me right now, and that''s not important, friend. Leave the place..." said Mike with a certain rude voice, the last sentence where as cold as ice. Before one of the people could say something Mike already ended up concentrating on his ability, with all his might, he sent the chairs flying,


    And the door at the entrance of the garden just where he got in, opened with a heavy loud force, since it was not fully closed the wind around them went in all directions with a fury force. "or as I said, things would get complicated"


    The people were stunned, not only he was here with the keys wearing no uniform, he was probably the owner of the house, but they could not get any penny from him even using force, because he was an ability user. But as common delinquents that doesn''t know how to surrender, they went out of the place while warning Mike to not be too calm for now. They would certainly return but would do nothing directly to an ability user because after all, just the warning showed an ability that although very common, was a very dangerous one to combat using only a pistol. They didn''t know that Mike''s ability wasn''t that dangerous anyway, and even the civil servant, didn''t know. After all, he was lighting up a cigar when he heard the noise of chairs behind the garden wall.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    He even saw a chair flying up, and couldn''t understand how hard it was to hand that man named Mike with four people, when he tried to see through the garden wall''s artisanal hole-apertures, he saw Mike calmly waiting for the people to leave.


    As everything finished, the civil servant went inside the garden still not understanding what just happened, but he understood that the man before him was not a common human.


    He treated Mike just as another person, but this time he used more formal words with him.


    "Sir, since the problem is solved and I guided you and gave you the keys, I only need you to sign up this paper so I can leave and the procedures will be finished"


    Without saying a thing, Mike read the papers and signed them, well... most of the words in the paper, not all the words in there... maybe just read half of it. As everything finished, the man left in a hurry, closing the door. As Mike saw it, he just fell and sat on the ground breathing heavily, he could not stand the tiredness on his body after using his ability at the maximum, no, even beyond the maximum, he saw one of the guys holding a pistol in his waist, their clothes were not covering the weapon entirely, so he went as far as he could using his power. For more than 20 minutes Mike stood on the ground with a pale face, he was usually pale skinned so people usually don''t notice unless they pay close attention.


    "Fucking and shitty weak ability" he cursed in a low voice.


    PhySEC users can use their ability to a certain extent, but when matters are dangerous, they can push themselves to push their abilities limits a little more, what nobody could expect, not even Mike, was that his ability could increase to a very high potential and danger just using it to its maximum, but Mike couldn''t endure the force of that, so he never tried. If he tried, he would surprise all his previous instructors, while not achieving being a mercenary on the front lines, he would still hold a chance in other things.


    A moment later, he got on his feet again and walked to the house door "I should go to the hotel to get my thing back soon" he opened the door while thinking, the door was heavy and it looked quite big for a door, it was probably bulletproof, and he got somewhat puzzled. The door was like that, yeah, he could understand, but behind the door was another door. Didn''t the civil servant give him all the keys?


    He was puzzled, but then he saw no the usual place to put keys in, instead he saw no way to open that door. Still, it had some kind of knob on it, he tried to open it by holding the knob and pushing but it didn''t work, instead he heard a voice from the door -Bio-metrical authentication success, Mike Blood, please solve the riddle: four number digits set up by your grandfather-


    "Are you kidding me? That much security? Also, I don''t see any place to put a PIN code... and, My grandfather''s number? I don''t know what that means"


    There was no more voice, but he was still thinking with his hand on the knob. After one whole minute he finally said something "Wasn''t my mother''s birthday? 1985? Or wait, no, he was almost narcissist as long as my mother used to tell me... is 2030 and he was... I can''t remember how old is he now... maybe 1950? Also, I still don''t know where to type the code, and it can''t be my birthday, or... 2005? No, I should get back lat... " Just as he said the number a strange sound went from the door, and before he could finish muttering,


    The door slid to the side by itself, and the mechanical voice from before said "Welcome home, Mike blood. I have a reminder for you; user Alex Blood ordered me to tell you there is a note from him on the dining table. There are no more reminders for now"


    He was already stunned, but now he was even more.


    The mechanical voice wasn''t just the security door. "It... is a fucking artificial assistant?!"


    The emulated intelligence was not a common thing in the country, and the technology to use fully automated artificial assistants at home was a new concept in recent years, did his grandfather install the assistance just before he was about to pass away? That could be the answer.


    "But why?" he asked without realizing he was speaking alone again, but then the voice asked "Excuse me, master Blood, are you asking me? if so, I cannot understand your question"


    "... I was talking to myself"


    "Understood"


    "Strange... there is something I don''t understand, there was no electricity in this house as long as I know from the words of the civil servant, he was wrong or... something else" he went right to the dining table, well, he tried, it took him some time to understand the house, it was big and he could barely remember anything from his days here as a child, he was a baby so he could understand why he could not remember anything about this place, anyway he found the dining table quick, in there laid not just a note.


    "This is a fucking whole book, can''t be the supposed note, right?"


    "Sorry if you are not asking me Master Blood, but I can answer your question this time" said the voice again, surprising Mike "the whole book you are referring to, the only object on the dining table is the note left by your grandfather, and is not a book, since is a message only to you, but I can understand your way of thinking, after all, there are more than 5 sheets of paper"


    "I will develop a resistance to surprises if things keep going on, and please don''t answer to what I just said"


    Surprisingly, the artificial assistance didn''t say a thing, very uncommon in emulated intelligence since it would answer every word to their users even when asked not to do so. From that, Mike could only think that it was a very well-made assistant.


    How could Alex Blood really know that his grandson and no other would be the one coming, and not even his cousin Louis or her mother, but he, Mike, the one with an unknown father, pushed to wear the family name of her mother, Blood, and on top of that many other questions, maybe he was senile?


    He went to the "whole book" and started reading it, those words left by his grandfather were important to answer his questions. And more importantly, his resistance to surprises will be developed to its full after reading those notes.


    "To my dear grandson Mike,


    If you read it, it is because you were told I am dead and you are the only one there to receive the inheritance but to tell you the truth, I..."

 Chapter 2: Cant be hard to get an easy work _ Part 1

    Mike kept sitting on the chair, thinking about everything he just read, some time had passed since he started reading, and it took a lot of time to finish reading, but it was because he got surprised after each line of words. He just couldn''t process everything in the papers in a few minutes.


    "Assistant, is there a pencil or something where I can write notes?" asked Mike about the artificial assistant, now knowing the truth behind the assistant, he knew a little about how to use it, and its limitations... almost non-existent limitations.


    "Yes, sir. There are pencils and many sheets of paper to write on in the upper office and the secret office, but if you would like, there is the TV in the dining room where you are right now, it has a function that works like notes and can be used as a digital board" said the mechanical voice instantly.


    "I see no keyboard here, does it have a tactile function, it is too high placed to do that"


    "Indeed, have a tactile function, but I can write on it in your stead"


    "Then, let''s start, first, let''s summarize the topics..."


    ...


    After a very few minutes, which also felt longer than expected due to the content involved in each point, the summary was written on the big TV in front of him.


    ===


    Confirmed topics


    1- Grandfather (Alex Blood) is not dead.


    2- Grandfather (Alex Blood) is part of the great organization that kept the PhySEC a secret from humanity for hundreds of years.


    3- Cousin (Louis Blood) ex-member of the same great organization. Now called a "Fake Fallen Deity" by the organization''s standards.


    3.5- confirmed once again the real name of the organization, the Deity''s Guild. This was debated for years but nobody could tell if it was or not the name of it.


    4- Mike''s father is not fully unknown. Alex Blood seems somehow evasive about talking about him in the letter.


    5- The artificial assistant is made from the artificial intelligence technology from the organization, decades more advanced than the current technology on planet Gaia.


    6- Mike''s mother (Anne Blood) is indeed dead, the cause is not the same as it is shown in the forensic records. Real cause: murdered.


    7- Anne Blood''s murderer is already arrested in a special prison made by the Deity''s Guild. More info about the murderer is in the secret office, but I have no access to that prison and the info is confidential because of the nature of the organization.


    8- The ability I (Mike Blood) have is a very rare one, and different from the telekinesis other people think. Supposed to be a powerful one (there are no useless abilities in the PhySEC users, or so it is known in the Deity''s Guild).


    ===


    "ok... it hurts my brain to think more about it for now, Assistant, save the current sheet and send it to the... is there a computer in the office, right?" asked Mike before finishing his order. His grandfather was old, and old people usually did not use much technology. But the assistant''s answer made him realize that there was nothing to worry about.


    "There is a computer there, no need to worry, do I send the current digital sheet to the office computer then?"


    "Yes." he said, clearly his grandfather was old but the organization held advanced technology and his grandfather needed to use it, and now he needs to use it too as well -now is time to summarize my current objectives to achieve for... starting for a job, I need to do something with life since mercenary doesn''t suit me right now until I train more my powers... - he said that last part in lower voice, almost sighting.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    He didn''t want a normal job for two reasons, first, he wanted to use his powers openly and regularly, and second and most importantly, he didn''t want to work for hours just to be barely able to survive, in Aether, the country in which he lives... it is not precisely a rich place to live right now.


    "I can help you with that, sir. Your grandfather made some arrangements in case you need it, also with the long list of contacts he had, is not hard for you to find work even without those arrangements" said the mechanical voice of the assistant after a moment of silence.


    Mike could not help but feel like Alex''s words were more than true and this assistant could help more than any other person, it was made by the high technology of the organization.


    "Assistant, you have information about everything in this house, right?"


    "Not exactly everything, but I have connection to the sensors all around the house, I can find anything in the house as long as you know what are you looking for, or the specifics"


    "Including the building plans? Do you have it?" asked Mike, but the answer was more than great.


    -I don''t have the current building plans, but I can make them since I have access to every place in the house, also I can make a 3D model for you so you can understand better, do I proceed? -


    -Yes, I will decide what to do after exploring the house, how much time do you need? - 3D models would take some time even for artificial intelligence, or at least at the current Gaia technology level.


    -The plans are finished, the simplified version of the 3D model is almost done-


    -"That''s fucking fast"- said Mike in his mind, but this time it didn''t surprise him much. The assistant comes from the Deity''s Guild, and most important he was already resistant to impacting surprises after today''s events. Well, he was already resistant, not immune for now.


    ...


    Not much time later, after returning from going back to the hotel to retrieve his things, in the house again, he stood in front of the door and said the answer 2005, to his surprise the numbers must be told in the sequence, first his mother''s birthday year and then his own.


    "Ok, so I just need to meet that person and ask him for a job, sounds easy, but knowing how the people are in this country, I still feel insecure about doing it that easily" A little uncomfortable, when he said those words to the assistant while taking a bath, it was lucky the house still has a well-preserved water reserve almost as much as energy reserve.


    "Sir, the current conditions say so, but actually, remember that you just need to mention your family''s name first and Sir Alex'' name and it will have a great impact, don''t forget that even when your grandfather''s origins, the Deity''s Guild, is a secret, he still made a name for himself in this country" said the assistant convincing him.


    "I guess that''s right, maybe I am too used to acting with many plans before proceeding, well, this is the best job I could get after discussing it... don''t have much money so guess I need food to survive after all"


    Some time passed since he finished exploring the house or... at least the upper floors of the house, he still didn''t explore the basement even if he saw the instructions of how to get in there, he even found the methods to train his ability in the secret office (well, the assistant made it for him since he didn''t get inside the secret office yet) and trained it,


    After leaving to buy food and eating he worried about not having enough money, and since the assistant offered to help, he summarized his experience and skills and the assistant summarized his options, now he needed to finish his bath and go to find that job, he needed the money not only for food,


    The assistant said that the electric energy public service was not needed in the house, the current batteries could last for decades and the only worry was water for now.


    "Repeat me the name of the man that I need to talk with"


    "The name''s Adam Slades"


    "Adam Slades, brother of minister Slades... Ministry of defense, right?" while not in worry, he still needed to think about it, after all, it was not easy to trust someone in Aether, much less some politic person in a high position in Aether government, so he needed to think his words before meeting his brother. "Special bodyguards, eh? I really never thought of becoming one, since they are usually normal people and not PhySEC users you know?"


    "I am aware of that, sir" answered the assistant, its mechanical voice made it hard to feel any emotion from it, but since it was artificial maybe it wouldn''t show any emotion even if using another kind of voice.


    "The thing is that special bodyguard is a concept born in Aether, and has only been used in one other country so far, you know why? well, I guess you know why, that''s why you suggested that working for someone with a high position in Aether would be better than working for someone with a lower stand... right?"


    "That is, as we discussed before, the grand part of the reason, want me to summarize again, sir?"


    "No need, does my grandfather have some formal clothes here? Nothing too much formal I hope, nor too much old..." he replied and expressed his thoughts to the assistant as he walked towards the main bedroom.. He had some hours of relax, now it was time to start working, it was afternoon but still working hours. Time to return to the outside world, outside of the armored and comfy big house... how was his grandfather even eager to leave the comfort of that house?! There is no way to know it yet anyway... at least for Mike.

 Ch2: Cant be hard to get an easy work _ part 2

    "H... Hi, do you need something I can help you with?" said Mike to the woman in front of him, she had a very uncommon yet simple style but was still very beautiful, but what Mike wanted was not to talk to her, was to just leave and train his ability at home.


    Just moments ago, he finally got his job, the chubby man Slades gave him the job and he completed his registration in the company quickly, and excluded from the test now he wanted to use the time to train, so he could train his ability to some extent so nobody would find his lie about his power. The woman just smiled and not answer for a while but before Mike could say something again, she spoke.


    "Well, I just heard you had certain abilities, PhySEC user, am I right?" Mike felt something was wrong, that woman had been looking for him before, he felt it, maybe his high sensibility to that had something to do with his power being a rare one, but he could only find it after asking the house''s artificial assistant later at home.


    The trick is that to be able to know that info about him before he even talked to Adam, is because she read his curriculum before. He sent the curriculum online (actually the assistant made it for him) and talked to the corresponding department before coming here.


    "Yes, although I only trained my physical body and not my ability yet" he lied again, he just told his ability was the telekinesis variant since he wanted to get a job, not be rejected, and his ability could act like telekinesis to some extent.


    "I see, I hope you have the time tomorrow to help me, you said you would help me, right?" said the woman with an attractive smile.


    "But I never really said it _ sure" just as he answered the woman finally left after some short words. Mike didn''t really pay attention to it, he was focused on tonight''s training session, the basement of his house was fucking huge, well, the house was already big enough, but the basement area was all the house itself and all the garden surrounding it.


    He didn''t want to pay any attention to the woman, maybe she was just interested in Mike, maybe she just wanted someone with PhySEC ability as a bodyguard, he didn''t care even asking for her name, it was clear that she had some position so he didn''t really offend her on purpose and was polite.


    Some minutes later he arrived home in a taxi, he had to keep some appearance after all, even if he was broke; but forget about the taxi, time to finally train his ability, just the little he trained today felt different than usual, now he wanted to read the theory of it and the theory behind his ability, or even better, have the assistant read it in loud voice while he was training it.


    "Assistant, open the door" said Mike, and the first armored door opened, but not the second, mike entered and said the numbers, and then the second door opened, so he got inside.


    "Assistant, why do I need to say the password for the second door? Shouldn''t you identify it''s me?"


    "I can do that, sir, but it was the security arrangements from the previous master, Sir Alex Blood, do you want to change it?"


    "Tell me the current protocol for it and why he made it do so"


    "Yes sir, the current protocol includes not only identifying the user outside, but also a security PIN code with the user''s voice, previously there were other kinds of codes, not just the numeric PIN, the reason is that, although very rare, there is certain kind of abilities that can disturb and alter the sensors outside the house, or hacker that can do the same, for that reason the door was put on a certain security protocol. If you wish, sir, I can activate the full bio-metrical recognition now that you are physically here so you just need to place your hand and look at the door next time."


    "That''s convenient, do that" he then went towards the stairs leading to the second floor, but instead of doing so... "activate the hidden stairs" he ordered and the stairs started separate to each side, revealing hidden stairs leading below. "I won''t get tired of this kind of thing soon"


    He went downstairs and soon reached a wide area in there he went to the big door leading to the training area and upon reaching he went to some shelves and lockers and changed clothes.


    "This feels more comfortable than that formal one, now assistant, tell me the training record process number one of that ability of mine, and also tell me the theories for what I am training"The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Yes sir, I will act like a coach for your training from now on since I consider it to be better for you if I aid you in it"


    "That''s better _ so tell me, what is the difference between this ability with the telekinesis variant"


    "The ability itself is completely different, sir. Telekinesis is the ability to move an object using the P.S.E.C, the energy commonly known as PhySEC, with training, telekinesis can be used as a form of blocking through moving objects that, for example, moving the bullets that were shooting towards the user, the telekinesis variant from the invisible mind ability users have its limitations, if the user is not aware of the bullet or the weapon itself he or she can be easy killed, and the telekinesis user must train his physical body, since having the ability to block bullets cost the user his or her physical strength, that''s why a telekinesis user can not block, for example a shoot from a tank''s cannon. Of course, that is taking in mind common users from private military organizations these times as standards"


    The mechanical voice didn''t stop even a single moment while Mike was warming up.


    "I see, what about my ability then? it is, as long as I know, very similar"


    "It can be similar, but completely different. Sir, your ability doesn''t come from the common abilities for 2 reasons, first, it was bestowed by the Guild''s founder to only one family in all history, your ancestors; and second, different from other abilities corresponding to the invisible mind ability category, you felt like having another part of your body, that''s called the phase 0, the weakest state of your ability"


    "Wow... just wow, I still can''t tell the difference... is irony by the way, but anyway, that''s something new, phase 0 means there are more phases, right? As long as I know most abilities start at phase 1, and then 2, and so on, anyway, keep going" said Mike with sarcasm as he kept using the static bike.


    Interestingly this static bike was not usual, it had a function to pedal with more than 100 kg, which was a lot, have ever someone used that function? What about pulling the lever on pedaling 200kg? Well, it has that function too...


    "Sir, the difference is having that extra part of your body, it not only works for lifting things like telekinesis, but it has limited distance but works for more, you don''t need to be aware of the ''bullet'' to be able to block it as long as you place it as a ''shield'', it also can be used as a weapon, but for that you need to advance to phase 2, in phase 3 you can also use it with more efficiency, using it with more precision and less energy and more force than a fully trained telekinesis variant user, while it still has the distance limit it increase from that point on-wards, your grandfather reached phase 5 while he was appointed as administrative task first officer in the pace-maker faction within the guild" Mike got surprised a little,


    He didn''t understand the rank the assistant just mentioned but could make a guess and it was very high, after all, having that much in his house currently would cost a fortune. And the assistant, who could not read minds kept some silence for him to process the words before proceeding.


    "And there is one more thing, the ability has not been developed to the maximum for hundreds of years, it is said that the maximum level reached was from your ancestor Licans Blood at phase 9, reaching 2000 meters distance with his ability, although I cannot tell more since I have no access to the detailed information"


    "...did the Deity''s Guild really dissolve?" Said Mike in a loud voice, he knew the answer was yes, but still had questions about it, just the assistant could not have all the answers.


    Surprisingly "not at all" said the assistant "just the division of the guild on this planet is dissolved, there are more pla-" *THUD* the assistant had to shut up, not because it wouldn''t say a thing but because Mike fell from the Bike while getting out of it...


    "Planet?!..." said Mike without getting up... "here I thought my resistance to shocking surprises reached the maximum... assistant, what you were saying... continue that last part"


    "Yes sir, there are more planets on this world that the Guild works on... and more worlds the guild currently works on too"


    "Ok... I understand..." He got up and went to the weight lifting area "I understand that I should focus on my own training first"


    "That''s a wise decision, better concentrate on a current task that in one not yet related to your own life" said the mechanical voice of the assistant "now for your physical training, I suggest that you keep training regularly for your own health, but it has nothing to do with you PhySEC ability like with the telekinesis variant"


    After those words Mike left the weights and went to the open area, then stood in the middle, not wanting to question why he lost so much time for years without knowing that, because if he tried to criticize it,


    He would not stop cursing the gym about keeping his money, no


    "You need to be strong, money is not everything in life... right?" he said in his mind and with a somehow serious face said "tell me then, assistant coach, what do I need to do, to train my ability to the next phase?"

 Ch2: Cant be hard to get an easy work _ Part 3

    "Then sir, first close your eyes and try to feel the world around you, it might sound strange but it is possible, just do and try to use your ability to walk around without hurting you" Mike started doing as the assistant mentioned since it was similar to what he tried doing first with his ability, he just tried earlier to use his ability to feel the things around him interacting with objects,


    It somehow gave him a feeling of some illumination in his brain, but now he needed to be in totally dark while closing his eyes, he was not very familiarized with this place so it was a good chance to train like this.


    "Now sir, try walking, remember to use your ability before proceeding, and remember your ability is not like having an arm it can be more than an arm, I saw how you used your abilities to get those men in the garden get afraid of you, but that was how telekinesis variant is trained, not how the bloody hand is trained or used"


    "Bloody hand variant? That''s the name of my ability as I read earlier, childish name, I can see the name was taken from my family''s name, rig-" *THUD* Mike got hurt with a dumbbell since he reached the area where dumbbells were placed, and the dumbbell he got hurt with was the same he left in the ground just before.


    "You can talk while training like this, but is better if you focus more on using your ability than talking, sir"


    "... you are heartless..." said Mike with pain while massaging his feet, but never dared to open his eyes.


    "Yes sir, I don''t have a heart since I am an artificial assistant..." said the mechanical voice, and after some silence talked again "I tried the joke to lighten the mood, but my sensors told me it didn''t work, right?"


    "No, but is ok" said Mike while trying to walk again.


    "Sir, try going slower, you are not yet used to your ability at a..." the assistant corrected its words mid-sentence "you are improving faster than average at initial steps, after 5 minutes if you are comfortable with it, I can tell you more ways to increase the difficulty of the training your family used to do. Also, to answer your previous words, the bloody hand variant didn''t have its name due to the family having it, but due to the interpretation of the ability your ancestors had, one of them created a technique to take the life of his opponents effortlessly; many of the techniques your ancestors had summarized in bloody and stealth assassination techniques"


    Another surprise for Mike, but that one didn''t break his concentration, and slowly got faster while going around the training area for some minutes.


    "What''s the way to strength the training?" asked Mike to the assistant without opening his eyes and kept walking around.


    He got better at handling his power, the problem he had all this time was the wrong feeling on how to use his ability, the Bloody Hand was not an arm nor a hand, it can be, but it can be other things too, even unshaped ones, what he read earlier and what the assistant just told him helped in understanding this. The stealth part of his ability was to not use force on the invisible "part" and it could not only be detected but also could feel everything around him without using any force... or almost any force.


    "That might require activating my physical body, sir"


    Another surprise, but Mike had resistance to it.


    "I see no problem, tell me if I need to do something special"


    "Just one thing, my physical body is not fully constructed, to start the construction I need your permission, and the presential authorization of the house master in the laboratory, Do you need guidance or would you rather not go? I can still theorize another method"


    "Show me the way then" said Mike with confidence, he felt nothing wrong and maybe could explore with his eyes closed meanwhile.


    After getting the order the assistant showed him the way around the basement, Mike stumbled sometimes but nothing really bad, and got more proficient with this way of walking so quickly that surprised a little the cold assistant.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Then he reached the laboratory; it was just a common door, even less elegant than the training room.


    "So, this is the laboratory, judging from the place I come from is not very wide, right?" he said and opened the door with his eyes still closed, the assistant said nothing, and he got inside, since he had his eyes closed, he could only feel the things close around him and soon felt some kind of fence close to the entrance.


    "Take the stair on your left, sir" said the assistant, waking up Mike''s curiosity.


    "Ok, now I want to see this thing... why is it so big?" said Mike while opening his eyes.


    "As you guessed, correctly, the size of the laboratory, horizontally, isn''t wide, but vertically, it has 3 floors and a hidden floor even below that is the lower sector of the house"


    "Is this a fucking mansion?"


    "Depends on your point of view"


    "That was sarcasm..."


    "I know"


    "Oh..." Mike said no more comment on it and went downstairs.


    "My physical body is on the hidden floor, and, sir, aren''t you asking this time what those devices all over the laboratory are for?"


    "I am not sure"


    "..." the assistant had been showing strange behavior since the start, but now instead of asking about it, Mike just kept saying nothing, maybe his resistance to shocking news? Cannot be surprised anymore, right?


    On the lower floor, one of the walls was illuminated and opened side to side, revealing more stairs, downstairs was big but not as big as Mike was thinking at the start, anyway, he saw a half-human life form in a capsule.


    "Is that, a living being?!" he was about to say human but could not call it human since his grandfather will not keep a human in a basement, right?... right?!


    To his relief the assistant spoke -That''s not a living thing, sir, is an android body half made, it only has the basic to start constructing my body from it, to say less, is my main body-


    "Oh... I thought you were like, you know, more mechanical, because your voice, you know"


    "I have no gender but can get a voice close to a human voice once my main body is constructed and working, it was made that way to integrate better in society depending on the work of the artificial assistant or the work of the artificial soldier"


    "Ok then, first things first, how do I authorize you, do I need to say it or what?"


    "You can manipulate the computer in the capsule containing my body, in there you can choose your preferences at how you want to be my physical appearance, or you can just input the basic commands and tell me to mold it myself"


    Mike used some kind of tactile screen in the capsule, there were too many option there, so he just decided to let it to the assistant, it was its body after all, but before doing so, he ordered in the screen to be female and appearance around his age and also some minor adjustments, that was mandatory for him, not like he cared for the android, but he cared for his eyes after all. It was normal for humans... or so he thought... anyway it was too late to think about it, he had already given authorization to the assistant and would not think about it twice.


    "I received authorization and now I have a connection to a few of the hidden laboratory functions. From now on I will continue constructing the body from the parameters you instructed. Meanwhile, you can go and have dinner, and also can train your ability while cooking, it may be beneficial as the notes of your ancestors talk about doing so as training"


    Since it didn''t mention anything against the parameters, he set he just left and went to the kitchen on the base floor. How could his grandfather not get tired of too many stairs, did he not know what elevators were made for? Anyway, he took the time to go all the way to the kitchen with his eyes closed.


    That was a simple task for him, train is what he would do the most, once on a task given by himself, he would put all his effort and time into doing that task. He trained all his life since knew about his powers and achieved just nothing, being underestimated for having low skill control, while it can still be trained?


    Many said that his ability had a limit since he comes from a normal mother, but now that some truth was revealed he would put all his effort and concentrated power of will on improving his ability.


    He never liked cooking, but the situation could not help him even when he would rather eat outside or buy a delivery, and even if so if cooking using his ability would make it improve, then he was willing to cook for hours no matter what.

 Ch2: Cant be hard to get an easy work _ Part 4

    Mike never liked to spend much time in the kitchen, but since it was a part of training he didn''t try to rush, especially since he could get hurt if making mistakes while cooking with closed eyes. The training consisted of feeling the shape of the world around him using his power, and his ability, he started thinking about it like a third arm,


    But now after the assistant words and the notes about the Bloody Hand, now he thinks of it like an unshaped part of his body, something he can give form by thinking about it, but it was hard, is easy to say but hard to do, anyway, he got it quick, that alone was what surprised the assistant.


    Under the assistant guidance and he improving, cooking took some time, but less than expected at first.


    "So... I guess you already set the other parameters and started constructing your body, is there nothing more I can do to train this power? something to do while your body is not yet complete"


    "The parameters were mostly set before you leave the laboratory, master Blood. My main body will take just a few more minutes to be prepared, not worth for the time to prepare another method for training"


    "That''s faster than expected. Also, since the very start I hear you calling me master, and sir, and other titles, why are you changing the naming?"


    "Asking that is normal since you grew up in a world with less technology than what the guild has, I can process what humans call complicated things like logic and math in a very short time compared to humans, but in personal relations, I can change and my personality can change also, like living creatures, we artificial assistants and artificial soldiers, a.k.a. android equipped with AI, were made that way by the guild so we can integrate easier with humans and other species. Why I call you to different names? I needed to translate from my original language to your language the words, and just tried various times until I feel I feel good about the way I talked to you and not offend you while showing obedience, ''Master'' is the word I think will fit perfectly with my behavior, and the best way to address you with my main body from now on, Sir, was the word I felt like calling you before constructing my main body"


    "I was about to say that was too long of an answer, but that''s good info, so no sarcasm this time"


    Mike just took some rest and went to the living room to watch TV. After some time, the assistant informed him the body was already finished and was in the process of meeting him, but this time the assistant used a female''s voice, which was not surprising since what the assistant told him earlier, the surprise thing was a not-surprise he already expected while the android arrived in front of him.


    "Master Blood" Said the android with a cold female voice while bowing respectfully to him in simple maid clothes.


    "..." was Mike''s imagination or did the android look very much like a normal human? But anyway, the shock was very fast and he went to it to inspect... the functionality of the body, nothing more.


    The assistant stood still and let Mike inspect its body without complaint.


    "It feels like I am watching a living person" he touched its "skin" and it felt like a real person''s skin "what about combat, you can do that too?" he asked casually.


    "I have Combat instruction in my body like every android manufactured by the Guild, but I am merely an assistant with no great combat capabilities like an android soldier from the Guild, still in all Gaia there is no common human who can beat me in combat, as for PhySEC users I can stand against them easy against most of them, certain abilities can be tricky for me to fight against, if they don''t use their powers, then I can certainly stand against most of them for sure, I''m also resistant to common weapons"


    "That''s... very powerful" said Mike while looking at the android, the assistant''s main body was as he instructed first, female, with a fit body, a beautiful face, and a cold voice. He decided on a cold voice just because he was used to the mechanical voice from before but didn''t expect the voice to fit the body so perfectly, and also...


    "Is fucking beautiful, it''s sad is just an android" he said in his mind and almost even in a loud voice. The only thing he felt sad about was its chest area, but since it had combat skills then it was good to be somehow flat... or at least those were his thoughts about it just to convince himself it was fine.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    But most importantly, he was ok with getting the android to train his Bloody hand, nothing more, so he went right to the topic after looking at its body.


    "Well, you said you needed the body to help me train, why? How does it relate?"


    "Yes, you do need me to have my main body for two reasons, first, I can clean the house, your grandfather made sure to leave the house clean before you arrived, but he took the other androids with him when left, and I was left behind for you to use as assistant, but never completed my main body. The second reason is to train your powers, but there are many ways I can help with, like to explain now. If you want to understand, let''s go to the training area, in there I can explain to you"


    Mike just followed the android and in the way, he learned that its energy could last for months without recharging even if it helped him to train every day and use its functions at maximum.


    "Now master, please close your eyes like in the training, and try moving around the area"


    Mike did as it said and then the android went to a certain place.


    "Now what? what can you help me with in the training?" as he finished his words, he felt something hit his abdomen, not with too much force, but gently, he scanned the thing that then fell to the ground, but could guess by the sound of it? "a... ball? where did you get balls from?... heh, funny, where did you get the balls... wait no, serious question"


    "Is a tennis ball indeed, master. The hard part of this training is to determine where the ball comes from, not to evade it, at least for now, and then block it with your Bloody Hand when you can tell easily from where it comes, it is important that you must understand from which direction it comes, because it will help in future training methods"


    "That would be... hard... I like it, keep launching them with all your force I can stand it"


    "No matter, that... you can''t stand my full force" those words felt like insulting him but also, he could not refute for some reason, this android was almost a killing machine "And there is one more thing, master, you need to work tomorrow, so exhausting you physically will be bad for your health and work performance. When you have time, I will show you ways to train hard, but in moments like this I will show you another kind of training, first tell me how much distance you can reach with your power"


    "I don''t know exactly, 2 meters maybe?" said Mike somewhat insecure.


    "My scanners while you used your ability to get rid of the thugs in the garden show another thing, almost 3 meters if I''m not mistaken"


    "That''s because I used all my force to not get beaten"


    "I know, but I don''t look for your average distance but your total, well... it might be beneficial to you today" said the android, but the last part of it was in a lower voice.


    "What?"


    "Master, please use that machine in there" the android pointed in some direction, a strange device was there, most of the devices in the training area Mike didn''t know what were those for, this time he was about to find for what was one of those, so he ignored that he wanted to ask the android what did it just said, and walked over the device.


    The device was composed of a ball-like thing in a pedestal and some kind of screen in front, it was totally shut off, but it was turned on suddenly, clearly, it was the assistant actions.


    "Now what?"


    "Place your hands on the device, the ball over the pedestal, and use your ability on it"


    "Ok hands placed and... wow, I cannot feel it clearly with my ability! It feels... weird"


    "You don''t need to; unleash your ability, like making it take the shape of an arrow or a lance or spear, something like that, and aim at the device"


    Mike did it and used some little force


    "How can it help me get the distaaAAN... WHAT THE FUCK??!!" screamed Mike while the device suddenly forced him to use all his might, but he couldn''t take his hands out of the device, some kind of mechanical trap got his hands on it, he looked at it trying to break free, and some seconds later he felt his vision going dark just when the device stopped.


    As his vision grew darker his body started falling before getting caught by someone, he could hear the assistant talking while holding him but could not understand what it said.


    "5 meters, and resisted 10 seconds, indeed the result of a genius"


    He could not get at all at what it was talking about but could think of it when he is recovered, meanwhile, he had to get a deep sleep, exhausted from his ability.

 Ch2: Cant be hard to get an easy work _ Part 5

    *Ding*


    "Congrats, you have the qualifications to awaken the ''weaker'' system, the more you exhaust yourself the more you will improve your stats" Mike opened his eyes while hearing those words.


    "Fuck you! What did that Fucking device mean for?!" said Mike to the android in front of him, not in a loud voice but still uncomfortable with it.


    "The device helps for two purposes, first, tell the metric distance you can reach as the maximum, and the average distance too; second, it trains your ability while you endure it, your ability can be trained by using it to full power, but to reach it is hard for your people in initial phases, even in mid-phases at a low stage of each phase, so the device was created with that purpose on mind at first, the guild call it, exhausting training"


    "Too much explanation..."


    "You asked, master"


    Somehow Mike could not think about how to refute those words, but still, he felt renovated since waking up.


    "What time is it? Shouldn''t I have work tomorrow?"


    "Master, it is ''tomorrow'' already, it''s almost 6 in the morning, you start working by 8 in the morning, you can take a bath while I get your breakfast ready"


    "You won''t win my forgiveness over food... unless it''s tasty"


    Mike got up and proceeded his day as a common person maybe first time as an adult, first bathroom then food, then going to work instead of going to train.


    At work, only bad news will await him. As he arrived everything was nice, he got reunited with some people he works with and had a nice chat while waiting for orders.


    The special bodyguards weren''t simple bodyguards, it had a reason why bodyguards existed but for special bodyguards, it had a different reason, it wasn''t meant to protect someone from dangerous situations or dangerous people, but from special situations, its members received training to deal against supernatural creatures, supernatural events, and PhySEC users.


    But how could a normal person deal with different supernatural circumstances? They had a way. Mike didn''t receive the training his coworkers received from the company, but still received more than them since he got in the training of ability user mercenary corps, which was in his curriculum, and knew how to use not only normal weapons.


    "Ford and Blood, both of you follow me to receive your weapons" Said a skinny shady man with a work uniform, a worker in the building. Mike and the other man followed him.


    To be admitted to the special bodyguard company, the only one in the country of Aether that actually works, one needs contact with the people inside or have a family as members of some position in the government, otherwise it was hard to get in, why? Because the weapons they use are not only common.


    The man led them to a weapon storage, well protected and bulletproof from (almost) all sides... except from the rear side.


    "As expected,... even without resistance, I am not surprised for this one" it wasn''t hard to tell the other man was thinking the same as Mike, just none of them showed any sign of commenting about it.


    On a table the man put on two weapons, pistols; both got one each and made the common procedures while receiving a weapon, lucky, that man named Ford knew how to do it, even if he was slower than Mike at least he got the training, so Mike made a sight of relieve while noticing that his co-worker had the training for it.


    The shady man then placed 4 pistol magazines, 2 for each of them, and the holster for the guns, but the man placed too, another holster different from before. Ford and Mike had been expecting to get it since the start, they put on their holsters and placed the pistol in place, and then the man got 2 small boxes and opened them.


    Mike and Ford got each a special pistol, its appearance was very big and probably similar to a high caliber pistol, it was commonly known as an antiPhySEC pistol. While the antiPhySEC pistol was made to fight PhySEC users, it doesn''t mean it can kill them easily, but was easier to combat them with this, and its ammo, not was only special, the pistol can do nothing against the ability user, but the ammo was what its value relies on. Even if not possible to kill relying on the material and special skill of this bullet, the high caliber itself was the threat.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    After they got the pistol, each got a combat knife, the material was the same as the antiPhySEC bullets, an antiPhySEC knife. Now it was time for the real game. The objective/person to protect, given the corruption in the country, the only people to protect were high-position government employees and big bosses of the terrorists, but since they were newbies, they would be assigned to the family members of one of those two options, probably the last one.


    "You are supposed to start protecting someone right now... wait" said the man while inspecting the papers in his hand "Forget it, Blood, you are specially requested by someone, since it doesn''t really change anything for the new members it was already accepted"


    "I have a bad feeling about it"


    "You will mean your employer on floor 3, you are assigned to protect... Rose Slades" Said the man with somehow a look of envy, like if Mike were lucky. But he wasn''t happy, at least he didn''t show his mood in front of those people.


    "Hey! I saw that look! I am not lucky, change my employer, I have a bad feeling, change IT NOW PLEASE!" of course Mike could not help it and just said his farewell to his co-worker.


    ...


    While reaching the 3rd floor he already wanted to get back home, so he went to the place indicated by the shady man before, the more he walked, the emptier the place was, and he noticed the security was high in there -"too many security doors, I bet the walls are sturdy ones, like not wanting bullet to get out"-


    When he reached the place he saw a man in front of the door, Mike presented his ID given by the company and the man informed about him, after a moment he instructed Mike to wait.


    "Why the security? Forget it, I think is better if I don''t know..." but just as he thought it, he could hear some kind of crying, almost screaming, or trying to scream; someone being tortured maybe? "I said I don''t want to know! You fucking bastard! shut up your mouth, I HEARD NOTHING!!"


    The place was quiet but it could be heard hits from inside and then nothing.


    "Yes, I just heard nothing, as expected" Mike was calm, like he was an innocent man in an innocent kind of place. The man was suspicious about him, but since the orders were to let him wait, he could do nothing about it, and didn''t dare to question Mike''s identity.


    Some minutes later the door opened and a beautiful woman got out of there, the smell in the air was strange, but Mike didn''t feel like wanting to think about it, he just wanted to think that the world can sometimes be small, the woman that is supposed to be protected was her, the one he saw yesterday and blocked his path while leaving.


    Well, how can he be so sarcastic? It was clearly a bad signal and he knew since he had heard the name from the shady man before, Rose Slades, her identity was everything but simple, if Adam Slades, defense minister wasn''t simple, her daughter was even more complicated to talk about.


    Rose got out of the room accompanied by a man a woman, her other bodyguards, why would she need a 4th bodyguard? well... another thing Mike didn''t want to know about, even if he knew "Next time I won''t talk about my PhySEC ability if possible"


    "Mike, is good you are finally here, I requested you specially since you offered me your help, I just didn''t think they would accept, new recruits are not assigned just randomly, anyway, I''m happy"


    "How can they not accept your request? are you taking me by an idiot? _ I am merely doing my work, from now on I will help you with all my skills _ unless I can let you die and run away" However, the last words in his mind were not possible looking at their other bodyguards, he got the morning and afternoon shift, 12 hours, 5 days a week, but his contract specified that there would be certain circumstances, obligatory for him to extend his time.


    There would be other occasions in which he can decide if want to extend his time working in exchange for more money of course, but he didn''t feel like doing so with this person since he spotted some blood in the other bodyguards'' clothes, of course, it wasn''t their blood.


    The woman saw Mike''s eyes, barely catching them, and saw the blood on her clothes, then used something to clean her up and advised the other man. She had sharp senses or was a PhySEC user too.


    However, he chatted for a little while with his employer, Rose told him that she would spend more days traveling around the country than in the building, so he needed to, sadly, extend his working hours sometimes, even against his will.


    Rose instructed the man at the door to take care of the "trash" in the room, a room that, from the peripheral vision of Mike, looked like a torture room.


    "It''s a normal room, peripheral vision can sometimes be deceiving. Yeah, there''s no way that a beauty is torturing people... wow, those words cannot convince anyone... but it works for me" once again in his mind he saw nothing at all, and his behavior looked quite nice, that alone made some misunderstanding on the bodyguards about Mike. They thought Mike was very calm about what was happening there, and Rose seemed happy with Mike''s behavior.


    Misunderstandings.


    "Yes, it can''t be hard to get easy work, I need to follow her and get paid, easy peasy, nothing weird"


    Some time passed and, surprisingly, Mike saw nothing more out of the ordinary, Rose needed to go all around the city, working. Rose Slades was even more busy than his father or uncle, she had a very high opinion about her from the citizens of all over Aether, even all over the world, a very strong contrast to her father''s fame.


    The corruption in Aether wasn''t a secret at all, and its situation was hard, but Rose stands in the middle of it like a saintess. Of course, he knew it wouldn''t be that easy to be perfect, just... nobody has proven any strange behavior, not even Mike, after all, he saw nothing (nothing after abandoning the company building).

 Chapter 3: I dont want problems, just some action _ Part 1

    Surprisingly everything went right and nothing out of ordinary happened today, Mike even got more familiar with his new co-workers and even the lunch was provided by the company. So, with his hopes for something more, he arrived home.


    "Welcome home, master. I hope the work went smoothly and well today, I already prepared the dinner"


    "Work... right" said Mike a little lost in thoughts "Why nothing strange happened today? I was prepared for something exciting; you know? the kind that has action..."


    "Master, we are not in some kind of fantasy novel, exciting things don''t happen just every day spreading like wildfire"


    "Says the one who woke me up today talking like some kind of fantasy novel''s system?"


    "You rejected the offer by the system, master, so of course there''s no novel for you"


    "That''s... I''m going to eat, thanks" Said Mike, he could not fight against the sarcastic words with logic made by an advanced AI, not for now, he is (maybe) not the best at sarcasm and irony.


    But besides that, one of the best perks of having an advanced technology android is that he didn''t need to cook; forget about the dinner, even the house chores were done by it, and it didn''t need to eat nor rest since it won''t get tired of working.


    While eating, the assistant talked again "Master, since everything was calm today at work, what about some hard training before resting today? Since we still have much training to do anyway is better to start soo..." Mike quickly interrupted it, saying "Of course! I mean, sure, let''s do that"


    He didn''t want to just rest even if he was mentally tired (although he wasn''t really tired today). He wanted to train his ability the most; it was his priority, actually. After those words, he started eating faster.


    After eating, the assistant took care of cleaning the dishes, another great perk of an android assistant.


    "Assistant, you said my grandfather had several androids, how can you call all of them, do you communicate between yourselves or use individual names when receiving orders?"


    "Both, we have an individual name and can communicate between ourselves. If you are curious our names are given by the manufacturing machine that constructs our bodies adding certain codes given by the guild in a certain sequence, so our names are usually more some kinds of codes until our masters give us a second name"


    "Second name?" asked Mike before letting the assistant finish their words.


    "Yes, we cannot change our first name, however, if you want to know, my name is RedAir 17-1 B. The ''Red'' is given the manufacturing machine we used to construct my body, the ''Air'' is the name of my software that gives me the chance to get a personality, the 17 is the version of the-"


    "Ok I don''t need it, I will call you Claire because it sounds like your Air something you said" interrupted Mike.


    "Understood" The assistant now named Clare didn''t show any complaints.


    "So, we are doing that thing we talked about yesterday? About evading the tennis balls and blocking?"


    "Yes master, but take a rest first, you just ate"


    "It''s nothing, is ability training, not physical, let''s go!" Said Mike while going to the basement, the android Claire, finished its work and followed Mike, it had objections but Mike didn''t really want to listen to it. He was like a kid getting candy after food when it comes to training.


    As they reached the training area, Mike went directly to change his clothes at the lockers, he didn''t mind the Android, it was not human anyway. But Claire got closer too and started changing with him. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Mike asked but look like the android, even if it can''t sweat, found it "optimal" for it to be in sports clothes, as it was to act as a coach after all. Mike didn''t care for the explanation, he got distracted by Claire''s body but then in his thoughts, he couldn''t help but sight in sadness "Ah~ is sad it''s an android, not human at all... but why does it need to be perfectly replicated like a human?... forget it"


    They quickly got to the center of the area and started the training.


    "Now master, close your eyes, The next training is to help you improve your reaction speed, after your reaction speed and your ability can respond in time you will be closer to phase 1" said the android but he already had his eyes closed.


    "Just launch the fucking ball" said impatiently, but the android could only obey and launched the first ball toward him.


    The tennis ball hit him, but still could not guess from where it came before it hit him, and so the second and third, but with Claire telling him the theory and advice, he soon got the grip of it, and the android adjusted speed, what surprised the android was the quick learning of Mike, it was above average in the Blood family, a compensation from his late training of the Bloody Hand, and it could not resist to tell its master its true thoughts.


    "Master, your improvement is above average, what if I add more force to my throwing?"


    "That, IS! what I was asking from the start, do it with more strength, if you are afraid of hurting me then just don''t think about it... but don''t aim between my legs or I will recycle you!!" said Mike with those last words at high speed and loudly just to be sure. Some things must be said quickly before the listener thinks one finished speaking.


    "Understood" said the android and then started launching. From that moment on-wards, even if his "parts" were safe, he could not evade nor block in time despite already knowing the direction from where the balls kept coming. In other words, he meets the true horror of an android hurting him with the excuse of training, Clare didn''t stop because Mike didn''t order to, and he would not order it because of his pride.


    "Fucking pride, Fuck this PRIDE! Just stop it motherfu... ouch!" he couldn''t help but clench his teeth and curse in his mind, that android was fast enough to go to the other side of the room and grab the fallen tennis balls all over the place and keep throwing them, even if he could evade by luck sometimes, his reaction speed for using his ability was still slow, at least slower than the android throwing speed for sure.


    After god knows how much time passed, the android finally stopped, and he could not help but open his eyes while the android talked about the time over, he thought already an hour passed, but sadly, the android told him his doom.


    "It''s been 30 minutes, master, take a rest before we continue"


    "30 minutes?..." Mike sits on the ground and starts then thinking hard "how can I get out of this? Those tennis balls feel like bullets, are those things made of Iron?" he grabbed one of those spherical signs of doom... nothing, a normal tennis ball after all.


    "Hmm... Assis.. I mean, Claire, is there not a faster method to train the reaction speed of this ability?"


    "There is no faster method, by the notes given by your ancestors, most of the Bloody Hand methods of training are about experiencing Pain or having the chance to experience Pain through things like what we are doing, there is a faster way, but involves your security"


    "How so?"


    "Involves putting you into danger, the higher the threat to your life, the faster your ability evolves but you must be aware of the way you use your ability or it won''t improve much"


    "Forget it, I want to keep living" no word of doubt was pronounced while saying so.


    Even if wanting to improve his ability he wasn''t ready to risk his life for, there would be moments in which he would need to do so, the world is full of danger and he was probably prepared for it, or so he thought; anyway, putting his life on danger on purpose was a different task.


    "Me too, so will soften my throwing force a little so you can try and adapt again"


    "... sure" Mike wanted to refute, but when he was about to do so, he could only say a lonely word accepting Claire''s suggestion, it wasn''t like going back on his words, it was the assistant suggestion, not his suggestion... maybe...


    Not long after Mike''s training went as hard as it could. In secret, Claire was surprised at the improvement speed, but could not say it out loud yet, Claire''s thinking was that if it tells the master before close to the peak of phase 0, it could affect future improvement due to overconfidence.


    It already informed him earlier about the above-average improvement speed, and would not repeat it again since twice would have higher chance of giving overconfidence when not needed.


    Anyway, Mike could only suppress his wraith and not open his eyes until it was already time out, one hour of training got him exhausted, more mentally than physically. But his body was in pain, that''s for sure.


    At the end of the training, Mike only went to bed without taking a shower, he even barely remembers falling on the bed before everything went dark in his eyes.

 Ch3: I dont want problems, just some action _ Part 2

    Morning again and work again, lucky this job was very different from common bodyguards, it has shifts after all.


    When waking up he got received by the sarcastic words of Claire, and breakfast was already done when he finished his bath, just if he didn''t need to work everything would be perfect.


    "Claire, you have access to the internet like every normal person, right?" Asked Mike while having breakfast.


    "Yes, I do have access and can interact in the real world and digital world like any other human, I made and sent your curriculum to the SP Company when you just got hired after all"


    "Then you could just hack and interact with every place in the world, right?"


    "I can, and I won''t unless strictly necessary... or if you order me to do so. Do you want to make money that way?"


    "... I don''t mean something illegal, just something that can provide money."


    "If you allow me to access your bank account and allow me to do things in your name, I can do some business in the online markets like the Foreign currency exchange market and so, all while you are working"


    "Wow you can do that? then yes!"


    "Anyway, the records on my database clearly say that humans should work by themselves since getting too used to being attended by others is not a healthy practice, and you said you want to have a work in which you can use your ability openly, since mercenary corps are dangerous for ability users, then..."


    "I know, I know" Interrupted Mike, not wanting to hear his mother''s words in an android.


    After breakfast and a moment of rest, Claire informed it already had access to the account and started trading, with the high-speed processing of an advanced AI that can also think like a human and can search info that other humans usually don''t get in time, it was sure its success was granted in any online market.


    But the next words left him doubting life.


    "Master, those markets usually take a while and need high deposits to show earnings"


    "So?"


    "So, your remaining balance is 10 Ethers" The national currency on Aether, ether credits, or simply put, ether. While he said he was broke/penniless he meant that he was living from savings, it wasn''t much but that were at least 400 ethers in his account before this android took almost all his money.


    In Mike''s eyes, this female appearance android passed from money mage to money demon with the last sentence it said.


    "... give me back my happiness"


    "Cannot do that, and you need to leave for work, master"


    "I said give me back my happiness, don''t ''ruin more my mind''..."


    "..." Claire remained silent and Mike could only leave, this time, on foot. 10 ethers weren''t enough for a taxi, and his pockets were cash-empty to take a bus.


    Should he order Claire to hack the bank''s systems in the country? He discarded this option after a minute, while he wasn''t a really good person from his own perspective, he still would not consider being a cybercriminal, well... he would not let the android be the cybercriminal while he just benefits from it.


    So, he not so soon reached the company building, Rose was in the building around this time in the day as she told him yesterday, so it was convenient.


    Not like he needed to come to the company building to start working, but because it was simpler to get in since he works for the company, being in another location and it can be hard to get in given the nature of Rose''s business life.


    "Hi there Sam, anything funny today?" Asked to the man guarding the door.


    "Nothing funny, but it''s fine. Just a beggar last night tried to rob the wrong person, aside from it, no more action" Said the man. Sam was the same bodyguard he met yesterday in the same door while meeting Rose.


    "Last night? So you work full time?"


    "Yes, the pay for full-time cannot compare to taking shifts; is another level, and Rose''s life isn''t in danger usually so it''s mostly relaxed when compared to others, you should try it on. Anyway, want to get inside?" Sam asked while reaching for the radio on his shoulder.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    "No need, I will guard here with you"


    Mike didn''t want to get inside, or he could see that the nothing he didn''t want to know would be transformed into something he would know. Life was short, it was better to live in ignorance sometimes.


    He could barely hear normal conversations from inside, but nothing strange, anyway, one never knows how things would end, so just to be sure, he would rather guard the outside where nothing strange happens.


    "Do the other two work full time too?"


    "Those two? yes, but is different for them, they are not part of the company, they are Rose''s personal bodyguards"


    "Personal? ok, that makes sense, given who she is"


    Another day yet another common day, night was close when they followed Rose all around the city.


    Wasn''t Rose a Saint from the point of view of the citizens? Yes, she is a saint. That''s why wherever they went the people around the group was huge.


    Anyway, nothing strange happened today, but the news before the day finished shocked him.


    "Mike, I will leave the city next week, I have a meeting with my father in New Gaia''s islands" said Rose.


    She doesn''t need more words, Mike is a smart person, and he knew what she just means. Mandatory full-time. But he could not reject it anyway.


    "Understood, I will be prepared when the day arrives"


    Before he could finish the shift normally some event happened, a drunken man started initiating problems. Everything would be fine if he was a normal person, but...


    Mike was in the rear, the two personal bodyguards were at both Rose''s side every moment, and Sam would rotate at his will.


    Those two besides Rose would not let anyone get touch her. But it was Mike and Sam''s duty that no danger get close.


    The drunken man approached from behind insulting them while they just decided to ignore him. The man got even more furious while getting ignored, and started to scream about the witch Rose is and how she deceives people, the people from around wanted to say something, most people always defend her, and they tried to calm the man or take him away, but the next moment, the people got away from him.


    "Ability user. Shit!" cursed Mike in his mind.


    Were the drunken man a normal guy, he would hit him if dared to do something, being an ability user... bad luck, PhySEC energy was just not suitable for everybody, so ability users weren''t that really common to find on streets.


    When the man got close, his eyes were fixed on Rose. The two bodyguard would act if something happens but it was Mike''s duty since he was in that position. Mike understood how the people ran away from the man, the cold he felt was out of ordinary. Physical emissions variant, some kind of cold control ability.


    "Just my luck! I want action men, ACTION! NOT PROBLEMS!" He couldn''t help but block the man. The man didn''t show any sign or form of wraith towards the bodyguards, only those two besides Rose, and to Rose herself, there were no more objectives to his killing intention. That gave Mike some time to think of a way.


    "Sir, step back. Let''s not complicate things" said Mike with confidence, a fake confidence, his ability could detect every movement of the man but could not help while fighting him, so he would not fight if needed.


    From Mike''s back, Rose showed a sign of being disappointed. When she spotted Mike the first time, she ordered her bodyguards to give her some time with Mike, when she saw his eyes, she knew how cold blood can he become if given the chance, but he did not resort to violence on first contact.


    Anyway, she knew how could things change when given the chance, maybe it was not the right time, telekinesis was powerful only against weapons, and Mike had some eye-catching musculature so he would face no problem.


    She would not know that Mike''s eyes were like that but he was not a bad guy at all, but Mike never knew Rose''s way of thinking and could not see Rose right now since he was facing the drunken man.


    "STEP ASIDE, MY BUSINESS IS THAT WITCH!" said the drunken man. it surprised the others, including Rose that the man would not take action against Mike instantly, and now the two bodyguards and Rose could understand what Mike was pretending to do, ''take advantage of this man good will''. Anyway, that wasn''t Mike''s plan, but Mike would not like to explain it to them.


    "I said step back, breathe and think of what you are doing, you don''t want to get hurt nor involve the innocent people around, right?" Mike took advantage of the mind state of that guy, he was quick to think of a solution, but then he spotted the look in Rose''s eyes.


    "You can''t be seriously thinking about it, right? You crazy... I care for my reputation if I take my weapon!" he cursed once again in his mind, the man thinking about the situation stepped back while looking around. "Ah fuck it! Please, man, forgive me for this, I won''t kill you so please forgive me _ the number two" Said Mike after thinking twice about what he was about to do, he directed his eyes to Sam while saying so, clearly talking to him. He wasn''t strong so he could only use his mind for now.


    Sam quickly understood the signal, number two "handcuff", but he could only help understand what was he about. Special bodyguards can kill in certain situations, so why the need to use it? anyway the trick was that while Mike finished speaking, he took his gun, the antiPhySEC pistol and aimed at the man.


    One could not react in time, the man already withdrew the cold element and when the gun was aimed at him, he could not help but surrender, or could get shot while trying to use his ability.


    Everything went easy after that, Sam used the handcuff on the man and since it was antiPhySEC handcuff the man could not break it since it wouldn''t get affected by the ability.


    The penalty for using the PhySEC power in the middle of the citizen without an emergency was 10000 ether credits, extremely high if compared to the average salary in the country was 250 ethers. Mike thought it was enough to satisfy the Psycho.i-mean-client, Rose.


    But Mike way of thinking was too average, and Rose way of thinking was different, Rose thought Mike was not a saint. She was discussing with the other two in a low voice, Mike somehow regretted joining this company after the next-minute events.

 Ch3: I dont want problems, just some action _ part 3

    After some time, the police already arrived and took the drunken PhySEC user then left, while the guy was being arrested, he took a glance at Mike with resentful eyes.


    "Don''t look at me like that, you are better alive than dead, idiot"


    The police answer was usually slow but when the call was made by a special bodyguard or certain people like the Slades family, they would arrive quickly.


    Everything went fast and Mike was already close to finishing his day, but one of the bodyguards went close to the arrested man, for some reason they teased the man since he got captured, like wanting him to go on rage. Lucky for Mike, the man remained calm, like the drunken state was not the reason behind his rage towards Rose.


    And sometimes, the man just took a look around to see the people and did nothing.


    The reason behind the teasing was to get an excuse to make the man go on rage and use force on him, lethal force. That was what Rose ordered to them, she thought Mike was like her, and just wanted to act like a gentleman by doing the correct procedures, she wanted to push the situation so Mike would be the "hero" in the scenario anyway.


    But sadly, or luckily, the man wasn''t in the mood to involve citizens, the others understood it quickly and even Sam made a click with his tongue when ignoring the man like the others, they gave up.


    In contrast with their behavior, Rose and Mike did nothing unusual. Rose would never imagine that Mike was not acting like a good guy, but that he was really a good guy.


    She trusted her own nonexistent skill to judge people and understand if they were cold-blooded. Mike was cold-blooded in certain scenarios when needed, but he always judges things the way a normal person should do, no killing like a machine.


    He sure regret taking the job, he doesn''t want to and never wants to be related to people like that. But he could do nothing for now but what he already did.


    Getting the image of a good bodyguard that follows procedures was his goal, and being a special bodyguard it was even better for his image, as they already had bad images in the mind of the citizens. Anyway, it was not the best image but enough for him, and people would think that Rose''s special bodyguards were good and righteous people (even if they really weren''t like that), his goal was completed at least, until his companions tried to tease the man.


    "Is not your fault, Mike. Sometimes there are people who lack in guts like that man" Said Rose to him and kept walking without waiting for an answer.


    "Damn, I made the common procedures to arrest the man and be a fucking hero without taking blood in my hands, and you expected me to provoke him and made me fight? crazy assholes"


    He wanted action and never asked for problems. To subdue a drunken man was not really action, but still counts for him. Anyway, when the drunken mas resulted in being a PhySEC user... it wasn''t on the list, much less because his ability is still very weak.


    Just like that, his day finished, he got back home and told Claire about what happened after dinner. The day finished but he still took an hour of training, this time he got better and better and could almost evade all, Claire was suppressing its strength and never launched with full force, but it calculated the time it would take Mike to dominate this stage of the training.


    "Master, you will probably succeed at dominating this training method in your current phase soon. By tomorrow I will harden the training"


    "You mean you will try to kill me with iron balls instead?"


    "Sounds like extreme training that might work, but no. I will change it to the next step, from tomorrow on-wards the training will be... monotone, plain and repetitive, but also more tiring, longer and finally, more effective" Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "In common language, bored and painful?"


    "And rewarding, but delete the ''bored'' part, it depends on your point of view, but probably you won''t think of it that way"


    "Ok, keep the suspense, I like it"


    This time he was tired but not as yesterday. Then he took time to take a bath.


    "Master, one more thing" said the android while getting in to clean the bathroom and he was leaving it "From now on, you should use your ability every moment, it will be useful later if you get used to using it constantly"


    "And keep my eyes closed all the time? How can I read or look further in the distance if I do so?"


    "While in the house you can do so, and when you leave or need to see, just open your eyes. You can use your ability with your eyes open anyway"


    "Make sense" he immediately closed his eyes and started sensing with his ability, if Claire suggested it, he would not mind asking too much before trying.


    The next day, everything went easy again, this time Mike tried to be careful with his wishes, after all, tomorrow was Sunday, a free day from work, and this time he didn''t want to find a PhySEC user as an enemy.


    From start to finish he tried to use his ability with his eyes open, it was hard at first and it was still hard to do, his ability worked like a different kind of eye, it was like he needed to do two active tasks at the same time. Got used to this but still kept shutting down his ability sometimes, and it made him wonder if it was the real training.


    When his shift finished, he talked with Sam for a few minutes and got the info that the man from yesterday escaped the police station the same night, not a surprise since they used normal handcuffs, not antiPhySEC tools.


    "If you are arresting a man with super fucking powers at least use fucking anti powers tools, you lazy bastards" cursed Mike in his mind. The police retrieved the special handcuffs from the man and gave it back to Sam after all.


    After returning home he closed his eyes again, it was easier to move with his eyes closed while using the ability, or when not using it with his eyes open.


    After dinner, bad news arrived in mid-training, when they got their clothes changed and ready for training, Claire stopped the training.


    "There are people outside the house" Then a TV projector got activated and, in the wall, started the projection of the recording scene outside.


    "How many TVs and projectors are in this house"


    "Want to know really?"


    "No, do I need to tell you when I am being sarcastic?"


    "No, I was being sarcastic too"


    In front of his house, 3 guys were approaching the place, it was strange how the video was so clear despite the night, but the answer was clear anyway: technology, advanced technology can bring high-resolution video in the middle of the night with almost invisible security measures.


    What do they want? Only the android could hear them, and it quickly explained Mike.


    "Judging by their conversation and the voice records, it is clear 2 of the 4 persons who were in the front garden when you arrived the first time, and want to rob you, the third person is also a PhySEC user, Physical emission variant one, cannot get the exact kind of ability without pushing him to some extent, but the scanner says it is not really strong"


    "How much info from just sensors... should I call the police? They won''t get inside anyway right? the house is resistant to bullets and strong weapons as long as I know"


    "They won''t get inside; I can activate the electric fence if you want"


    After some silence, Mike could not help but sight -No, don''t do. I want to fight him. - He thought that it was time for redemption.


    Mike was feeling like he needed some action to train. PhySEC users can improve in combat, most of them, and Claire said that combat is even more effective in training his ability, just that he wasn''t ready yet. But he still somehow wished for it.


    "Let me assist you, Master. I will take down the other two so you can fight comfortably the PhySEC user, also, only one of the persons has a gun so I will take care of it"


    "Your sensors and scanners and whatever are fucking broken! It feels like you can see people naked no matter what they wear" Said Mike while running to the entrance not really wanting to hear the answer. The Android moved behind him.


    It was action time, he got military training, kept his body in shape every single day, and now his PhySEC control variant was a little more advanced than before, it had no utility in combat but was enough to assist him in detecting hidden moves from his opponent, like feints for example.

 Ch3: I dont want problems, just some action _ Part 4

    The men had no need to cover the proof of their crimes, they used bandana masks to cover their faces, but still felt no need to hide more.


    It wasn''t their first time trespassing on private property. Two of them tried to break into the house a week before but couldn''t, now they convinced their "friend" to use his PhySEC ability to take down the house door. Also, he could deal with the telekinesis variant guy if he was in the house.


    What they could not expect was that the man said it was a strong security door, and the ability user would take some time to break in, and would maybe need to search for another entrance, which annoyed them but still would not get back after reaching the place.


    But before the guy could get close to the door again after discussing it with the others, the door quickly opened. From inside they saw another door, but could not help but forget it when they noticed the two persons getting out.


    "Special home service? That''s a good receiving" Said one of the guys from behind, but he quickly noticed the beauty getting out of the house, and he and the others couldn''t help but whistle.


    The guy was about to take the pistol and threaten the people, but the woman, who was just the android Claire, quickly went straight to them at an insane speed.


    ...


    From the point of view of Mike, when they opened the door and the people outside saw them, they got stunned by Claire, so it was good to take advantage of the situation.


    Luckily, Claire calculated everything before Mike could suggest and quickly took action. Mike, after receiving the military training needed no more words and went right to fight the ability user.


    He could only trust Claire and let her take care of the other two while he should concentrate on the man before him. So, before the other man could do something Mike tried to attack, using a stance similar to boxing, he launched the first punch.


    The man was already stunned by Claire''s actions and before he could think about it he was already being attacked. He quickly defended and without trying to give a chance activated his ability, heat emission.


    Abilities like that were dangerous in close combat, but because when developed, the ability could allow the user to throw fire. Anyway, the man before Mike could not reach that level yet.


    The fight just started and the man used heat to keep his distance, anyway Mike already thought of a method quickly. He kept attacking the man with punches, but the punches exhausted more energy than before since he increased the speed.


    The plan was that using full speed would allow him to not get the heat from the man. But the man kept defending, and the rage of being attacked made him increase the heat, and even counterattack.


    Getting counterattacked was hard for Mike, one thing was to withdraw quickly and the other was to defend while receiving intense heat. At first, punches were received, and his skin started to burn in the heat.


    Mike could not think of sarcastic words in his mind, he was totally focused on the man. Every moment the man used a move he would need to evade since defending would get him hurt badly anyway, so for the first time in a long time, he was all serious. For a minute or so they kept exchanging punches or defending, or evading in Mike''s situation, but he could not evade all.


    What could he do in this situation? he was at a disadvantage, at least in close combat, he had the normal pistol received from his work but he never took it from his room while rushing outside, and would not use it anyway nor even the special antiPhySEC pistol.


    Then Mike thought of his ability, it could not help him in the fight aside from showing hidden tricks, but the man before him had no tricks, just pure advantage. How could he use it? It took him some time to think, and in the meantime, the opponent took him by surprise, going to hold Mike''s left arm which he was withdrawing.


    He got his arm burning in pain, but the pain only allowed him to go all out; without worrying about his burning arm nor getting badly injured, he used his right fist, striking not only once but twice and even aiming for more, at the face of his opponent.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    The man was sure he could see Mike crying in pain, and he was enjoying the view while catching Mike''s arm, but still got surprised by the counterattack. Anyway, the man would not withdraw his holding and went right to hold Mike''s collarbone or shoulders with his other hand, but before he could do it Mike counterattacked with the most forbidden action a man could do in a fight, a strong kick in between legs.


    There were no dishonest moves in a fight involving life and death, at least in Mike''s mind. His arm was charred and God knows how he was still able to hold a great part of his scream. But he still would not give up, although injured he still took a chance to attack the man.


    The clothes in the man could not resist his owner''s heat and started getting destroyed, but Mike was no different, part of his skin and clothes were both ruined, but still insisted on attacking, or if he gave the man the chance, he would get burned alive.


    Some plants in the front garden were already burned or burning, the already unattended garden was already in a sorry state.


    Mike could not help it, he took a rock from the garden and prepared to finish the work, whether the man survived or not it was his luck, he was unsure of killing someone even by accident, but already made up his mind years ago, that if he is in the edge one day, would no doubt it.


    Still, it was easier to say than do it, he still doubted. Killing was never his intention, and with a mistake and doubt in his mind, he failed the hit with the rock, not because the man tried to evade, he tried, but still it was Mike''s fault, anyway the rock could not hit the head directly at full force.


    Instead, the rock still hits the face of the man, exactly in the jaw.


    The man still didn''t show any sign of surrender and while on the ground before Mike could hit again, he got a rock too. Just how many rocks were left in the garden? It was right that it was a garden, but why so many rocks? It was a rocky garden before, but nobody would care anyway.


    Mike could barely react and evade the first but just before he could counter any attack, Claire reached him and helped him evade, the speed of that android was above any human he could see before. All in the mind of the man was to kill, but before he could do something, a hit finished it all. Specifically, a kick, one and only, lonely kick, fast enough to leave him unconscious or dead, got the work done.


    Claire was the one kicking the man in the head in the blink of an eye, even Mike was stunned, wasn''t Claire just a normal android assistant from the Guild? Are all assistant androids from the guild this broken? What about the soldier ones?


    Before he could do or say anything, the android bowed to him "Sorry for interrupting, master, but my calculations showed no sign of you getting out of the situation safely, the damage you received is already the limit I can allow"


    "It''s... fine, thanks" Mike could barely express to it his thanks since the pain poured out of his scorched arm.


    Claire carried Mike to the basement, well, it tried since Mike insisted that he could walk, the house had medicine to heal wounds, but the most effective method was in the underground laboratory.


    The ways developed by the guild to deal with wounded soldiers varied, but all of those methods were cost-effective. In the laboratory, there were a diversity of tools and machines everywhere, and on the 3rd lower floor stood Mike inside with his arm in some kind of capsule, the liquid in the capsule could not allow him to see what was happening below the liquid surface, but the weird sensation in his arm was not that painful, clearly the liquid was responsible for that.


    Besides Mike, the android was applying the same kind of liquid on gauze and placing it on Mike''s scorched areas of his body. But still, his body was in pain.


    "I thought I would be put in a cylindrical capsule and start recuperating there like in fiction movies" said Mike while trying to relax his mood.


    "That''s possible, still is too expensive to use on this kind of wound"


    "... somehow those words make me feel cheap"


    "Not cheap, master, your wounds are cheap to heal"


    "That doesn''t help"


    "I know"


    "..."


    Why could he not win against sarcastic assistants? Or maybe it was only this assistant?


    "And..."


    "Hm?"


    "You used your ability incorrectly during the combat, you cannot get anything out of this combat. So, either you train more or fight again. And you are not using your ability as I suggested, use it anytime until you get used to it..."


    "You are heartless, you know?"


    So, yes, all the combat was for nothing, Mike could get the chance to fight and get action and learn from the combat itself, but still got nothing out of it related to his ability. Wasted time cannot be recovered, and... the answer from the android? A simple "I know"

 Chapter 4: Training session at Blood family style and op android _ Part 1

    Opening his eyes Mike decided to close them again, it was already morning but didn''t close his eyes to sleep again, today was his free day; Sunday, and Monday were his free days too since there was no any special mission. He gets up while receiving the assistant Claire''s good morning.


    He decided to follow the advice to use his ability every single day, so decided to not trust his eyes for the day, he sometimes needs to deal with the desire to open his eyes subconsciously, but usually dealt with it easy.


    Since yesterday Claire already cleared the garden in front of the house and took care of everything while Mike was healing and taking his sleep, today''s agenda was to train.


    Claire never specified how it dealt with the people outside, but Mike suspected it just threw the unconscious people away, in a corner alley or something like that.


    To start with, he never thought the android could leave the house, but suspected it since last night''s events.


    After breakfast, Mike was ready to start the training but got notified by the android that the food was running low. They agreed that the android would carry the money and go to buy something.


    Well, it already had Mike''s money since his account got emptied by that same android.


    Meanwhile, he got two training instructions from the android while it was buying ingredients and so on. He went right to the training area and started running around.


    Running was to keep his physical fitness and warm up for today''s training, but after a minute or two he decided to stop and after some thinking he moved out of the training area, went directly to the secret office, he never explored the underground office, nor even the upper office.


    He was there before but really didn''t pay too much attention to it.


    Claire would take some time while searching for the lower prices in the market and buying, but it still could not feel tired and would no run its way to the market, so he had a short time before resuming training.


    He got inside the secret office quickly with eyes closed as usual, in there he found...


    "What the actual fuck?..." A lot of weapons, equipment, tools and so on.


    The computer there didn''t look like any kind of a computer in the market, it doesn''t matter but what surprised him were the weapons and tools when he used his senses,


    In many cabinets and shelves the weapons were easy to find. His ability was not that advanced yet and there were things too complicated to feel unless he opened the boxes and so on.


    He still found that some notes were added to some boxes and shelves, but could not read them since he wanted to keep his eyes closed, still, he opened them and went in front of the computer.


    After a minute of trying to turn it on, he gave up, he could turn it on but could not unlock it, maybe the android had the answer but it was busy in the market.


    Just as he was about to leave, he heard Claire''s voice "To unlock the computer in there you need to drop your blood on the screen, but I can unlock it for you, I bypassed the security after sir Alex Blood left the house"


    "... aren''t you in the market? Oh right! You have access to the house anyway. Doesn''t matter, I had curiosity but can solve it after training"


    Mike closed his eyes and left, he had curiosity about it and the house but didn''t want to lose too much time when he could train. And most important...


    "Doesn''t that android know what privacy is? Wait, it could have done it on purpose, right?" the possibility crossed his mind and never left.


    The android could clearly understand Mike''s intention and his mood, did it ruin the mood so he could go back to training? The true answer could never reach light anyway.


    After running and some warm-up, the android was already back at the training area, it instructed Mike sometimes while it was away through the house speakers.


    "You can be a full-time coach if hack into the speakers of any gym" teased Mike.


    "Master, for your quick improvement in the recent training, what is about to come for you, I need to explain to you that from now on you could get hurt, and not just at the usual level but almost at yesterday''s level, but it''s taking in mind the worst scenario"This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    "What?"


    "Anyway, I will reduce the intensity to the lowest level so you can adapt without getting hurt badly"


    "What do you mean by yesterday''s injuries? How badly would I get hurt from training?"


    "First, please let me put this on you" said the android without answering Mike''s sarcastic questions.


    "Tch, you are heartless; because you know it is sarcasm doesn''t mean you won this time" The android took Mike''s words as approval and went behind him.


    The thing Claire had in its hands was just a piece of cloth, Mike now understood what it was meant for: to cover his eyes.


    This way, even when trying to open his eyes as a reflexive action, he could still see nothing or could barely see.


    "Ok this is good, then what''s next?"


    "Get in fight position"


    "Will you teach me some moves? I already know how to fig..."


    Mike got cut mid-sentence by the android''s actions, it assumed a fighting stand too.


    "Am I going to die?"


    "I cannot kill my master on purpose, and it''s only a sparring session"


    "Why do I feel like you said ''on purpose'' with a different voice?"


    "Master, please concentrate on the lesson. Try to feel my moves and think of a way to defend against it or evade it, I will use lower speed at first, and take in mind my body is not the same as a human''s, feel no fear of hitting me and don''t think my body will react the same as a human"


    "I am ready, but can I write my last will first?"


    As he finished asking the android attacked, it was a punch aiming for a low hit. He could barely react and tried to block but it was late and the punch hit him, Lucky it was not very strong.


    They do not tell the other a word, aside from Claire''s advice from time to time.


    The following punches all reached him, but taking the moment, he attacked Claire after receiving another punch, if he could not defend, he would attack; sadly, the android easily evaded.


    "Good judgment, master, but to attack you should use your ability too, don''t limit it to only see my attacks"


    How can he use a non-offensive ability to attack? He tried but could not find a way. The android kept the same speed and attack frequency but had sudden changes so Mike could not adapt to it.


    The android aimed to not hurt him badly as it said before, but it still hurts him enough. Even a lot of not-so-painful strikes would hurt if keep accumulating.


    "Master, wait a moment" Said the android and he stopped as instructed "You are not using your ability to attack, think of it as reading your opponent''s muscles when attacking, so you can judge whether it will defend or evade, which direction and which side it will move its body and even the speed, it sounds complicated for a human, but it''s possible to guess to some extent, even if my body doesn''t work the same as a human, I will try to imitate it for you so you can adapt."


    "Easier said than done... I will try"


    "And... to defend or evade, you are not slow at all, average maybe, but the problem relies on the same as previously I mentioned. In conclusion, read my body moves before anything."


    Those words illuminated Mike, although he knew it was hard as he said, it was still something new to try.


    As the sparring resumed, Mike had a serious face, more than usual. He started with reading the android''s body moves, even while taking punches from it he still could learn from it, each move accompanied a certain change in stance, it was barely impossible to read it clearly, but still could tell him when a certain kind of move would be done, and taking punch after punch, he finally moved to defend and... still got hurt but could almost block it, and the next one, he could block, it didn''t take more than 3 sessions until he finally could improve in blind combat.


    Anyway, it was just the start, by the next hour each time he improved each time the android made the training harder. At the end of the morning, he could fight head-on as if he had his eyes open, his moves were faster and without doubts, even when the android could still land hits on his body and sometimes aimed for his head (they used boxing gloves from one point in the middle of training), he still could get the hint of its body, with fast moves he used his arm to defend or deflect the android''s fist.


    "Master, since you are getting used to this, I can finally start the real training"


    -Wait, what?"


    "But since some time has passed, I recommend you take a rest"


    "It was still the introduction? ... why you never make me feel happy?"


    "I do that when I cook for you"


    "That is...! Right... Anyway, just a rest, I am tired but I want to keep going"


    "Exhausting your body while training your Bloody hand is good, but not while exhausting your body"


    "Yes Mom, yes..." he said while getting out of the training room, he left to use the secret office, first went to change clothes and let Claire do the laundry, and he went then to the secret office.


    Now the android would not interrupt since he doesn''t have training for now. It was almost mid-day so the droid still needed to work (cooking lunch).


    He was still wearing the cloth on his face, covering his eyes, so he took it off when sat in front of the same computer. Soon the user interface showed and the computer unlocked, clearly the android''s work. It has, after all, control all over the house. Mike wondered if it was the real master of the house and not him, were all androids from the Deity''s Guild these broken characters?

 Ch4: Training session at Blood family style and op android _ Part 2

    The computer wasn''t hard to use, but he was not used to this kind of interface.


    He found the methods to train his ability, and the info he just read, although he could only read a little of it, was the same as the android had taught him, but it had the theory on it so he could still get some few basic info from there, fundamental basic info.


    As he kept searching soon found info about the organization, Alex told him in the letter that most info about the guild was deleted from the office, but still some remained.


    He could not understand why to delete it if he was to leaving behind an advanced assistant and its body there, with a lot of uncommon technology.


    Still, the info he got was beyond ordinary, nobody knew much about the organization, but the info he got...


    Not only had the guild left the planet as the assistant told him, but some members even kept living in here, those who would leave later, and those who would not want to leave, still he could not get too much info on why was that.


    Most info was in a strange language but Claire translated it for him, it was too convenient to have that android.


    "Is it normal for an android to have that much freedom?"


    "It is normal, still, there are things related to my development on the computer, I can summarize it for you, but is better you read it by yourself."


    Mike ordered Claire to show the info and quickly the computer''s screen showed him where it was, most of it was notes, there were only 2 manuals, one was a common manual for artificial assistants, that was not the problem, the other was a custom-made manual as Claire explained it.


    When he opens the last one, he saw notes, the personal notes from his grandfather about the android, it had summarized the topics on the manuals, stated some of Claire functioning system and how weird it was for it to behave differently from other assistants.


    Claire clearly was not a normal thing, it still worked as any other assistant but had strange behavior anyway.


    "So, it says here... that you are some kind of weird bot or a kind of rebel bot, choose one, how should I deal with you then?" Mike teased.


    "..." But got no answer from the assistant.


    It was already strange but he kept reading, and he found the first notes his grandfather wrote about it.


    "March, Day one, year 90 of the DG''s inquisitions events (2027 in Gaia''s calendar).


    That damn official, McGregor... he knocked on my door first thing in the morning, it was 4 in the morning! I would have scolded him if it weren''t for the class 8 behind him. Even though I have NEVER met any class 8 until today, even so, I could barely meet a class 7 when got appointed as class 5, I thought there was no one above Class 6 on Gaia..."


    "What is that about class 5, 6, 7 and 8? ranks?"


    "Ranking groups, Master. The higher the rank the higher your class. The position your grandfather Sir Alex Blood, achieved, is a rank in the lowest of Class 5, Class 5 is not just a high class, it is the higher class found on planet Gaia, some class 6 were rare to see too. There are 10 factions in the guild, and each faction has several ranks, but still, all those are divided into the 10 ranks"


    "I see" He listens patently and keeps reading


    "The class 8, was no less than a faction leader, if this info were to get leaked, the guild would go... nobody knows how to describe the problems it would bring for a faction leader to abandon his or her position, but he was quick.


    He sent the official away, gave me the Air 17 system, and just quickly instructed me what to do. I cannot go against a class 8 order and was about to do it anyway with doubts in my heart, but he noticed it and... surprise, gave me a class 9 order."


    Most of the text was somehow corrupted, it was strange, so he asked the android, but it could not answer, since had no way to solve it nor knew why was it corrupted.


    Below, he noticed another note, once again a personal message from his grandfather.


    "Ask the assistant, it has something strange but is loyal to its master, I was recognized as the house master, but not entirely as the assistant''s owner. But ask it and it might answer, if you are really its owner you can ask it anything"


    "What the fuck?... what does it mean?"


    "It means you can ask me anything, and I can answer" Answered the assistant, but it was really not in the office, it was upstairs, just it could of course speak through the speakers all over the house.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "That''s what I am talking about, it sounds like a riddle, am I not your owner? You call me master after all"


    "Master doesn''t mean owner, but yes, you are my owner, master Blood"


    "Then..." Mike still gave some thinking to it "You never obeyed all my grandfather''s orders, did you?"


    "I had no feeling like he owned control over me, I had in my system that even if I have different owners as the house assistant, I must follow one unconditionally"


    "And that''s me?"


    "Yes"


    "Why?"


    "I was made that way, I have no clear answer. The ones who made me clearly had some kind of objective while doing so, but I don''t know."


    "Does my grandfather know?"


    "He tried to ask me, but I never answered him"


    "Hah! So that''s why he said you behave strangely, if it wasn''t for the high-rank guy, he would think you were defective"


    "Lunch is ready, master"


    "Bring it to here, I will eat in the secret office"


    Claire didn''t answer but just did as was ordered. Mike got the food and took the chance to ask Claire about the notes of itself.


    He could understand why the behavior it showed, the Air assistant system was stopped at version 15, and Claire was at version 17. The higher the system version the more freedom it has from previous versions. And it was instructed to follow Mike''s orders.


    As Mike kept asking some kind of block in Claire''s memories broke, and it informed about new info it had unlocked strangely.


    "The info I have right now is summarized like this: I was made for a specific purpose, and although I don''t have the power a usual artificial soldier would have, I have more high combat capacities than an artificial assistant."


    "That''s all the info?"


    "Summarized, there is no more information. I am scanning for more blockings in my memory, and I found a few more, is strange since this is the first time I know I have a blocking feature on myself"


    "Is that bad?"


    "Judging from the signature of class 9 on the blocking, it looks like it is"


    "Can you bypass it?"


    "Not sure, and it might damage me, I would do it if you orders me to."


    "No need." He was curious but would not lose his only assistant, who would cook for him every day?


    Mike kept searching in the computer after finishing eating, he even found some more info about the guild, the ranking system of one of the factions, it was half made, and only one of the factions, the pace-makers.


    "Weird name" He said while reading it; it was the faction his grandfather belongs to, so he got curious.


    Still, it was too many ranks, just too many, how could they remember so many rankings? It was ordered in class system too, but only reached up to class 5.


    "Just how much authority would those have"


    "You can find the answer on the computer, master, but I can explain it"


    "Do you like to explain things to me that much?"


    "Will take those words as affirmation, the guild members have a saying: when receiving orders from class 5 you must do first and ask meanwhile if have doubts, when receiving orders from class 6 you must act immediately and ask later"


    "Is some saying about class 7?"


    "When receiving orders from class 7, you must do first as ordered to do and when finish, maybe just maybe the class 7 will be in the mood to answer or not"


    "That much authority?"


    "When breaking the rules of those sayings, it is considered treason and must be arrested or executed"


    "Now it has sense, then class 8 is absolute?"


    "The saying for classes 8 and 9 are the same: when receiving an order from a class 8 or 9, do and never ask if you don''t want to die... Also, there is no saying for class 10, it is almost forbidden in the guild to talk about them"


    "I was curious, but if people cannot talk about them, I guess there''s no saying then."


    Just today''s training was tiring, but also the info got him mentally tired, after all he just kept reading. The computer has some other useful info.


    It said the methods most people use in current times in Gaia are hopeless to not bring further evolutions and had clear limits, he even found the training methods and info about the machines necessary to train different kinds of PhySEC abilities.


    He had no use for now about those training methods, and did not have all the tools for those anyway, he asked the android but still only some of those tools were in the house.


    "Just what would happen if someone were to break into the house?"


    "It is not possible master unless someone can use high-destruction weapons and multiple explosives with high structural damage."


    "... what is this house made of?" That was his question, and the android doesn''t have the mood to answer sarcasm sometimes.

 Ch4: Training session at Blood family style and op android _ Part 3

    Mike spent part of the afternoon reading in the computer''s secret office, he even went to the upper floor office, but there was nothing out of the ordinary there, still, he took the time to search on the internet and spent time reading, but as afternoon kept passing by, he got tired of it and went to the training area again.


    "Master, I advise you to keep using your ability while not reading and inside the house, also, don''t force your physical limits" Claire made herself clear through the speakers.


    "I won''t do physical training, but thanks for the reminder of having closed eyes."


    He was looking to do some training, but the android broke his dreams. Still, he could make training that doesn''t require physical strength.


    Or he could just order the android to shut up, but he knew the android''s intentions were for his own good.


    With closed eyes, he went inspecting some tools and machines he still never tried before. Most of those things were for Bloody hand training.


    He passed by the previous machine that made him faint, he could remember it somehow clearly and even felt the sphere over it that felt weird.


    Then arrived at another machine, tools, and so on, but one of those made him curious. He asked the assistant one question after another about those tools, some were used for general training, some for weapon-assisted training, and so on, and the one he got more curious about...


    "Master, be careful when close to it, you should not use that device until you can use strong offensive moves with your Bloody Hand, otherwise is very dangerous."


    "And what does it do?" Asked Mike while getting away from it. He usually listened to the android''s advice anyway.


    "Similar to the device you used before, but more dangerous. Only when you reach phase 5 you can use it. To put it short, is some kind of virtual fight"


    "!!!" Mike was stunned, virtual fight? Like a VR game but fighting? "Claire, are there more devices like that but with lower risks for me?" Mike asked, excited to get a positive answer.


    "At your current level, no. Each device of those kind, extracts a great amount of the PhySEC you produce, at phase 0, you don''t have too much of it."


    "Damn..."


    "...But you have something better, master."


    "Really?"


    "Me. I can produce..."


    "Give me back my happiness." interrupted Mike.


    "Seriously, master, I can help you produce better results for your training. I admit that some of those devices and tools have good use, but an assistant with fighting instructions can help too, and I keep training you every day, some of those devices can only be used once each day or every two days."


    "I am talking about the happiness of training in virtual reality"


    "..."


    The assistant could not answer Mike because it felt the disappointed look on him, a virtual world was a dream for people these times in Gaia. But anyway, it was just for a moment.


    He quickly resumed his search, and after some time the android instructed new training again.


    "Master, there is some way for you to train your PhySEC ability without putting too much pressure on your body, but I''m not sure if you will like it."


    For the android to say it... must be something he would really not like, right?


    "Tell me first"


    "The device you used the first time..."


    "I already don''t like it, but continue."


    "I will not use the lock so you can use it properly this time, the training consists mostly in your power of will, but it will help you improve the Bloody Hand in all aspects. The exhaust training of the Blood family consists of using the device to the owner''s limits."


    "It sounds hard considering I already experienced it; I could faint again without realizing it."The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Yes, that is the bad news, if you faint, you will lose tonight''s training. But if you retrieve your hands in time and get away quickly from the device, you can rest for 3 or 4 minutes and try again, by repeating it constantly you can improve your ability."


    Mike sighted, he could not help but think about it twice or more times. The exhausting method was in the notes he found, his ancestors or the guild, who knows, one of them, developed those devices to help their abilities improve.


    "I will try first, and see"


    "Master, you previously spent 10 seconds in there, so I warn you to take those seconds into consideration before proceeding."


    "Got it"


    Mike walked there, he was ready, and soon the device turned on. Claire''s work.


    Hands put on the device and do as previously, the device started sucking him dry of any kind of energy, he wanted to leave but with clenched teeth, he resisted.


    At that moment he could not count seconds for more than 3, and just resisted and with strong will he got away from the device, and stepped almost two meters away.


    "5 seconds, is a good first try."


    "I don''t need comfort words" said Mike while sitting on the ground.


    Claire means it, it wasn''t to comfort him, but since Mike ordered, it would only wait for another moment.


    Mike tried again after a little break, now knowing how it works, would not be that hard on the second try. Sadly, it was hard.


    The scores were displayed again on the screen for him to see, but he could not understand, so only Claire could translate it.


    "6 seconds approximately" it said while Mike sat on the ground again. "take a moment to meditate before trying again, most of your ancestors did it, and it will help you."


    "How so? Is not like I feel tired when trying again, how is it possible I need just a few minutes to recover after using that thing?"


    It was strange indeed, how using it to the maximum level could knock him up and put him into hours of sleep, but using it twice in a row still allowed him to have enough energy?


    "It is a reaction of your PhySEC production, to explain in short, it does not consume your physical energy or your mental energy, but your PhySEC itself."


    "Then would I not run out of it then?"


    "This world still cannot understand the full length of PhySEC. The PhySEC or P.S.E.C. is a special energy, as long as the user doesn''t run out of it, the user can still keep using the ability"


    "I understood nothing"


    "You are welcome."


    "Hehe! now seriously"


    "When you, as the user, reach a certain limit, your body cannot produce enough PhySEC, that is what investigators on Gaia found, and when you use more than your limit, it consumes your mental and physical energy.


    On really, is different, the PhySEC energy cannot usually fade away totally from the body, your body takes the mental energy to convert your physical energy into PhySEC itself, a very supernatural and out-of-ordinary kind to convert energy. Even the guild is still investigating those kinds of things related to PhySEC production."


    Mike took a deep breath and meditated while listening to Claire. He used his ability to experiment while Claire was teaching him, but he could not find that kind of special energy.


    Claire seemed to understand his doubts in his facial expression.


    "Most people never feel something different while trying to feel PhySEC, because they were born that way, but if one day someone takes or blocks your PhySEC production, then you will feel something''s amiss."


    Mike finished his rest and went to the device again. Another try and Claire stood in silence while reaching the entrance of the training area, it had been talking with Mike using the speakers, but close just in case he needed assistance.


    While he placed his hands started to do the same, the pressure of using his ability and the tiredness it has implicated, then in a few seconds, the tiredness to have his mental energy sucked dry and his body feeling weak.


    He still had his doubts since couldn''t get the answer he wanted while listening to Claire''s explanation, but could not wait to try the device''s test again.


    "6 seconds again, master." said the assistant this time bringing a chair for him to use.


    "How is that I feel tired then but still can recover so fast? I see no bounds in the question and your answer" He asks with doubts. It was indeed hard to understand what the android said without the right info.


    "Master, you have PhySEC production, A.K.A ability user. You should know that the ability is related to the mind, to the body, or both. Take that in mind first. The investigators on Gaia state that the higher the phase of the ability, the higher the production of the special energy the user has"


    "And is that true?"


    "Yes and no, sometimes the condition is clear, sometimes, it isn''t. Some abilities are related to that, some others are not. Is it true that the higher the phase number, the more the PhySEC can the user produce, but this is not really the truth"


    "So?"


    "The guild states a different formulation. The PhySEC the user can produce is extremely low compared to the one found in nature. Of course, Gaia''s science has still not found it. So it''s normal you cannot understand.


    So, in simple words, as summarize: you will either produce the energy quickly and your body will recover quickly to its original state, or use the PhySEC around the air. But if you faint before recovering, the PhySEC will not recover you to not overcharge your body."


    "I would rather the conclusion first next time"


    "Your teachers must have taught you that conclusions are made after all the info"


    "Wow really?"


    "By your voice''s tone, I know it''s sarcasm, so should I ignore it or answer it as you instructed previously?"


    "Tch... Smart thing..."

 Ch4: Training session at Blood family style and op android _ Part 4

    Funny bot, it knows how to use his words against him, if Claire was a lawyer, it could make the worst criminal in the world be free from prison.


    Anyway, time was short and he focused on the device, he now knows the theory behind it, since exhausting his ability would improve all aspects of it, then let it be. He would use that device until he could not stand still.


    Half an hour later, he finally reached his previous record.


    "Congratulations, master. Full 10 seconds without fainting, you lasted a lot."


    "That... sounds like a dirty joke"


    "Oh, then you noticed..."


    "..."


    It was indeed a new record, does that mean that he already improved? Yes, but he still had a long way in front of him.


    "But master, remember to take two hours of relaxation after an hour of training, is different in the case of ability training, but you still need to rest from time to time, this training method is effective but given time you will get mentally tired eventually, and would faint in half of your usual time."


    "I know, I know my limits. You worry too much"


    "By the way, master, until when will last your current client protection?"


    "Client? You mean Rose? I am in the newbie period, so I guess almost a month if she doesn''t move her fingers to make me spend more time with her... somehow, I have a bad feeling, that something like that would happen"


    "... You have to follow her on a travel to New Gaia''s islands, I might have some information about what''s to be discussed in there, master"


    "Nah, don''t want to know, I don''t want to be related to politics, so it''s fine if I don''t know"


    Mike''s contract lasted almost a month while protecting a client. He would usually be supervised by a veteran member, but since Rose used her hand to mess up his situation Mike could not get the right and usual procedures.


    He still wanted to try and learn, but first needed to finish Rose''s protection period. But still, who knows what a Slades'' family member would have in mind.


    Time went by, and in the (almost) evening training, he got beaten up by Claire again, this time the android used real moves, and would not hit him with enough strength to kill, but with still enough to make him bleed even if using boxing gloves.


    As the training was in the climax, Claire even used its legs to attack and defend, which gave Mike a hard time to deal with, after all, he had to get his eyes covered all day long, the only good news was the dinner time after that.


    For his two free days, he spent the morning training with Claire (or better said, getting beaten up and trained at the same time), reading things on the internet and searching info in the secret office computer; that last one usually was mainly made interacting with Claire.


    In the afternoon, he used the time to use the strange device to exhaust himself from his ability, and meditate or train in calm methods, and at evening training with Claire again.


    Now it was a working day again. The previous day, he used the exhausting ability device to fall asleep on purpose. The android looked at him without expression on its face, but still worried if its master was a maniac training or if just wanted to improve his ability.


    The free days were mostly full of good times for him, he felt his control of the Bloody Hand felt like peak itself, he felt there was something more to it, but by yesterday''s results recorded by Claire, he still needed more time.


    The phase 1 was not easy to reach in just a few days, just that Mike was really a genius while controlling his ability given the right instructions.


    Even the android was impressed, and it has the records of most of the Blood family''s ancestors. Even with the unlucky Mike starting his training in the mid-20s or with the luck of having the op android, it was still a genius at control and precision, especially that last one.


    As he reached the building, he saw Sam and went to say hi. He was not beside Rose.


    "Hey Sam, how are you, man?"


    They chatted a bit, looks like Sam had already finished the contract with Rose and was to leave today to see another client tomorrow in some other place. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Sam told him to go first to the armory, he would need the tools Sam usually had, it was mandatory that the more experienced bodyguard would have those tools like the special handcuff or so while working.


    That was the kind of info Mike wanted to know, but Rose''s hand messed up his learning time in the company.


    As he reached the place, the same shady man from before was there behind the bulletproof crystal, on his desk. And before he could say or ask something the man spoke.


    "Blood, I was about to call you here" Said the man without looking at him for more than half a second.


    "Like hell, you would wait for an entire day without telling me a shit, lazy bastard"


    "Owen reached his end of the contract with Rose, and as you may know, you are now the only special bodyguard from the company guarding her, so you need these tools" Sam''s last name was Owen.


    The man just passed some things opening the door, and went right to his chair in front of the desk again. Not paying any attention to Mike, he would only guess how to equip those things quickly and go to the upper floors.


    Most of it was tangled with the other things, so it took him some minutes. It was not only the handcuffs and the belt; it was a lot of things. But in the middle of it, the man spoke again.


    "Oh, I almost forgot, take this one, Sam told me you will be following Rose out of the country in a few days, you should remember to tell me it yourself, not waiting for others to do so"


    The man opened the armored door again and handed him a bulletproof vest.


    "It''s not my fault nobody taught me... and you can use the special weapons duct in front of your desk, you know?... I will never understand some people..."


    Now he needed to get the tools off his back, wear the vest, and put on the tools again.


    "Oh, you didn''t forget... motherfucker, did I do something bad to you? Or are you one of those followers of ''Saintess Rose'' or shit like that? you jealous lazy bastard"


    Now the shady man had a different title this time on his mind, one more word to his title actually. In the future, who knows how many more words he would add to refer to this shady man.


    "Wait... shady and jealous lazy bastard, sounds better... Ok I feel better now"


    After adjusting the vest and getting the tools, he went upstairs again, he needed to rush and had no time to wait for the elevator, it was just 2 floors anyway.


    As he reached the place, he saw one of Claire''s personal bodyguards, the man.


    "What is he doing in front of another door this time?" He thought while going to greet him, but the man''s cold eyes made him understand that the man was maybe a time maniac, 5 minutes was too late?


    "You are late, but it doesn''t matter, watch out here, I will go beside Rose" with those words he went inside the room, the door was transparent and he could see an office inside, a normal office.


    In there he saw Rose discussing things with other people, she noticed him while the bodyguard got inside but was busy anyway. So, Mike instead of taking a look just got in there and prepared the radio on his shoulder he just got a few minutes about.


    But then he remembers, "What was the radio frequency again?" After a few seconds of freeze, he placed the earphone of it on his ear. He would at least act like he already configured it before asking the others later.


    "Let''s hope nobody asks me anything later on the radio, the communicator will be looked like working anyway"


    As he waited guarding the door there, some people got in the floor looking at his direction.


    "Ah man, the best office is being used?..." Said one of the persons. He took a glance at the people inside and changed directions quickly "Ah well, is just an office, let''s use the one in front then"


    The people followed him to the office in front of him and put one of the persons following them guarding outside.


    "Ford? It wasn''t a long time but looks like it was" Said Mike.


    It was Ford the one who got into the company at the same time as him.


    "Hey Blood, how are you, man?" The two chatted for a bit in front of the door each one was guarding.


    Mike had a bulb in his mind getting turned on.


    "Oh man, why did I never think of it? I can ask the angel''s envoy in front of me" Said Mike in his mind, if he wanted to learn from someone for the first time in the company, he could ask to one that is being taught, since the others had no will of teach him after all.


    Taking the chance, Mike asked a lot of questions, he never lied to Ford about how nobody teaches him anything about the company and doesn''t know more than the basics, so Ford answered some of his questions.


    About radio communications protocols and so on, what does those offices are means for, and so on he learned a lot about it. Most of it could help him in his work later, or maybe not, but it was useful anyway.


    Sometimes, you can learn more from people in your same position than the ones in higher positions.


    "Oh, you heard about it? This morning Redzen started a war with Asgars, they still had not announced it but the soldiers from both countries were already in combat, lucky none of those countries are close to this one"


    Strangely Mike felt bad about it, is not like he would not feel bad about the innocents in a war, but he still felt something was strange, wasn''t a spatial rift or something like that being born in Asgars? And Redzen started a war in their territory? Some people are crazy, but some are just psychos.


    The spatial rift was made public a few years after the guild announced the disbanding, it was a strange phenomenon and very hard to explain with the current science level. But it was without doubt, dangerous. Creatures can mutate, or worse, monsters can be born from there.

 Chapter 5: The meeting _ Part 1

    As time passed by, the day of the travel was getting close, Friday was just around the corner.


    Meanwhile, the war between Redzen and Asgard was made a fact, it was not the same simple short fight as before. This time Redzen made known that they won''t stop until conquering Asgars territory.


    Luckily, the spatial rift was left untouched for now, nobody knew what would happen if it was touched in the middle of the war.


    The night before Friday, Mike wanted to ask Claire about the spatial rift, but his question disappeared while getting new information related to his ability.


    "Master, you are ready to advance it to phase 1 if my calculation is right. You already got most of the qualifications and your result in sparring was satisfactory enough to show your reaction speed using it."


    "Finally! How can I advance it then? I feel like I improved but I don''t feel anything special to it."


    "Simple, there are two methods. Training your ability continuously would take too much time, training it in a real fight would be easier, so basically-"


    "Basically, train it in a fight, sparring or real one, right?"


    "Yes. The second method is even easier since I don''t like the idea of fighting you for real, even when suppressing my full strength."


    "No need for your comforting words, and yes it was sarcastic, keep going."


    "Sad, I already prepared to answer that one. Anyway, the second method may take some time but is still fast, just use that thing again." It pointed in the direction of the exhausting training device.


    "Then I could advance to the next phase quickly if I just keep training like before."


    "Yes, but not exactly, you need to get exhausted by it, totally exhausted, but still need to use all of your willpower to last as long as you can."


    "Simply put, I need to improve my record."


    "Yes, master. But the data says that you need to last longer than ever before, it may take some tries and even some days. But I am sure you will succeed soon, you can already last for a long time."


    "Somehow, I feel like you are talking in a dirty voice tone." He went to the device, he already finished his evening training so it was right if he fainted but still would like to succeed on the first try.


    "It took you long to realize it."


    "..." Without answering to Claire, with hands placed on the device he was ready and the device started to turn on.


    "Want to use the mechanism to lock your hands in place?"


    "I have enough power of will to resist... but, what if I withdraw before I finish, would that improve my ability to the next phase?"


    "That''s true, but the speed is the lowest, it may take you weeks or even months, the idea of advancing to next phase is to use your ability to the limits."


    "Ok, enough talk then, let''s fucking go!"


    After he finished his words, he started using the Bloody Hand, he didn''t receive the exact number of seconds he needed to last, but could not count seconds with so much pressure anyway.


    To say how to advance was easy, but while in practice, it was harder than expected. He knew it, but it was still complicated for him.


    The first five seconds were exhausting enough and felt like double the time. Why time have to pass so slowly sometimes? It was that kind of feeling.


    Until 10 seconds, it felt like the world was spinning and moving weirdly all around him, it was already the edge of what he could resist, but finally, the next seconds were the real fight.


    After 10 seconds it was the decisive moment. In those training days, he decided to exhaust himself using the device and then sleep quickly, but the result was barely 10 seconds, the android said it was normal while not totally prepared and was still helpful for him, but he still would rather not to achieve less than previously.


    11 seconds, and he felt like already fainting, for him it felt like 30 seconds under intense pressure. At 11 and a half seconds he felt like almost a minute under intense pressure.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Anyway, he could not count seconds anyway so he decided to think that less than ten passed in any second, so he could keep giving his all any moment.


    Finally, the world was going dark when the device stopped and his body got in the arms of someone else.


    This time, Claire said no words and let him sleep with questions in his mind while finally sleeping.


    The android could not talk, in its mind the words could be hard to put into translation for human understanding.


    The next day, he received the morning with the usual jokes.


    *Ding*


    "Congratulations, you have received the title: ''The one who fainted after 12 seconds''"


    "That''s better than last one"


    Today was Friday, his worst day of the day, he felt like he forgot to ask something last night but dismissed it, since he needed to work anyway.


    The day went easy, and he got his clothes quickly done, his luggage was light as usual... well, it has more to it than meets the eye, this time was the android who did everything, Mike only needed to take a bath, eat, get his clothes, weapons, and tools on, and then receive the luggage Claire prepared.


    "I will miss you, master" Said Claire while wiping its non-existent tears.


    "You are a terrible actress... do never get in the acting ever"


    "I was acting bad on purpose, master, it is you who cannot understand my acting at all."


    The assistant was probably equipped with a module specialized in sarcasm and irony, so he didn''t want to discuss it anymore and after a second, he just left without a word.


    "I don''t know if I like to have a sarcastic assistant or not..."


    This time he went to the airport directly after receiving a message from the other bodyguard.


    At the airport, he was guarding Rose from the back while going to board the plane.


    But it was strangely quick, like the plane was ready so fast or like he arrived late, but he checked the time and even arrived early.


    To answer his question, the plane was a private one. A private jet.


    "Oh right, rich people, I forgot" he wasn''t stunned, he had seen more incredible things before.


    His relaxing look, made the other bodyguards think that it was not his first time in a private plane, that, or he was too professional.


    "Have you ever boarded a jet like this before?" Asked the male bodyguard, he was the only bodyguard he could have normal conversations sometimes because the female bodyguard never talked to him.


    "No, is my first time, why?"


    "Nothing, just asking."


    "...?"


    For them, he was indeed too much a professional or very good at lying, both worked for them.


    The pilot was the male bodyguard and the co-pilot was the female bodyguard, so it let him be the only one with Claire in the plane, there was no other in the jet aside from the 4 of them.


    They left the airport quick and soon were on route to New Gaia''s islands, the travel was mostly silent, aside from Rose''s question from time to time, she had a mysterious look on her eyes while looking at him.


    Mike felt uncomfortable but could say nothing, and she knew it but never tried to hide her look, but 3 hours of travel was too much for her to keep looking at him.


    Mike felt relieved that she finally withdrew her gaze from him, but her questions were more about his family and so on. Like his current close family and so on.


    He never thought she had some interest in him, she was beautiful but would rather not involve his relaxing life with people like that. The sole thinking of her having a crush on him never crossed his mind, he doesn''t like to be involved in other people''s problems.


    As they arrived on new Gaia''s island, it was his job to be beside Rose for a while until the other two completed the procedures.


    He didn''t feel uncomfortable or anything like that while beside her, it was his job and he understood the importance of it.


    They completed a procedure and got them some time, they had weapons with them after all, so it took some time to get full access to the islands.


    They left in a luxury car, and only the 3 of them accompanied Rose in every moment.


    They reached the hotel and nothing unusual happened, the female bodyguard had given Mike his routine tasks previously, so he was free sometimes, the time was used to train his ability, mainly going around in a circle with eyes closed.


    At next day, they followed Rose from one place to another, she was enjoying being on a little vacation on the island of another country, but the afternoon arrived and she needed to attend some kind of meeting with other people.


    When reached the place of the meeting, Mike finally understood not much later Rose''s questions about his life.


    The building for the meeting was small yet luxurious from the inside building, guarded by a few armed forces.


    But what made Mike understand Rose''s questions was a different thing. Inside the meeting room, they were received by different people, Minister Slades who is also the father of Rose was one of them, but Mike already knew about him.


    "Slades, checked, more politicians I don''t care, checked... Louis Blood, checked... why problems are searching for me these days?"


    In the meeting room was a young man barely older than Mike, in his late 20s or just 30 but his appearance was similar as Mike''s.


    The man, Louis, was young and looked like someone important, different from the other people inside that were most of them, old people, excluding Rose and Louis. The bodyguards of course and armed forces were an exception, they were not part of the conversation.


    As they got inside, they wanted to start the conversation after Rose finished meeting her father and the others, but got taken away by Louis'' actions, a smile showed on his face but not while looking at Rose, they thought it was maybe Rose, but while they followed his eyes, they understood that it wasn''t Rose, it was Mike.


    Mike thought about his grandfather''s advice: Keep yourself away from Louis. Those words'' heaviness was well transmitted in the letter.

 Ch5: The meeting _ Part 2

    Keep yourself away from Louis. Why would he need to keep his distance from his cousin to the point of not even getting near him?


    Louis never contacted him again, and he knew about the successful businessman he became, and still never tried to contact Mike.


    Not like Mike was in a desperate need, but still could call your family. He just thought his family, excluding his mother, was not very friendly towards each other, maybe his grandfather''s doing? Who knows. But reality can be weirder than fiction.


    The meeting started not long after that. Mike and the other bodyguards stood at a certain distance away from the meeting table, for almost two hours. They discussed the situation in Asgars, not wanting to intervene but mostly about empty words.


    Why would Rose need to attend those kinds of things? Had something to do with one of her companies or who knows, Mike would rather not care about it, he just hoped to leave after the meeting, not willing to talk with Louis.


    Luckily that Louis would not go to talk with him in the middle of the meeting. Still, it was just a few days on the island so he hoped for those days to finish soon.


    The male bodyguard, even took his phone and with muted volume, started to play a simple game.


    "Just act like you are doing something serious and nothing will happen" Said the man in a low voice to Mike while he felt his eyes on him.


    "Point taken, thanks for the info."


    He made a mental note to download a game later. Anyway, the man could not take his phone out for more than 5 minutes anyway, but it was good enough to get out of the boredom of the meeting.


    Even Louis was showing a bored face, yawning. But nobody dared to look at him with a weird look.


    Finally, some questions were directed at Louis, but he just casually answered to them. Still, nobody insisted on him.


    "The Red Corps and the Blue Institute are both under Aotheles'' territory, so I can only follow their rules." Said Louis while answering the others, he had no will to explain detailed things, as everybody participating in the meeting already knew the implication of his words.


    "What about the international water business?" Said Rose, everybody looking at her not because she asked Louis directly, but because of other 2 reasons; first it was a too direct question, and second, because nobody dared to ask complicated questions to Louis nor ask him a related question more than once.


    "... Maybe can work, I can try, but Asgars will ask the same, so you guys would need to know how to deal with it."


    The answer was simple, but people got stunned at why would he answer detailed things to her.


    The meeting finally reached an end and they were doing the formal procedures and saying goodbye to each other, but Louis got up of his chair without talking to others, he even went past Rose and reached Mike.


    "It''s been many years, I see you are doing good, so I guess the old man finally passed away, right?"


    He made emphasis on the words "Passed away". Louis is an ex-member of the organization, so he knew that his grandfather was really not dead, his words made it clear to Mike that implied another thing. Louis clearly knows about the house, but how much does he know? Doubts passed Mike''s mind on how to answer him.


    "Yes, a few months ago" He answered short words. He realized that he would already know that info, if their grandpa was faking death or really dead, they would know it, so his question was more of some kind of formality.


    "I see... well, is good anyway. Say, Mike, from a 1 to 5 count, which number?"


    That one question made him wonder, what was his cousin talking about? It took some time to realize the real question: "What phase of the Bloody Hand are you from 1 to 5?"This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Fuck..." cursed Mike in a low voice, his cousin knew about the ability even when he never got the same ability.


    After some time in silence, he answered "0". Then he already felt the weird looks on him, nobody knew what they were talking about even when all eyes were fixed on them, but the close people, including Rose (who got close as soon as she saw Louis approaching Mike) could listen to them.


    "He said from 1 to 5, why 0?" that was the thoughts of the people around. But they got their thinking changed by Louis'' reaction.


    "Pffffft... hahahaha! Man, you know how to make me laugh, It reminded me of old times...." Louis wiped his tears from laugh.


    "..." And Mike was in silence, he was thinking of what Louis was looking for, and the eyes on him were piercing him enough.


    "Ah well, let''s accelerate things, shall we?" said Louis in a low voice, to be only heard by Mike.


    "What...?" He could not finish him asking when Louis faced Rose.


    Rose was stunned for a moment too, but then showed a smile. - You know each other, then I guess you are really family, right? I knew it - She said the last sentence in a lower voice.


    "Family, yes, I guess we are the only ''Blood'' alive in all Gaia. Anyway, lend him to me for a moment, you can come if you want."


    Instead of asking the person in question, Louis, he asked Rose, because he knew he would not abandon work freely, and instead of asking her to accompany him, he asked for her to follow.


    Anyone could think that it was disrespectful, and it was. But nobody pointed out, Rose''s father wanted to say something, but got stopped by Rose''s happy response.


    "Oh please, I would love to see what you two are about, yes."


    "Haha, come, Mike, your boss already gave the order, I want to see how much you learned."


    "Don''t I have some FUCKING SAYING ON IT?!" Mike cursed and followed helplessly Louis. They were followed by Rose and her two bodyguards and a man with cold behavior and also silent, Louis assistant.


    It was common sense in Gaia that nobody would need a bodyguard or something for security while accompanied by certain people, Louis included.


    Louis'' control over his ability was not only beyond strong, but also his power was far from common.


    In the travel, they got in a luxury car, Louis'' assistant took the driving seat and the others still fitted perfectly in the car and still there was enough spare space


    "To my training grounds" instructed Louis to his assistant, and the man drove without delay.


    "It would take some minutes to arrive, anyway, I guess old man Alex told you something before ''passing away'', don''t think I want to dig into the secrets too, I just want to ask, did he say something about me?" Asked Louis.


    After some consideration, he told the direct truth to him.


    "Yes..."


    After some silence, Louis laughed again "Haha! Just... oh man, so funny, I think he never mentioned something good about me, right?"


    They had casual conversations after that, mostly with Rose, since Louis felt like Mike would give him short answers anyway.


    But it was more Rose answering to him because when she asked a complicated question, Louis would be evasive. And while being asked about their family, Louis and even Mike could just give simple answers.


    They never gave another simpler answer because their family, excluding the Blood lineage, was nothing out of ordinary.


    Some minutes later, they arrived at a big dome, Louis'' private training ground.


    As they got inside, Louis signaled Mike in the lockers direction.


    "You guys wait here, Mike and I will change clothes"


    As they got in the lockers Mike finally asked.


    "What the hell are you up about?"


    "I want to test how my cousin is improving, I know a little about the Blood family''s ability after all, so I think I can help you." Said without delay or doubt.


    What would they do was just to spar?


    Mike doubted him, but anyway followed, he could not reject anything anyway, it was like he was the newbie in a black company.


    Before heading out, while in sports clothes, he gave Mike a piece of cloth.


    "What...?"


    "Blind training, of course, you know about it, right?" The answer came before finish the question -I also have something similar. - And then Louis took the same kind of cloth to cover his eyes while reaching the center of the arena.


    "Give your all, the best methods are about to give your all anyway, right? I won''t suppress my strength"


    Louis'' advice was just a piece of simple advice, so Mike gave it no thought and put the cloth to cover his eyes.


    "I''m not going to lose this combat, serious or not"


    "Oh? I used to train with artificial soldiers, so I guess I should behave a little anyway. Ok, no ability intervention from my side, you go first." Louis'' ability was going to be used only to know where Mike was.


    Mike took the words and got close to Louis, ready to strike, he took this spar like the ones with Claire, but lighter than with Claire. Silly thoughts, Louis was really going to go with strength enough to far surpass Claire''s "heavy" training.


    Better said, it was about to be a full real combat.

 Ch5: The meeting _ Part 3

    In the seats in front of the arena, Rose and the other two were chatting while they saw Louis wear the cloth on his face.


    "Isn''t covering his eyes a bit too much? Kat, is Louis that strong?" Asked Rose to the female bodyguard.


    "He is that strong, miss. As far as I know, he covered his eyes while fighting weaker people thank him for giving them a handicap from him." In contrast to her cold usual self, she was educated towards Rose.


    "But why is Mike placing the same thing on him? Doesn''t he need to see to use telekinesis?"


    "Wh... what?!" she then focused on the Arena again, Kat had no interest in the spar but got it suddenly while Mike covered his eyes too "Maybe, they won''t use their abilities?"


    "Oh, Mike said he never trained his ability, so maybe is because of that? But why the cloth anyway?" Rose had too many questions but Kat could only calm her curiosity while telling her to look patiently.


    Rose always liked to have the answers beforehand, but she still showed attention to the combat.


    Mike started moving with fast moves like he could see through the cloth, it wasn''t tight but he still could not see with his eyes, his moves were professional, his peace fast but not tiring him enough.


    "Wow! Isn''t he using a cloth? Has it holes or something?" Asked Rose excitedly. She was behaving like a kid for the first in a long time.


    "..." The female bodyguard was silent; she could not answer her. That made Rose mad but she got an answer from the other Side.


    "Even if it has holes, is not possible for him to react with that speed" It was not the male bodyguard; it was Louis'' assistant "But I can guarantee that it has no holes and is thick enough to not let one see things even in front of your own face."


    Before she could ask again, she focused on the combat. Mike was fast, punch, defend, evade, it was all made in a way that looked like he had clear sight in his eyes.


    Then they stopped, Louis said something, and Mike''s face became serious.


    "They are about to get serious in the fight, now that he knows Mike''s strength, he will adjust" The assistant answered Rose before she could ask, that made her happy, why doesn''t she have an assistant that professional?


    The combat then started again, this time fiercer, Louis said some things from time to time, but those words were for Mike to teach him, and were in a lower voice so they could not hear them from where they were.


    The next second, the punches finally became more than just fierce. It was a fight going all out against each other.


    Louis was fast and Mike could not land a strong hit, even when landing one it was because Mike''s defense was so sturdy that Louis made a hole on purpose so he could land a critical hit at Mike.


    The assistant even narrated some of those strategies to Rose. Rose wasn''t disappointed by Mike; she was happy that her bodyguard could at least stand for some time against Louis. More even when eyes covered.


    ...


    Mike was bleeding badly, and Louis was fine, but Mike had no intention to surrender, much less take in mind Louis'' words.


    He said he would beat him badly if he surrendered, so he must fight to the end, fight, faint, or die, that was the Blood family''s extreme method Claire taught him, and the one Louis just mentioned.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Now he needed to fight to the end, he understood the defense he had only worked for a short time and needed to adjust his combat style to land hits on his opponent without breaking his own defense, his ability could not read all of Louis'' movements at great details but to some extent.


    Anyway, while thinking, Louis barely gave him time to think so he took some hits, still focusing on defense.


    If he wanted to get another advantage he could have improve his reading on Louis'' body. But how could he do it?


    "I need to take some hits from him, I have no other way, by learning what his body says while beating me I can adjust in the future. Claire said my reaction speed using my ability is good, I just need a little bit of... combat insight!"


    He took another punch, and made up his mind; he could get beaten by Louis, but at least would understand his moves and improve the reading of his opponent''s body.


    Some hits were aimed at his head, some at his chest, some at random. When he thought that understood Louis'' body moves...


    "It is not enough for you to improve, what about a more street-like style?"


    "eh?"


    By then, Louis'' moves became different, attacking with all his body, grabbing Mike''s in place to land harder hits. Mike defended and tried to counterattack, but his strength against Louis was nothing.


    "Use your ability to the limit, I don''t mind if you attack me with it" Said Louis.


    Those words, illumined Mike''s mind, he only used his ability to see the world around him, but in combat, it has more uses, just he still was not in the stage to do so.


    Still, the pieces in his head started joining together, "It is an ability specially made to kill", screamed the new shape in his mind.


    He used that ability to push things, make people stumble, and so on, never used it to attack, because it was not developed enough, but...


    "That''s it, stumble, I think I can do that kind of thing even while in combat, regret your words Louis, I will beat you, man!"


    Mike made up his mind, he was ready to attack, when Louis made a move, Mike studied to see if it was the right chance.


    While he took a kick, he took Mike''s leg resisting the pain, and with all his force, he made Louis'' only leg on the ground move.


    Louis resisted and didn''t fall, but still made him lose his balance. It was the perfect timing for Mike, but he doubted how to proceed.


    He could start beating Louis, but when using his ability, he felt something amiss. His ability got him blind while using it to make Louis stumble. He got totally blind for a moment, but just a short moment.


    He reacted quickly and then used his free arm to hit Louis who defended. Then Louis placed a hand on the ground when making himself fall down on his own, used that hand to keep hold of him and then used his free leg to make a kick, directed towards Mike''s head.


    Mike thought quickly and was ready to defend, but he made up his mind, that he will take the kick, but with his arm while defending.


    It was very painful, his arm was in pain, but his head was safe and it gave him the chance to throw a kick at Louis who was still not standing in the right stand on his legs.


    Louis rolled away but used the force of Mike''s kick to get away and took the chance to stand again on his legs before Mike could get close to him again.


    The people in the viewer''s seats were almost with their mouths opens. "Not only he can stand but also can counterattack" that kind of reaction.


    "Well well well... I underestimated your improvement speed, you are quick to learn, so let''s get down to business already" Said Louis with a strange smile.


    Mike could feel the smile showed something not good, quite the opposite of something good.


    Louis'' speed went up by a hundred percent, towards Mike. Mike could feel his cousin getting close and his moves, but this time, the moves were hard to read, it was similar to Claire''s changes of moves, but more dangerous, cause he felt the danger of each move.


    Just by a matter of survival instinct, he moved and could barely evade a punch towards his face. He evaded by pure instinct and not by his ability to read. It was a close call.


    But could not think what to do when he felt the movement on Louis, tried to evade while defending at the same time just in case, and still got hit.


    Louis was relaying on feint while attacking, and even while an attack was a feint it still worked as an attack to a certain grade.


    Mike could not stand for too much time, he still could try to attack, and some hits were made, but only to be received with more beatings.


    His brain was speeding up and his ability to the limit, but still tried to win, his power of will was at the limit, never wanting to surrender, never wanting to be watched fainting in combat.


    He allowed it before because Claire was his trustworthy artificial assistant. But never was fond of showing weakness like that in front of people.


    The people on the seats were not sitting, they were stunned by Mike''s display of resistance towards one of the most powerful ability users in the world, even when Louis didn''t use his ability.


    Anyway, he could still not resist Louis'' attacks, each hit was the hardest he ever felt, and not so long after that, all he could see was his world becoming dark. He could not feel his ability working and his conscience faded away.


    This time nobody was there to catch him.

 Chapter 6: What an android would make during its free time

    While Mike just left, Claire had nothing much to do aside from cleaning the house, it tried to prepare for Mike''s next training, but it consumed just a few seconds on its brain.


    It even tried to redecorate Mike''s bedroom to something he would like, and succeeded, but still tried more things, while Mike was not around it would always prepare things for him and then return to the laboratory to charge.


    Were all artificial assistants like this? Depends. Artificial assistants once they have their bodies, they would develop certain thoughts, likings, and even dependencies.


    But Claire was different, it already had some of those before getting the body of an android; it was still the house control brain, but was an entity itself, so while all its work was done, it started thinking philosophy while charging on the charging pad.


    From "What interests can I have?" to "What am I?". Mike would laugh at it, but for the guild, it was a pretty common thing on androids. They would always have those thinkings, because they were made that way, to think like humans (mostly) so they can integrate with humans.


    By thinking like humans, they could understand the importance of life. But not human at all, because they can get the bad habits of most humans, and the guild placed that information on their memory so androids can understand a bit of themselves.


    But then, by philosophizing about it, it found a way to bypass the block on its memory, or better said, it was allowing Claire to bypass it.


    Why so secretive to its master that they would put a block in its memory about certain information?


    It made a note to remember its master so it could ask for permission to unblock it. Then passed to sleep mode.


    The sleep mode of androids was different from model to model depending on their function. In Claire''s situation, this was made in a kind of hibernation that maintained important function systems in the house activated,


    Simply put, it was half-conscious. But still could wake up at certain fixed intervals of time. That way, it can analyze the correct functioning of the systems.


    During the second day while Mike had his combat session with Louis, at night, some moves were detected outside the house, this was nothing serious so the android didn''t really wake up.


    But when some of the persons outside tried to pass over the garden wall, the security measures woke it up.


    Claire quickly identified the problem and activated the electric fence over the wall.


    Through the sensors, it quickly catches up with the conversation outside.


    "Fuck! You say that fuckin'' fence was down" Said one of the guys from outside.


    The man who just got electrified and fell to the ground was barely trying to catch up with reality.


    "What now? Do you think the neighbors would call the police? We should go"


    "Nah, I had a plan already" Said one of the men that looked like the leader.


    Claire identified who of those held guns... all of them hold a pistol each. 6 persons, all with pistols.


    One of the persons identified as one of the four that was in the garden the first time Mike arrived home.


    No user ability in the group.


    No special kind of weapons on them.


    Its judgment was quick, get rid of those people or let them be, since they cannot get past the armored structure of the house.


    Choosing the second option, it already prepared the security protocols and went to sleep mode again.


    The conversation outside continued after that.


    Their leader contacted someone on the phone, and a few minutes after that... a Power Outage.


    It was not a Blackout on a grand scale, it was only in a small sector, the sector where the house was.


    "Ok guys, we would have half an hour at least, so let''s do it fast" Said the man and led the others.


    But surprise, the house had its own energy reserves, and the electric fence kept working.


    One of the guys proposed to cut the electric wires, it usually was followed by the house alarm, but the leader approved it.


    They thought luck was on their side when the alarm didn''t ring and then went inside one by one.


    Even if the door was an armored one, they knew how to deal with it, they came prepared.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    But before they could start placing the thermite (Only God knows how they could find that kind of thing in a country that had no use nor production of that thing) the door opened by itself.


    "Wow just wow... house service comes with a beauty at first sight" Said the leader when facing Claire.


    "Why do you guys and your people keep coming in when still keep disappearing?"


    Asked the android.


    "Why? Haha!" the man laughed and made the others laugh "Girl, this world is like that, we want answers about our people, and we want what you have in the house" The man took his gun while finishing his words.


    Claire didn''t seem to be surprised, and even if the others were taking out their pistols, it still had a cold neutral face.


    They got surprised but thought there was nothing she/it could do.


    "Human nature is strange..."


    "Eh?" The man could not understand what Claire just said, it was the same language but he could not catch the meaning, so instead of talking he aimed the gun at Claire.


    "Whatever, no open the second door..." Before he could finish speaking his gun was flying in the air, his arm in a weird position and the beautiful woman passed him by at insane speed.


    He could barely understand why they received no answer from the other 2 guys that came here days before, they would be already dead.


    Claire felt no emotion while facing the other 5 people. Some could catch the action quick and fire, but the bullets failed to hit the android.


    They could not aim at something moving so quick as they were common humans, and even if they hit the android, it was bulletproof.


    Claire finished the men, most of them at least, because allowed two of them to keep their lives.


    "Answer, do you have a leader that will follow here after your group?" She asked to one of the guys.


    "I... I don''t think the leader will know; we told him nothing about this. I swear it" Said the man on the ground, he was in pain holding his broken arm with the still not broken arm.


    Claire made a quick kick and the man''s head went in almost the opposite direction, dead.


    It then went to the leader who was still alive.


    "Same question, if you lie like he did, I will kill you too."


    "I... don''t know... don''t think any of the leaders would know about it right now, but if we disappear suddenly, they would search and find that we went here, if you spare me, I will deceive them to..." The man could not finish his talk.


    Claire kicked his mouth but didn''t kill him.


    "And why would you not tell your master or leader what you are about?"


    "Why? I guess, we wanted to... bring results? Some people have secrets, it is human nature to keep something for themselves, right?" The man answered desperately, he wanted to leave,


    And the torture that woman brings to the people by twisting their extremities... it was too painful for him.


    But the most horrifying thing about her...


    "She didn''t even blink when killing people with bare hands, is a monster more terrifying than the bosses"


    "I see..."


    "Wi...Will... Will you let me leave then?"


    "Sure"


    While she answered the man showed finally a happy face, he was finally free and alive, this sure would be a good story in the future.


    "You can go... to the afterlife." Before he could think what she was about, Claire already killed him with a high kick.


    "Results... I will bring them." Said Claire.


    She decided not long ago to be treated as an android by Mike, the owner, but, if possible, she wanted to be human.


    And when the dialogue in her mind reached this topic, she went outside to deal with the people.


    Others called her a "She" not an "It" since her master made her that way, so she would act like a woman mostly.


    But didn''t that go against the data recorded in her brain? The Deity''s Guild could not forget to put essential information on the android''s mind, so she guessed that was the guild''s intention.


    She made up her mind, she was like a human, not one, but if wanted to bring results to her master, she would not only rely on following orders, she needed to hold secrets.


    The android quickly cleaned the crime scene.


    Took the bodies to the underground laboratory, specifically, a room beside the lab.


    And place the bodies with the other 3 bodies.


    The room was only accessible through a secret emergency door and the secret laboratory. It was where the house got its energy from.


    By placing organic matter in the right device, it could bring energy to the batteries.


    She wanted to ask her master about it, but she thought her master could not withstand the idea of using people as energy or the guilt would consume him.


    This time, she decided to act on her own, she thought she finally understood the guild''s intention while creating her.


    On really, the android would always ask its master about those kinds of things, the android had a limited level of freedom after all, for security reasons. But,


    Claire''s loyalty was made to be directed towards Mike first. Different from other androids, Claire had no loyalty towards the guild. And that was the flaw,


    The deity''s guild programmers never thought of regulating those important interactions on it.


    Claire; The ''Air'' advanced system version 17 was kept as secret even in the inside of the guild, made with the ''Red'' manufacturing device, the one that built military androids, not assistants; had big flaws.


    Just how it/she reached that thinking and those decisions? simple, by incomplete information on the database and the conflict on loyalty-related issues.


    Known this fact to the guild members that made it, and they would rush to fix things to not lose face in front of the other members.


    Sadly, not even Mike knew this fact.

 Chapter 7: News again once back at home _ Part 1

    After waking up, Mike stood on bed for a moment.


    He tried to think what was happening.


    "Got beaten up by Louis, checked; Time is just barely evening, checked. I was out for some few hours... lucky me... except for the beating"


    He felt the pain in his body while getting out of bed.


    Now what is left is to know where he was. So, he got out of the room just to see...


    He was still in Louis'' training grounds, a room for recovery.


    He saw nobody in sight, just one single person in the distance, a common worker cleaning the tools and so.


    "Excuse me, sir! Can you help me?!" Mike said loud enough to reach the other person but he didn''t listen.


    He got close and saw the person with earphones, so he tried to get in front of the person.


    "ah! ... oh, it''s you" Said the middle-aged man and without taking out his earphones handed two notes to Mike.


    The man kept doing his work without paying any more attention to Mike.


    "Weird people" Mike went to the seating area and started reading the first note.


    It was Louis'' note. He laughed at how unlucky he was that his client who placed him in that situation didn''t even want to take the unconscious Mike back.


    The other was Rose''s note. She congratulated Mike on his fight, despite he lost it; and said that Louis wanted to let him rest in the gym so they could not get him back despite insisting many times.


    Who would he trust? The crazy one or the other crazy one? Hard decisions.


    "I will trust this crazy woman at 25%, maybe less, because she left a phone number here... at least" Sadly he could not call for help since it was another country, his phone had no signal here.


    Luckily it was a number from the country New Gaia''s Islands, so he just needs to find someone who could lend him a phone.


    He searched his phone and tried to see if there was Wi-Fi signal nearby, but it could not turn on.


    "Fuck this thing, it was a 30% just early, how is it already dead? I checked the time on the wall clock, it has not been that much" He cursed the battery technology level of every phone in the world while getting close to the worker again.


    "Excuse me, I need some help!" Said in loud to be heard.


    The man took out his earphones with an unpleasant look in his eyes.


    "What do you need man?" Asked in a displeasing tone.


    "I need to call for my boss, I am not from here and..."


    "Yes yes, I can tell by your looks that you are not from here" Said the man while handing his phone to Mike, the man was not friendly towards him.


    While Mike got the phone, he took the note to type the number, then he saw something that stunned him.


    "Can''t be right... right?" Mike''s head was spinning, if the date on phone was one day after his combat.


    "Sir, is the date on this phone... right? How much time I was in that room?"


    "I don''t know, you were already there when I arrived a few hours ago. Will you make the call or not?" Said the man somehow irritated.


    He was not much of a friendly talker anyway, so Mike could not help but do his work quick.


    When he called, the one attending was Kat, the female bodyguard always beside Rose.


    She said to get ready to be picked up in 10 minutes and without further explanation, hung up.


    He returned the phone to the man, said thanks and left to the locker area to see if his things were still there.


    Luckily everything was there.


    In less than 10 minutes he got in his working clothes.


    While leaving the man working in cleaning cursed that he didn''t know there were his clothes in the lockers,


    He surely would have placed his hands on there if known to him.


    But got stunned after seeing Mike''s clothing and tools, especially the weapons.


    "Great God! I am lucky I didn''t mess up things more with that man!" The man was scared.


    Not because the weapons, but the man was clearly a foreign and still could have his weapons in the open.


    It was not normal for people even from his country to hold weapons so openly. Only if the circumstances allowed them.


    Mike passed by and said his goodbye, not waiting nor wanting to get a response from the unfriendly man.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    To his surprise, the man said his goodbye to Mike, but with education this time.


    That just surprised Mike, but didn''t stop moving, Kat was never a friendly one, and given the fact he got abandoned here before,


    "I must be ready and waiting faster before than ever"


    He won''t trust too much that people.


    Soon the car from before arrived, it was luckily just the male bodyguard, not the female one.


    As long as he didn''t need to talk with that woman, everything was fine.


    He got in and they talked about trivial things and work while driving to the hotel where they stayed.


    "So, there was another meeting today... I hope this doesn''t reflect on my payment..."


    "Don''t worry, Rose almost ordered you to get in the sparring combat, I think you don''t need to face consequences from the company"


    At least the man comforted him.


    He never knew the real man of the two bodyguards, they used code names, Kat was a code name, and this man''s code name was...


    "Well, if Male is the one saying it..."


    Yes, it was just Male.


    He didn''t want to ask where they got their names from.


    Everything was easy after that, they just spent the rest of the day in the hotel since Rose was not in the mood to go out today,


    It was the last day and would return tomorrow morning.


    Kat was not in the mood to talk, as usual. And Male talked with him as well as Rose.


    It was more like doing question after questions instead of normal talking,


    They asked about his combat style, it was easy, mixed martial arts, he specialized in boxing but knew many other techniques.


    But while being asked certain questions like why the blind combat or why not using his powers...


    "That''s more like a family training method- He said, or -It was just a friendly sparring to use powers"


    But in really, to that last answer, he could not help but curse inside.


    "Like hell it was a friendly sparring! It was a fucking unilateral beating; I even USED MY POWERS to fight and still got beaten!!"


    The other would think the same, actually, each one thought something similar,


    But nobody could say something different or against it.


    He just wanted to get back and make Claire teach him more about fighting to not let him be beaten again.


    After the next day, they were already on Aether again.


    And after one thing and another, finally, in the evening, he was back home.


    "Home sweet home" He murmured while getting inside and saw Claire receiving him,


    Somehow the sight of it made him forget the pain in his body.


    "Even I missed your sarcastic words" He said to Claire but he really meant it in his heart.


    "I can see you are tired, I prepared dinner already, please take a seat, master"


    "And not being sarcastic at first sight? Who are you and what you did with my Claire?"


    Even while saying those words, he still went to the dining table and dropped his luggage and other things beside.


    "I hoped everything would go fine with your work, but I see you are under physical recovery, do you need any assistance with it?"


    Clare served Mike his food and took the luggage and other things while speaking through the speakers.


    Mike first answered with sarcasm but Claire didn''t need to use sarcasm to answer in his scars.


    "Yes, I got to combat the most powerful criminal in the story and won"


    "Oh, so I guess you meet your cousin"


    "Fuck! Oh fuck, those words are fucking right and still hurt, but how did you know?"


    "I knew Louis Blood was invited to the meeting before you left, and got the news that he was in travel to New Gaia before you left"


    "And why you told me nothing, advanced artificial assistant? Is your master of so low importance that you won''t tell me about a potential conflict with someone like him?"


    "I tried, master, remember you told me you didn''t want to know?" Mike then regretted not teaching this android what necessary bad news is.


    "Claire, do you know you can sometimes insist a bit more right?"


    "I know"


    "..."


    "Don''t make that look, master. Did I know it? No, I know already, yes. I understood that sometimes I need to act by myself to give you a satisfactory result." Said Claire with confidence.


    "That''s right, but how is that... you said you didn''t know, but that you know already, something happened?" Mike thought, suspiciously, that something happened.


    "No, master. Just we androids evolve in mind like humans do, just a little faster than humans." The android answered with no doubt.


    So, since it had no doubts, Mike just decided to trust it.


    "And one more new to master"


    "The timing in this kind of scenario states that is bad news, right?"


    "Yes, but that only applies on fiction and very rarely to real life, do you need me to teach you the difference between movies an reality, master?"


    "Hah! Trying to teach sarcasm to the sarcastic one, I lost it, ok, tell me the bad news"


    "It''s not bad news, so I cannot tell you if you ordered me that"


    "I don''t believe it, but ok, just cut the sarcastic path and tell me" He gave up.


    "I want to ask permission to buy makeup with your money. My body is not the same as a human so I will need fewer things than normal wo-"


    "Oh no!" Interrupted Mike "My android reached that age! Fuck!" Mike was stunned but his brain could only think of sarcastic words to express himself.


    Somehow, the android understood his actions.


    "Master, androids don''t age up"


    "And now it is talking like is already wiser than me... tsk, puberty..." still with irony, he answered.


    "Master, is a ''she'' not ''it''" those words finally made Mike really stunned.


    "What?"


    "You decided to make me look like a woman, so I am a ''she''. It was your decision, so you are the only one to blame." answered the android to try make Mike shut up.


    "Hmph, but I guess you are right, I am the one who decided to get the android after all, so I am the responsible father of this android in puberty..."


    Even if his words were full of sarcasm and had doubts about how the android could evolve like that in so few days, he still had some truth in his words anyway.


    He was the one responsible for constructing the android.


    Or better said, for allowing the android to be built.

 Ch7: News again once back at home _ Part 2

    At work, it was the kind of shit Mike expected to be, getting scolded for what happened in New Gaia despite not being his fault,


    Even getting scolded when Rose was the one who allowed it, but whatever, Mike was sure of what would happen anyway.


    It was not his fault but Louis'' and even when so, nobody could help Mike.


    Lucky for him, even mentioning about getting fired, he wasn''t fired.


    One of the bosses, a bulky man in charge of HR department, talked about being forgiven since it was the evaluation period.


    But Mike couldn''t care less, he kept his work and that was the important matter to him.


    But... got his salary cut for this month. No matter the amount they will cut of it, Mike cried in his mind for it, it was the painful side of this meeting.


    After finishing the scolding session, he was left free to go beside Rose.


    Sadly, for him, she was not in the company building today, and the time was already 8 o''clock.


    It looked like they wanted to fire him right away, so they made him stay in that place for too long.


    He knew about the scolding and didn''t care but when someone said Rose was not in the building and receiving a message from Male...


    "It''s like they are planning all those things, I would think so if that were to happen, but I saw similar situations and faced some before" To make people lose time, it was common doing from certain people to their employees in Aether.


    Mike reached the place after running to the destination, he didn''t take a taxi because, well, forgot to tell the android to move some money to his account...


    And because the bus was not as fast as him running... and had no cash on him again.


    It was Rose''s house, actually, the Minister Slade''s residence.


    "With so much money why is she leaving with her parents yet? But that house is big, so I can guess why..."


    He reached the entrance and the man in there was...


    "Oh, my luck is not bad at all, I know I am late so, just tell me what to do" Said expecting the man to remind him about the time.


    "You should not expect much from me if you are arriving late, but lucky you, it''s an easy day for you" Said the man, somehow displeased by Mike arriving late, but still somehow surprised by something.


    Mike noticed nothing anyway or just ignored it.


    The work when Rose was at home was easy, he just needed to guard outside since Rose''s father wouldn''t allow him or any other private bodyguard inside.


    Even if he was working under Slade''s brother.


    Male informed Mike already arrived but, in the meantime, he showed Mike his work for the day, and also told him that he could even leave early today.


    Mike was tempted but still chose to stay until the right time.


    He was in the evaluation period after all, and could not miss a single step or the bosses would kick his ass after the incident in New Gaia.


    Male showed some sign of doubt while saying so too, so Mike was sure he could not just leave his work mid-term.


    After 8 pm he finally left, he didn''t even have the chance to see Rose, but that was the best result for him.


    Seeing her would mean problems.


    "Problems are away from me, problems are finally getting away" He repeated things like that while leaving.


    He had to train today since Claire stated that will not help Mike in training with his yesterday''s condition,


    And Mike could do nothing to insist Claire.


    For the first time (or maybe second) he didn''t want to order her to do something. He was indeed tired that day.


    But the guild had many miracle treatments for almost every kind of injury or pain, today, he woke up like new.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Tonight will be when he finally resumes his training to reach phase 1, and maybe he could finally be stronger, at least a little bit stronger.


    Upon reaching home, he had dinner, relaxed a bit, and went to the training area.


    Instead of the previous training he wanted to test his power with the device again.


    Although he got beaten by Louis previously, he felt he learned one or two things with his ability.


    Claire understood his intention and turned on the device, Mike still didn''t know how to turn that thing on.


    He has an advanced android who could do it gladly (but without the ''gladly'' part, just obeying orders) for him.


    He placed his hands and started using the Bloody Hand and then, pressure.


    The first second was somehow still enough to worry him, but felt that each day the first seconds were less hard.


    The first 5 seconds, he felt big pressure but still could hold on.


    7 seconds, finally felt the challenge once again.


    9 seconds, it was hard to bear with it, the pressure was high, and he felt his ability shaking already.


    10 seconds and his body was finally crying.


    He thought he was already in 6 or 7 seconds, anyway.


    12 seconds, he still felt like could keep going, but only in will, his power was depleted 2 seconds ago, it was the real challenge.


    13 seconds, Claire prepared to catch him in case he would not get away from the device.


    14 seconds, Claire made an analysis of Mike''s PhySEC production status.


    15 seconds, Claire was finally surprised, even in an android standard.


    Mike was clearly improving his ability to such an extent; in his mind, he was reading the combat against Louis.


    But the combat itself even if life-threatening was not enough to motivate him,


    But anyway, it was enough to let him learn.


    At 17 seconds, he felt his body suddenly fainting, confusion shocked him.


    "What? I still... had energy... why...?" The android caught him in her arms as usual. But in the meantime, some strange knowledge was being craved in his body.


    "Sleep well, master" Said the android while looking at Mike reaching the world of dreams.


    "How much did he beat you up to learn that much?" Said the android even if it knew it was pointless while nobody would listen to her.


    The android Claire took her master to the bedroom, changed him from his clothes and placed him on his bed.


    Without delay, it went to the training area again and then headed to the device.


    Soon she removed the back cover of the device, took some kind of electronic board, and analyzed it.


    Result: "working fine to level 1"


    Level 0 was how the device was programmed to deal with phase 0 of the bloody hand.


    But level 1? It means that it was placed to train phase 1, but Claire, placed the board previously because it was the hardest way but also the quicker to advance phase 0 to phase 1 of the Bloody Hand.


    She inspected it was fine and placed the board again in its place.


    She would not tell her master since she had no need.


    She prepared the device to help him achieve phase 1 quick even when not ordered to change the board in it.


    She wanted to help for sure, to analyze the board was a common procedure after advancing to the next phase anyway.


    Her work in training area was done, and then headed to the secret laboratory, all while having scans on Mike''s current state continuously.


    There was a reason to scan him, advancing phases made the users of the Bloody Hand tired and weak, even more than usual, and specially made them feel pain if not receive adequate treatment during the phase increase.


    She took the medicines from the lab and headed to the energy sector to take a look quick.


    In there, only a few bones remained in two capsules. May their souls get mercy in the afterlife after their bodies got used as energy to keep her and the house working.


    She had no way to "see" what was happening in the energy room or in the secret laboratory, her systems could not reach those places if she was not there.


    She made a note to install the sensors and all kinds of scanners in those and any other place of the house that had no access.


    To do so, she would need access from the master, she had access to most of it, but still needed permission as common procedure,


    But had in her mind that it was not necessary since her master would allow it anyway.


    Another flaw in the system, but who would fix it?


    With tools and medicine in hand, she headed towards Mike''s bedroom again.


    While getting inside, Mike was sweating, she already knew anyway, it was normal for him.


    Applying the medicine on Mike, she focused on where the biggest muscle pressure was and placed the medicine in the right way in the right zone in time.


    It was a transformation that happened when a user of the Bloody Hand advanced phases.


    But it would take hours so... bless the androids and their infinite stamina.


    She made another mental note, since her master advanced quicker than expected, would tell the consequences of advancing phases first thing in the morning.


    Oh, and the way of restraint ability advancing phases too.


    Otherwise, who knows where can he advance his ability suddenly and get vulnerable to who knows what.


    The Bloody Hand was powerful but had to bear with its weakness while advancing through phases.


    The founder (who gave the Bloody Hand to the Blood family) made the Blood family suffer like that while advancing a phase but not on purpose, the ability, in difference to others, had big changes each phase.


    So the body, not only the mind, and muscle memory, must adapt to each change in just hours.


    Phases were not everything in most of the PhySEC abilities, but with this ability, it gives noticeable changes.

 Chapter 8: A month later, the higher the phase, the harder the challenge _ Part 1

    The month went easier than expected. Mike got the chance to ask the others during the evaluation month about the company''s protocols.


    Even when not being taught by his superiors, he still managed to get the basics.


    So, when the monthly period was over and after rejecting Rose''s offer to work personally for her,


    It was finally the best notice he could get. He can finally leave Rose''s side.


    "Oh, please don''t contract me after I finish my tests here" Mike repeated in his mind a few times.


    He was approaching the test area, the company basement.


    The basement was big enough to hold some of the company''s training and tests.


    Surprisingly and still disappointed by it, the test was really easy.


    It started with questions about protocols, but too few of them, and when his turn arrived, he got even fewer questions than the others.


    The one making the questions and giving the scores was someone he hadn''t interacted with before.


    But the one in the physical test, was the shady man from the armory.


    Luckily, Mike was even stronger than before, it took him little effort to finish the test.


    After entering phase 1, his body itself got even stronger than before. Something that would not happen with any other invisible mind variant.


    And the man, gritting teeth had no other option than giving him enough scores to pass.


    Mike didn''t mind the low score despite the one he deserved, as long as he could pass the test.


    It took a few minutes after finishing to get his results and finally leaving.


    There was no work for him until a client asked for him specially or got assigned to one.


    So it was finally time to full training at home, this was the real challenge, he improved his combat but still was not able to use his ability for combat itself.


    He aimed to reach the step in which it can be used as an attack, not as just support him in fighting.


    But anyway, after arriving home, he got no greeting from the android herself but through the speakers.


    "Greetings master, I was preparing the next step of your training" Said Claire from the training area.


    Mike lost no time and went right to the basement.


    He threw his equipment beside the locker and got in his sports clothes quickly.


    In the middle of the training area, was a big variety of weapons,


    All cold weapons.


    "What is this for? I don''t think I have the license to hold those kinds of weapons. I barely got the one to hold fire guns after getting my work" Mike had no intention of holding weapons like that in the open,


    At least until getting the license for it.


    "I can send the request online and approve it by myself, the current cyber security in Aether is low"


    "I... I have no words... is that possible?"


    "You still need to go there and get the physical license, but yes, it is possible"


    "I am surprised you are allowed to do those things; the guild must be crazy... but wise guys from the guild I guess"


    "..." Claire kept silent at Mike''s words, she was not allowed by the guild to do so, but still chose to keep the lie and not tell a word about it.


    "So I need to train with weapons now, isn''t enough a pistol? I already have one after all"


    "No, you will understand later. Choose one, master. Remember you can change your choice whenever you want but once in the outside..."


    "Yes, I can''t carry that many weapons, I know"


    He got close to the shelves holding the weapons, each of them had a very sharp edge.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Some were weapons like combat knives, modern and new.


    Others were uncommon and mysterious weapons, like the katana, that were clearly never seen in any country but reached mysteriously the market in Gaia as soon as appeared.


    Among the unusual weapons, was even the chakram and variants of it, it was not as popular as others but held a dangerous potential in ancient times.


    He felt like holding very long weapons like a spear, lance or a nodachi was pointless, both in style and usefulness in modern society.


    But holding a combat knife? That was out of the question with so many exotic weapons in front of him.


    He already had a combat knife anyway.


    "You can''t just tell me to choose one, there are many good ''babies'' in this place! You are cruel!" Mike had no hope of the android helping him.


    "... Master, you... can choose whichever you want, I will win our combats anyway" The android was about to comfort him with some idea,


    But what Mike needs is no comforting words, sarcastic words are more useful to him.


    He understood that he needed to train with each weapon he selected, it was better for him to select one easy to use for him and that wouldn''t draw too much attention from people.


    "You know how to ruin dreams..."


    "Thanks"


    "It wasn''t a compliment... forget it..."


    Mike''s dream to choose an exotic weapon was cut in half and burned in his eyes.


    He resisted choosing exotic weapons such as the chakrams, urumi, daggers with chains (like kusarigama from an unknown origin on Gaia), and so on.


    He saw weapons that he could not recognize, the temptation was high for a mere mortal like him.


    Anyway, with all his will, he reached the swords.


    In there, some swords were exotic ones, so he at least, lost not too much hope.


    "I will use this one" He grabbed a Wakizashi but as soon as he grabbed it, something felt amiss.


    "This weapon, what is this material? And why does it say something about ''Made in Japan with a hand of the smith deity'' here? What is Japan?"


    "The place where it was made, it says its serial code there too, it was a relic made for your grandfather. Made from the guild in a place named Japan and specially handed to class 5 members. And that is a place on another planet, just to let you know."


    "So it explains why some exotic weapons appeared out of nowhere, but what material is it? I feel weird by holding it"


    "All the weapons here are made by the guild, you can guess they are special in certain areas"


    Claire needs no more words to let him understand sometimes. It was clear, special weapons? PhySEC is related if it''s from the guild.


    They moved beside the weapons area to start the spar.


    Claire used a simple two-edged short sword.


    Without much explanation, Mike already put on the cloth in his eyes.


    Claire instructed him how to handle the weapon, but had no intention of just explain him, so started the combat right away.


    Mike reacted quickly and was not a fan of getting stunned.


    He tried to block, but the pressure from the opponent was high, his sword was not for his combat style, he needed to adapt his combat style or change the weapon.


    But he decided to stick to the weapon, one cannot get exotic weapons every day.


    Claire gave him no rest, so he had to adjust his combat style with difficulty.


    Soon, got the basics, and his style changed to concentrate more on movement technique and reaction speed rather than strong defense and counter-attack as before.


    Maybe it was not the right way to use the weapon, or maybe it was intended to be used in another combat style.


    But still, it worked for him. As long as he could fight the android back, he did not need to change the weapon.


    Fighting with fists was a thing. Claire was a weapon herself since could kill with her bare hands. But fighting with weapons was not just another thing,


    With weapons, the danger increased. Who is barbaric enough to shoot a gun at others just for training?


    It was the same for cold weapons after all, somehow that Mike had no time to even regret not telling.


    Claire''s moves were decisive, she had no expertise in holding swords but had the database, and the body of an android.


    She quickly adapted to the perfect combat style for her that could also help Mike to train. It took her less than a minute, less than half a minute.


    Few knew Mike that his sword could be used for defense and that Claire increased her strength just to make Mike change his weapon for one that fit him better.


    But at the same time, few knew Claire that Mike was the common kind of man who stuck to exotic weapons like a treasure.


    In the end, she just gave Mike a reason to adapt and improve even when in hard situations.


    It was not easy for Mike anyway; he had cuts on his body.


    The android avoided critical areas, she never tried to kill him but to hurt him.


    Still, even if he got the basics, the weapon was special, but he still could not find how to use that special thing about it.


    "Is it to improve my ability? To be used against other users? How the hell should I use this thing?"


    His moves fast, his muscles aching in pain, and bleeding, he kept going, but still could not get the feeling on how to use it.


    He had no clue what the sword had to offer him.


    "That would be enough, master. You already got the basics, very quickly, but still need to learn how to use your ability with your weapon, and you are injured enough so quickly anyway, want to change your weapon maybe?"


    "No, don''t you dare to ruin my destined love" Said Mike while hugging the weapon.


    "..." The android just helped him get healed, not arguing with the stupid things he just said.


    If Mike once doubted the android and tried to pry into the methods of his family, he would be surprised.


    This android increased the level of difficulty weeks ago, he was receiving training over his current ability phase.


    But he trusted the guild''s technology, not knowing it had flaws on this android.

 Ch8: A month later, the higher the phase, the harder the challenge _ Part 2

    After his practice with a sword, the rest of the training after healing was only the easy one.


    Exploring the house that never really explored before was one of those easy parts.


    He used it as training while walking around completely blind since he was covering his eyes with the cloth.


    But did not spend much time exploring, it was mostly when he was bored; his day, however, was indeed boring.


    If not for the times he used to train, most of his day was searching for interesting things on the internet or going around the house.


    Now he understood how his grandfather prepared his mind to leave.


    In the evening, that thought crossed his mind and...


    "Wait, Claire, why my grandfather left? He said it was an order from the guild or something like that, but the guild is no longer working here anymore"


    "That, master, is a question I can only theorize to answer by reading and placing the clues together, not something I really know" Said Clair through the speakers.


    "Fuck..."


    It was like throwing cold water on his curiosity.


    Anyway, soon got close to his doings again.


    In the evening he trained in close combat without weapons once again before finishing the day.


    As the next day arrived, he started the routine again, taking a shower, eating something, warming up, and training again.


    This time, during the combat, he could still not get what the trick with this sword was for.


    He could not get a clue but the android had the solution for it. After the combat, she gave him the theory.


    "Concentrate on the sword for a moment, master, and try to understand its characteristics. Meanwhile, I will get the medicine and get you healed"


    The android left but she still had control over the house, it was not hard to find out if Mike needed help while she was in the lab.


    Mike remained sat on the ground. He scanned the sword with his ability and with his eyes.


    A wakizashi was called, it was supposed to be a gift for his grandfather, but his grandfather left the sword there, in the house.


    Was he expecting Mike to get it? Or was it just coincidence maybe?


    Whatever the answer, he would rather focus on the task at hand.


    His eyes crossed the words, very small words, in the sword.


    "Made in Japan" checked, the serial number, checked... why the serial number? Does it have some use?


    He made a note on his mind about the serial number.


    Also, he found strange words in there too, it was a strange language he knew nothing about. Another note to take in mind.


    Aside from it, there was nothing more in the sword itself. Just the design was so uncommon already, so it was hard to tell for him.


    But then what did he feel with his ability then? A simple sword, just that there was something amiss.


    He tried to grab the sword with his ability, not with his hands.


    *Clank*


    The sword fell to the ground, it was not possible to hold it for a long time, like it was heavy on his ability''s perception.


    But at the same time, his ability felt like it was another part of it, just that the moment he tried to control it was when the ability could not control the sword too.


    "Something''s strange..."


    He could not find anything useful, and that''s the reason he made mental notes.


    Because the one who could help him was getting back into the training ground again.


    "The sword is the strange part?" The android asked when starting Mike''s treatment.


    "Not only that, what is written on the sword, says the serial code, why a sword made by the guild need it?"


    "Because it works for identifying, master, are you dumb?"


    "Yes, so dumb but I can still feel the sarcasm in your words"


    "Oh, that''s good then, but yes, it has its utility. It works for identifying the kind of ability users that work better with the weapon. Is a rule from the guild even when is specially made for certain individuals."


    "In short words, rules. Still what do those words here mean?"


    Mike showed her the smaller swords on the sword.


    "It is translated as: ''Doing what we do is who we are, and we are free''. It is the first mandatory in the Deity''s Guild rules, more like a motto. But they used it since its creation."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Hmm... that doesn''t help me really, I thought it would be more useful and help me"


    Sometimes one can''t get the clue so easily, and the only thing Mike had as a clue was the sense of familiarity he felt with the sword.


    "And will you tell me what material is it made from?"


    "Gold, mainly" Claire had no doubts in her words while solving Mike''s mystery.


    But instead of giving answers, it gave him doubts.


    "But it isn''t like gold... right?" He took a look at the sword and held it with a hand close to him.


    His moves made Claire more complicated to add the medicine to his body but still said nothing, instead, she kept explaining.


    "It doesn''t look like gold for two reasons, first, it is bathed in a special chemical that hides its golden shine, that''s why it looks like steel instead."


    She then finished placing the medicine on him.


    "And also has a special crystal on its core, each weapon has a different type of it inside, I don''t know what it is exactly since it could be a different kind of metal too, even a special chemical, but is mostly a crystal usually"


    "Can''t you scan it?"


    "Would take time and is not what matters really"


    "So it doesn''t help, great..."


    Time went by, he barely used the exhausting device and focused on the sword.


    He tried more casual moves from time to time, almost all day with his eyes closed or covered by the cloth.


    But the day could only end up frustrating him, so another day passed and he woke up again, still no news about work for him, but didn''t really matter to him anyway.


    He now had a money maker with him, Claire.


    *Ding*


    "Congrats on acquiring the title: the useless swordsman who can''t understand his sword" The first words today were another title.


    "Don''t give me ideas for a novel"


    "With your mind not even understanding your own weapon, how can you write a novel"


    "Oh? Think you can do better than me?"


    "I can''t use PhySEC and already can beat you"


    "You won this time, but there will be no second win for you..."


    Mike started his day again, in the morning getting beaten, I mean, getting trained in sword combat, the rest of the day exploring the vast sea of internet and at afternoon training by himself.


    Before getting beaten in the evening spar today he was in front of the exhausting device and had an idea.


    But instead of doing as his mind told him to do, he took a moment to meditate.


    Not because the idea was maybe stupid, it was stupid. But took the time to try the first part of it, so maybe the android won''t interrupt.


    "Who am I kidding? If the android stops me, it''s for a reason... but still, I want to try this"


    Mike concentrated on using his ability to feel the world around him, it was the preparation, then he withdrew his ability and passed it to the sword in his hand.


    The sword didn''t reject the ability.


    "It does not reject it, just that can''t be controlled by it, got it, my theory was right!"


    Mike showed no emotion on his face, he was expecting it, just that it was the theory.


    Now since in practice it worked, it was time to test it, he opened his eyes and used the exhausting device, but made it quick so Claire could not say something to him to try and stop him.


    He turned it on quickly, he was prepared for that since he scanned the device a moment ago when got the idea.


    It would be the moment the android would be asking him what he was about to do, but he heard nothing from her.


    His moves were fast and in no time, he was using his ability on the device, using the sword as a medium.


    The time started. And only when 5 seconds happened. Claire finally reached the place and got close to him.


    But strangely, she did not interrupt him.


    10 seconds, and it was like before, after reaching phase 1, his time resisting, on average, was 21 seconds, 23 until fainting.


    At 21 seconds, he had finally withdrawn his attempt.


    He was tired from the device as usual while got away from it.


    Then sat on the ground.


    "Why did you come here?"


    "I thought you were planning something stupid"


    "Am I that kind of person?"


    "You turned the device on your own"


    "Ok, you win, but why don''t stop me then?"


    "Worst case, you would faint at half your average time and would lose the evening training"


    "..."


    "But congrats, you passed the hardest challenge to get familiarized with your weapon"


    "What?"


    "I said congrats, you passed the hardest challenge-"


    "Shut up, I mean to explain" Interrupted Mike.


    "I know what you meant, master, can''t get the joke?"


    "Much better than you, thanks, now explain"


    "As I said, is the hardest challenge, and the reason is that almost no one in your family could pass that test, so to summarize, it was stupid, when you do have not the brain to understand the theory of how your ability works, you still have talent in practice"


    "I feel offense by those words, should I recycle you?"


    "Then you will be the one cooking from now on"


    "Make sense"


    From Claire''s point of view, Mike is like the monster of the Blood family, not understanding too much of his ability in theory, but is a different thing in practice.


    She thought that the theory would be easy for him and did not worry too much about the sword training.


    But reality hit harder than expected, she understood that Mike was not bad at theory, just that he decided to make his own way.


    The long texts she had prepared for him to learn, are now a useless thing.


    "I worked hard to prepare the summarized theory for you, master, but now is useless" Said Claire with a low voice, almost like crying.


    Mike stood shocked for a moment but then remembered... "I almost got caught"


    "Tsk, I made it hard to notice this time" said the android with the usual cold voice.


    She could make a perfect 3D model in less than 2 minutes, connect to all systems in the house, and read and summarize long texts in seconds.


    What hard work? It took her less than a minute, not even long by her own standards.

 Ch8: A month later, the higher the phase, the harder the challenge _ Part 3

    "You must learn how to use your ability with your sword with more proficiency, master" Said Claire while moving her sword towards Mike.


    He used the opponent''s slash to get distance from her while defending.


    "Easier said than... done" He was tired, even if completing the hardest challenge, it still didn''t help you how to use his sword with his ability.


    Claire gave him no time to think, she adjusted to give him the right time to think, no more no less.


    Her moves were as fast as Mike''s, but her sword had more technique to it, after all, Mike had no experience or training with swords. Much less when talking about uncommon swords.


    Each time he decided to attack, she defended with the moves that suit better with no doubt,


    Allowing her to attack again, and even finding the openings in Mike''s defense.


    Training with real weapons was a hard challenge.


    Even if Claire avoided dealing great damage, she still left him no way of winning, but that was the idea.


    The harder the victory or defeat, the higher the improvement. This was the idea of using training above his current level.


    For attack training methods with the Bloody Hand, it started in phase 2, and Mike was in phase 1.


    Anyway, only in phase 3, or in the peak of phase 2, would a Blood family member make decent attacks with his ability without using a weapon.


    The method she used for him, however, was working at a slower speed than before. But it had its reason.


    It was the normal speed for Blood when in phase 2. And for phase 1, he or she would not get great improvement from this.


    Still, Mike was at a middle point between the two.


    If only Mike was better at theory, at least at the average level, he would be improving even faster, almost compared with a real phase 2 genius from the family.


    After the training, Claire left the area to search the medicine, it was the morning training with weapons, he would ask her to train in the evening with weapons too, but...


    "It hurts! Even if the cuts are not deep, still hurt!" It was too painful to resist the bleeding for an hour,


    He was also afraid that the android would leave him at the edge if asked for longer training in the morning.


    Just yesterday he completed the hardest challenge, but what was it for? He got nothing from it anyway.


    He only could understand that could not control the weapon with his ability, but still, it was like a part of it.


    "Just what is it for? Why training with a weapon...?" He never made the question directly not even in his mind, but finally something like a bulb illuminated his mind.


    He got up from his position, the pain was there, but the adrenaline rushed into his body. And the pain was tolerable anyway.


    He prepared to swing his word.


    "Master, wait until you are healed." He ignored Claire''s voice.


    She would not insist, he was the master anyway, and his injuries were not lethal to begin with.


    With the sword beside him, holding it with one hand first, then using his other hand to hold it too.


    Concentrating on his other "hand", the blooding hand, in the sword, he felt the familiarity with it again.


    But what was it for anyway? The enlightened Mike felt like the answer was the purpose of the weapon.


    To attack, to defend, the answer was simple.


    "To kill" He then swung the sword.


    The sword made an arc in the air, it was so natural that felt like the sword itself was part of his body. Then,


    Nothing.


    Nothing happened in his eyes, but he felt like he did something, he already knew what it was for.


    "Looks like you got the basic idea looking at your facial expression, master" The android reached the place again and started healing Mike, he wanted to keep practicing anyway,This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    But the android already started the process. And when the adrenaline disappeared slowly, he felt the pain again.


    So, in the end could not help but wait until next time.


    "The theory is ready for you when you have time to read, master" Said Claire.


    The theory was for him to find his own answers quicker about the uses of his new knowledge.


    He wanted the android to teach him herself but got rejected. That step was important for the user to understand by himself.


    Anyway, he would now stop the sparring combat with Claire in the evenings.


    Now his training routine was evolving again.


    "At this pace, I would wish nobody asks for me at work"


    "Master, when you mention it is when something will happen"


    "Aren''t you reading too many novels?"


    *DING*


    This time, he heard that sound from not far away, it was his phone.


    "Funny, I know you can hack into my phone" He thought it was the android since the coincidence was too much.


    "Master, it wasn''t me; I won''t hack into your phone without permission... actually forget the last part, but it wasn''t me anyway."


    "What? Wait, no, what? I mean both things, both things are bothering me, but what with the last one?" Claire got his phone and handed it to him.


    Yes, it was the company.


    "Requested specifically from a client, fuck..."


    "I suggest you do something with your personal life, master. You can''t live your life from other''s money."


    "... It was my money, you crazy bot"


    "Oh! it was?! Sad I cannot remember"


    "You sure you don''t want to be an actress? you will be the best villain in any movie."


    "I can''t, master. You will take advantage of me and get my money."


    "Yeah, I forgot you want to win sarcastic fights, right then, here we go, the work is next month anyway. Easy..."


    He got up, if he could not advance to phase 2, then it was his fault, but at least would go to the peak of his current phase before the work.


    "Master, you even lost track of time... poor dumb master..."


    "What?"


    "Next month starts in 3 days"


    "... Give me back my happiness"


    "No. I will prepare the next training session right away; you should get used to your new moves soon, and practicing it without proper preparations is a bad idea, you would end up cutting everything in the house."


    "What am I? A cat?" was that dangerous the new use of his ability? There was only one way to know.


    By the morning, he helped Claire to get the training ground ready, the android rejected the help, but he insisted, and regretted next minutes later,


    He could get tired, but the android can''t.


    But all in all, he left to get his license for his weapon.


    Claire made sure to fake the papers for the weapon''s origin. She even approved it herself, again breaking the guild rules.


    But since there was no Deity''s Guild in Gaia anymore, she had no problem to deal with later.


    The moment he arrived at the place, got his license quick. Waiting for approval would take forever; for someone giving money to the corrupted ones, would take a long time,


    But for someone with an already accepted request, the license would take just a few minutes to be handed to him.


    The central in the capital city made licenses very fast, just that approving any kind of license usually takes a long time.


    It was not cheap to get this kind of license, it wasn''t free after all. All he needed to do was to show his sword there.


    On the way back, he was impressed by a delicate topic. His sword was in a long back all the way from his house to that place, and too from there to his house,


    But still, wasn''t it illegal to hold a cold weapon outside without a license? He held it all his way to that place without a license.


    "Weird rules" He got into house excited, got lunch, a rest, and then went to train again.


    He helped the android to prepare the arena for him before.


    The training area was now prepared for him to practice, there were objectives all around the place, all made of metal.


    Those had a mechanism and paper on it too.


    "The idea of having the paper is for you to cut it while hitting the objective, the mechanism will tell if you made a strong attack too." Explained the android.


    He was already hoping for something like that.


    "So, my attack from earlier was not a simple one, but one that can cut?" He prepared to unleash the attack again.


    The android didn''t stop him and did not answer until he finished his slashing.


    The concentration was similar to before, the position, the way of holding the sword, all very similar to before, just his speed was faster.


    Still, the attack would be similar to before, he aimed the attack to an objective 5 meters away from him, the paper in lines in the objectives stated the distance, and then...


    *Thud!*


    A not-so-noisy sound, more like a soft one, the paper... barely cut, the objective mechanism... remained unmoved.


    "Hm... you sure you configured it well?" Mike questioned the android.


    "You are asking for a beating in our next sparring with weapons, master?" The android had the right answer for the right moment as always.

 Chapter 9: The bodyguards first mission_ Part 1

    With clothes for work ready and weapons and tools too, it was time to leave for work.


    Mike still wanted to keep training, but he had a duty like every normal person, and he was fine with getting a rest from the beating he received every day.


    After getting better in combat and ability control, he still trailed the android, but he could feel the gap getting close; she was still a league above him.


    He reached the company building to get all the info about his mission.


    He already had the basics but it was common procedure anyway.


    The client''s name: Richard Stone.


    "This sounds somehow..." He felt like he knew the person, but could not remember.


    ===


    [Basic Information]:


    -**Name: Richard Stone **


    -** Age: 35 years old **


    -** Occupation: Businessman / Marketing coordinator **


    -** Registered company: RichManufacturing Inc. **


    -** Nationality: Redzen**


    -** Current location: Aether **


    [Physical Appearance:]


    Face photo in the upper right corner for reference.


    ...


    ===


    "Ok let''s skip that thing, basic info is enough, I remember who this man is now, fuck my luck... right to the important task then"


    It was, without doubt, the brother of Erick Stone.


    Both were from Redzen, doing business in a legal way with the public, but everybody knew they were the ones behind the Black Key Group, an illegal company with no good intentions in Aether.


    They should be put into investigation by any other country, especially in the current situation with the war.


    Just who recommended him for this job? It was sure someone with bad intentions.


    If his client was someone like that, may the goddess of luck bless him enough to keep his life after this.


    ===


    [Reason for contracting]:


    -** Richard Stones comes from a very well-known family for their impressive business empire; his brother Erick is the CEO of a major corporation (the same Richard works in) that plays a crucial role in the economy and infrastructure of their home country and Aether too.


    Given the current circumstances in their home country and the success of their business, he attracted unwanted attention from the enemies of his country, and those in the illegal society.


    In his business, he needs to travel from "place to place" constantly, and his recent activities require him to travel to Aotheles. Given the circumstances explained above, he...


    ...


    **


    ===


    "You, Gotta, Be, fucking, kidding me..." Said Mike with a sigh before even finishing reading, nobody was there to hear him.


    It was a suicide mission. Aotheles Union was against the war of Redzen in Asgars and is in a political issue to act actively against it.


    And most important, it was an enemy nation for the current Aether.


    Just his luck was bad enough, now he would need to go on a suicide mission.


    "But still, he is a person of success... success in illegal ways but could have a plan, he cannot just go there without a plan... ok, there are notes about the ones recruited for the job too..."


    In the notes, only his name was written...


    "Fuck!" His voice was not high, but enough to attract attention around.


    He blushed a little and left the place.


    Richard had a personal bodyguard, so he could not be totally alone after all.


    For his meeting, he needs to travel to another city, meet Richard, then go to the capital city and take a plane with them to Aotheles for his suicide mission.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    He quickly took a taxi and left, he didn''t care for the money, not because the android made a lot, but because he had no time to lose.


    He needed to meet the client that same day, did his bosses in the company think he had a car? They knew he didn''t, but nobody cared for him.


    The travel took a few hours, the driver listened to his urgency and accelerated enough to shorten the travel somehow.


    The man listened to him after looking at Mike''s weapons, He had not only a pistol but also a sword hanging from his back hip.


    People like that were either terrorists or special bodyguards. Given Mike''s clothing, the latter.


    The destination was a luxury hotel, and there was currently a meeting.


    Given his identity he stayed outside for some time until finally allowed to pass, the guard outside was the one who guided him towards the location.


    Inside, he found many people he could recognize, most important politicians or business people, but business people in Aether were mostly into politics,


    It made no difference to start with then.


    They reached a table and Mike found his client there, an athletic man in his mid-30s.


    Richard looked quite calm for someone that''s going to step into dangerous lands.


    "Mr. Stone, here is the person you asked me to wait for" Said the guard who guided Mike.


    "Mike Blood, finally here, you are in time anyway, but I wanted to meet you, I heard only great things from you"


    If Mike was an idiot, he would not know who told those words, after all, he just saw the responsible person of that not far away, Rose Slades.


    "I am glad to hear someone thinks highly of me, I will give my all to guarantee your safety, Mr. Stone." Said Mike while really not meaning his words.


    He met not only his client but the other bodyguard too, he was a black muscular man with very cold behavior, the name, Miles, no last name from him.


    At least he got his name, it would be hard to talk with him by calling strange names.


    "I thought most politicians in Redzen if not all of them were racist, at least I don''t feel like is a bad man at all... if it weren''t for his identity" Mike''s mind was recording every piece of useful information,


    All while meeting the other people. He had sadly, needed to accompany Stone while meeting the other people around.


    Richard Stone talked a lot with people of high stands but talked few with those with lower stands.


    If one doesn''t pay attention, no one would notice, but Mike concentrated on studying his client, so he found out his conversations turned out differently.


    Sometimes he paid more attention to certain people, giving Mike the impression he was looking for something from the other person.


    Stone talked with Rose too, he went with the excuse of meeting Mr. Slades, but got to talk more with the daughter,


    It was like people recognized Rose had a higher stand than her father.


    No surprise for Mike, he knew she was already preparing to start her own ability users mercenary corps, the first in the country.


    Nobody knows how she could convince her father and the tyrant president to approve that.


    Those politicians were not very fond of separating the military force into those with the ability and those without it like most countries did,


    And even not wanting to give more chances to ability users. It was like they thought there was no difference with or without PhySEC around.


    But Rose got it, the thing nobody achieved in the country; in Mike''s eyes, Rose was not totally evil, maybe just crazy, but not evil.


    But all in all, Mike found the situation calm with his client, he was confident that maybe nothing serious would happen.


    ...


    After Richard Stone left, followed by Mike and the other bodyguard, Minister Slades finally spoke to Rose about a different topic.


    "Is he the man you told me about? Louis Blood''s cousin?" he asked.


    "Isn''t it interesting? He is the cousin of one of the strongest in the world, why did he say he never trained his ability?" Said Rose, not answering directly.


    "And will he be alright? Stone is going to Aotheles after all"


    "Don''t worry, I made preparations, he will not be chased actively, only Stone will face consequences, and given his cousin being so important, Aotheles won''t force him too much"


    "Well, it''s your plan, I leave it all to you"


    Rose''s plan, seemed like some conspiration, but they talked so casually that nobody would notice something.


    Behind Rose and the minister, were 4 bodyguards, 2 of them, "Male" and "Kat".


    Rose then talked to her bodyguards.


    "Don''t you think he looks somehow different?" she asked with doubt, what if it was just her imagination?


    "I see nothing different, my lady. What do you think, brother?" Kat answered first, he really noticed nothing different.


    But would her brother "Male" notice something? Probably not, but...


    "He is happy, very confident in something, and I understand him, I would be too"


    ""Eh?"" Kat and Rose were shocked,


    For Rose, what the hell is her laziest bodyguard talking about?


    For Kat, how the hell could her brother notice something she didn''t?


    "His sword, every man''s dream is to have an uncommon treasure like that"


    "*Sight* Why did I expect something from you?" Kat lowered her head to apologize to Rose.


    But the minister had another thing on his mind.


    "So he got it recently, I understand now"


    "What do you mean, dad?"


    "Is a katana, but smaller, maybe some kind of variation?" said the minister.


    "Katana?" asked Rose, she knew what it was, she had seen one once.


    "Not a Katana, my lady" said Male again "Is shorter, is not a katana, and is called... Wakizashi if I remember correctly."


    "I see now, it is indeed a treasure, maybe he got it from Louis"


    Kat and Rose could understand that Mike would be happy for the sword, but was it really the reason?


    The truth was that it was the sword, but the main topic was different from anything that any of them could have imaginate,


    Even if Male was right, that was not the reason Rose felt something different about Mike.


    And Mike himself would not find out the reason even if listening, until much later.

 Ch9: The bodyguards first mission_ Part 2

    For his day at the hotel, Richard''s room was a big one, a big suit. He spent his night in the suit.


    Not like he had no room for him, but the room given to him, despite being close to Richard was even smaller than the living room in Richard''s suit...


    Plus, he got to play cards with the other bodyguard, Miles.


    They took turns at night even when they were still in Aether, Miles was used to this and Mike had an image to keep for himself.


    Also, he had experience in staying sleepless for some days.


    The next day, they went to the airport and left. This time, they used a private jet again, as expected.


    But Richard had to get a pilot and co-pilot, so the jet, despite being a little smaller than the one he used when following Rose, felt not very empty.


    The travel took some time, they left the airport in the early morning.


    Richard directly used the time to sleep, Mike was surprised at how quick some people can sleep,


    More if that person sleeping already had a good rest before.


    It was morning after all.


    The travel was really slow even using a jet.


    By the first hours, he chatted or played cards with Miles.


    The next hours felt so boring that he even went to sleep.


    And when he woke up, they were already over Aotheles territory.


    It was afternoon and the travel took quite some time, Aotheles Union was big, but the place they were supposed to go first was not too deep into the territory.


    They soon landed and went to common procedures, despite being his bodyguard, and a special bodyguard at that, problems quickly started.


    The man inspecting them was doing the right procedures in Aotheles, inspecting the weapons, tools, and so on.


    "Dam, you are not even inspecting the luggage correctly... Man... oh, someone''s doing that? As expected from Aotheles then..."


    "Sir, your weapon, I am afraid is not legal to hold it here" Said the man, he was pointing at the special antiPhySEC pistol.


    On the side, Miles had the same problem.


    "And also, that sword..." He looked at the sword, not knowing it was more special than it looked like.


    Mike started to think of an excuse, he could not lend his loved/sword to another person, especially since he could not use his ability to attack without it.


    But the next words helped him to be free of worries "It''s ok I guess, is just a sword, and doesn''t look like antiPhySEC material anyway"


    He was lucky, being an officer from Aether he would get his sword stolen even when it was legal.


    Mike had no worries giving the antiPhySEC pistol and ammo, on the other hand, it took some time for Miles.


    How can he have that weapon if he never got the license for it? Easy answer, he worked for Richard Stone, nothing out of the ordinary in Aether or Redzen.


    They took their antiPhySEC weapons (except for Mike''s sword) but let them their normal weapons and antiPhySEC protection.


    Yes, protection. Richard had a protection vest for PhySEC-related attacks.


    "Doesn''t he have enough with bodyguards? Does he wear that thing regularly or is it just because we are at Aotheles?... tsk tsk... smart man"


    They left the airport later, lucky pilots who got their way easily out of problem.


    But the pilots left for their own way, they were contracted by Richard, but still had nothing to do with him during his business here.


    They stayed in the hotel for the evening, ate, did their usual things, and then... nothing, just morning again.


    Richard was being guided by some kind of assistant when he arrived, the same man that was guiding him today again.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    It didn''t look like Richard was in problems, for Mike, it was just the typical political rules, the order to do things,


    Simply put, politics made him keep his life. Even politicians from Aotheles can''t get rid of rules if they want to make the right decisions.


    The two bodyguards followed Richard for the day, it was mostly simple meetings and very few businesses.


    Was Richard taking a little vacation or was he here for business? It seemed the first.


    Night soon arrived and Mike was eating dinner in the hotel, in the room, he saw Miles clicking his tongue, he seemed annoyed.


    "Is something not going right?" He asked, and Miles kept using his phone while talking.


    "The pilots are not responding, none of the two"


    "Maybe they are without WI-FI around? Is not like their number will work here, right?" He asked innocently.


    "They have numbers that work in this country, that''s why it is strange, if none of them answers by tomorrow morning..."


    "What will happen?"


    "Not much, we would need time to search for another pilot so I better hurry and sleep so I am not tired tomorrow"


    "Sure man, not a problem _ Bastard, don''t tell me you are using an excuse to not take a night shift? I will wake you up tonight anyway, fucker" Mike cursed while looking at Miles leaving,


    Miles'' bedroom was just in the same suit as Richard''s, it was quick to answer any emergency that way, also Mike''s bedroom was too in the same suit.


    After finishing the late dinner he went to the window, in there he saw some of the cars that followed them today, looks like Richard could not be arrested easily, but still they had some people following every step.


    But then, Mike noticed something not too far away.


    The cars that followed them all day since arriving were more far away.


    "Then those cars closer... I hope is just a coincidence"


    Mike tried to keep calm but also took a note of it, he got his sword behind him, hanging on his hip, and made a quick check at the ammo in the gun.


    No move was being made outside, so he just used the time to practice his ability.


    He sat cross-legged on the ground and used the invisible Bloody Hand to search around.


    Since improving every day and his ability advancing to the next phase, the distance he can reach is more than before.


    He started going around 10 meters around him, he soon reached the wall and went past all things around, reaching the window,


    It was closed and had no intention of opening for now; the night was cold, and the suit was warm.


    He kept moving his ability and reached a door, he was about to keep going but felt like he could pass his Bloody hand below the door.


    He could usually not do it since it was hard to control when going through small apertures. But after all the training he tried to do so, it would not be that hard.


    Indeed, he got the Bloody Hand to the other side of the door and notices that doing so reduced the maximum distance of the hand.


    He would usually go at a maximum of 15 meters when training slowly, but this time he got stuck at 12 and would not go further without exhausting himself.


    He found the window of the room anyway, barely. It was Richard''s bedroom; he knew it before in any case.


    But the window had some kind of unusual vibration, and he could not find the reason, maybe wind?


    He then remembers the cars outside and gets up calmly, not wanting to show any look of alarm.


    Wandered around but getting closer to Richard''s room door, that way his ability could reach the window, and indeed there was something strange.


    He went to the window in the living room where he was already, and changed his mind and opened the window, he didn''t take his head to see outside, towards the bedroom window,


    But instead took a look at the cars outside, he thought he saw someone alarming but acted calm, and used his ability to feel what was the movement on the other window.


    In there, he quickly forgot to not show alarm and ran towards Richard''s bedroom.


    The door wasn''t locked, and as soon as he got inside, he took his pistol and aimed at the man passing through the window.


    It looked like they were cutting the crystal without making noise and planned to get Richard without making any sound.


    "Stay still! Don''t move!" Mike''s voice was high enough to wake the people in the suit.


    The masked man reacted quickly and ran to cover, he didn''t want to surrender so quickly.


    Mike pulled the trigger, not wanting to give the other the chance to counterattack him.


    *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* if someone was not awake already, the pistol would wake them up.


    He shot quick without even wanting to give him a chance, even the other person was surprised at how quick he thought, but sadly for Mike, the bullets failed.


    Three bullets, all failed? Mike''s aim was not bad, to fail three shots.


    The other person was already covered and Richard ran towards Mike, he already judged the situation quickly,


    And Even Miles was already entering the room.


    Then Mike understood something.


    "That''s not the person I saw when using my ability at the window" He looked up and, in the window, there was someone else.


    It all happened in the blink of an eye. It took them so few moments to quickly prepare to attack, the one that was inside had already got his pistol, and the other...


    The one in the window was holding the rope that made him stay outside the building without problems, it was not like he had no way to get his gun in hand,


    But showed a strange confidence there.


    Soon, the man inside started answering the fire, Mike reacted and got to cover Richard, passed him to Mile''s hands, and could not stop thinking that he was the one defending the terrorist here.


    Was he the villain in front of the other people''s eyes? But again, if he failed his mission, wouldn''t that bring shame to his reputation? "Life is hard even for the bad guys huh?"

 Ch9: The bodyguards first mission_ Part 3

    It was the moment to act, too much thought would lead them to lose their mission, so Miles took Richard to a safer place, leaving the bedroom;


    But just at that moment, the enemy on the outside, hanging from the rope acted as soon as Richard was being taken away,


    With a mysterious force, the rope that was holding him moved, moving the man himself from that window to the other side,


    The way he moved made Mike understand something, telekinesis variant.


    That''s why his bullets missed, those were moved using telekinesis.


    As soon as the man outside moved to the other window, the enemy inside took the chance to shoot towards Mike,


    *BANG* *BANG* the man stopped with the second shot.


    Mike already moved out of the room while he understood what the telekinesis user was up about,


    Their objective was Richard Stone, not he; and Mike''s objective was to protect Richard, not to lose time with the one there.


    As soon as Mike left the bedroom, in the living room''s suit, Richard was floating mid-air, it was clearly the man with the ability, he already got inside quick and without effort since the window was left open.


    *RAT-A-TAT-TAT* More bullets were shot, it was Miles'' pistol, and it was automatic,


    The control over Richard faded somehow a little, and once the control faded just a little somehow, Mike rushed towards Richard and got him free from the telekinesis control of the man.


    The masked man with telekinesis deflected all bullets but still lost control of the subject he was supposed to deal with.


    The masked one inside the bedroom finally got out while Mike was leaving the suit already, it was fast, very fast, like nobody could react so quick to the events.


    But still, everyone there in the suit had their minds on the action already and acted quickly.


    It all happened in just a few seconds, and Miles was the only one left alone in the suit with those two; but Mike''s mind was, sadly, focused on protecting the man who was the bad guy at the end of the day.


    "Fuck this luck!" He cursed, he was guiding Richard out of the place.


    He heard more shots from inside the suit.


    One of those was Mile''s automatic pistol, but he heard another weapon too.


    Two against one, Mike could not imagine how Miles could survive, more when he had no antiPhySEC pistol on him.


    He was for sure fucked in Mike''s mind.


    But he reached the stairs with Richard, not wanting to use the elevator. Obviously, there were more people involved in it; nobody could know what would happen in situations like these.


    And life confirmed Mike''s thoughts,


    *BOOM!* it was an explosion, looks like the people started using the heavy weapons.


    Richard was about to insist on using the elevator, but hearing the sound just now, how could he insist on using it?


    So, in the end, they rushed downstairs, some people could be seen around them, but it was mostly people running in fear.


    Some tried to use the elevators, those who usually don''t know how to act in situations like these,


    And could be the first ones to face danger.


    Richard followed Mike by giving his all, but he was a normal person and although not being out of shape, Mike''s stamina was greater than Richard''s.


    Anyway, Mike adjusted his speed to match Richard''s speed.


    They reached the base floor soon, the floor they were in before was really not that high, but the situation made everybody think it took longer than usual to reach downstairs,


    Even when it was actually the opposite.


    But downstairs, Mike thought about what to do, he had not much experience in this field.


    He had military experience in many situations but had never been taught about these kinds of situations to protect someone, so his thinking was his own deduction entirely.


    They need to reach help, police? Might work, but they reached downstairs and Richard was being watched, so why did they not reach the hotel yet?This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Sir, follow me, we are leaving the place"


    "What? What about... where should we go? What about the police? Or military, isn''t this a terrorist attack?" He tried to ask about calling the authorities.


    But anyway, Richard followed Mike, despite him cursing Richard''s words in his mind.


    "Bastard, you are the terrorist here!" He guided Richard towards the backdoor.


    He tried to not catch attention since the idea was to not be seen.


    He guided Richard to a place mostly devoid of people, in a parking lot, it had a few floors and from there, one could see the disaster at the hotel.


    *Pant* Richard was clearly tired.


    "Can''t we take a break?" He asked Mike, and got a positive answer.


    "Rest for a while, the police or army would arrive soon" Or so was what Mike wished for.


    The police were nowhere to be seen yet.


    And he thought what could happen in a situation like this.


    "Sir, you need to rest in another place, follow me" Said Mike, he had a plan.


    He was scanning all the places around him when was running here and never stopped using his ability.


    "What? Can''t be that far right?"


    "Don''t worry, I want to let you stay in a safer place, just behind that wall, there the vegetation is high enough to hide you"


    "What?"


    "Sir, they are following us, please go hide there now that they have no clear sight of us inside this building"


    Mike not long ago saw strange moves behind them, it looked like some people were not hunting Richard actively but still kept participating in the operation.


    For common civilians to be helping a terrorist group to search for Richard, just how much this man fucked the people?


    "Tsk tsk, I am the bad guy then, everything will be fucked when I finish this mission, the success of not" He said after Richard went to hide where Mike told him to.


    Now, Richard could not be found while Mike kept rushing toward the last floor of the building, it was a big parking building;


    And on the last floor, it had no roof as expected.


    Mike knew it, this was a parking place the Aotheles'' agents used to keep an eye on Richard when he arrived in their territory.


    But now it was empty.


    "As expected, they allowed the attack after all" But Mike already knew about it, he thought it may be the case.


    So all in all, it was not a surprise for him, he stood still on there, looking at the hotel''s direction, still no police around, but the fireman department looked quite active in reaching the place fast.


    It was already clear before, so he thought not much about it.


    To start with, the telekinesis user was too powerful, to easily deflect bullets from an auto gun, and on top of that he showed confidence in not even wanting to use his weapon, only his power.


    It was not possible to do so unless you had high confidence in your ability.


    He soon heard the sound of steps getting closer, he already was scanning the stairs with his ability and was looking towards the ramp too.


    The one showing up was Miles, he looked happy to just see Mike.


    "I finally found you, you can''t believe how hard was to get away from those people"


    "How did you survive the explosion?" Asked Mike, he had a cold voice, he already guessed what happened.


    "I left the suit just before, can''t believe they used explosives"


    "They had c-4 or something like that?"


    "I can''t believe those people, using things like that, just why did they not use it at the start?" Miles was talking while started to get closer to Mike. "Where is boss? You saved him?"


    While looking relaxed, Mike showed a smile, it gave Miles confidence in the situation and relaxed, but out of nowhere...


    *SHINK* the sword was pointing towards Miles'' neck, just a finger away from him.


    "Don''t move! And tell your friend downstairs to not do anything stupid" Mike said with still a smile, a cold smile.


    He had his pistol in the other hand in case someone was in the car ramp.


    Everything was clear to Mike, but there was one question still in his mind.


    "If you were with them, why did you decide to act now?"


    "Mike, my friend, I was not with them..." Miles was nervous.


    "But now you are, no need to answer more"


    "Common men, you are getting it wrong..."


    "Stay still! Let''s see how much Aotheles can hold their army in this mess" Mike had the advantage and was planning to keep it that way.


    But he could not guess the other''s plans.


    On the car ramp, someone showed up.


    It was the telekinesis user.


    He then felt a move from the stairs, the other person was there, covering with the wall while aiming his gun at Mike.


    Miles took what he thought was Mike being confused or shocked and then tried to get his weapon.


    But in the blink of an eye, the edge of the sword touched his neck and...


    *SWISH* blood poured out of Miles; Mike used his sword''s move to aim his gun at the stairs after killing Miles.


    *BANG* *BANG* Two shots were made, one from each of them; they both fired once at the same time.


    In a fight with any kind of firegun, the aim was important, but the reaction speed was equally important.


    In Mike''s mind, he was really the bad guy here, just the situation and adrenaline would not allow him to think in irony this time.

 Ch9: The bodyguards first mission _ Part 4

    Mike lost no time in shooting and already scanned the other person before.


    He knew from the angle, the position he needed to be to not be fired.


    And without expectation from anyone he evaded the bullet, sadly, he could not aim correctly at his enemy.


    He used his ability to read his enemy, not to read himself. Took note of it and felt the other person behind him, the telekinesis user.


    He aimed at the telekinesis user, the person still felt no need to use his weapon and kept walking towards Mike.


    "Give Richard to us, and we will leave you be, we are asked only to deal with him, not you" Said the masked man on the stairs.


    "I am the good guy here, sorry, I don''t listen to terrorists" Said Mike showing a smile, he was making plans on his mind.


    "You don''t know what kind of person you are defending, do you?" This time, it was the telekinesis user speaking "That man is the terrorist here, you know how much blood that man has on his hands!"


    The man was holding his rage while talking.


    Then Mike felt the move behind him and quickly aimed towards the stairs and this time, he barely hit the masked man on the stairs.


    Not a full shot in a dangerous area of the body, he analyzed the man on the stairs again while facing the telekinesis user.


    The man looked at his companion being shot,


    "Just how fast is his reaction?" Then decided to take his gun and aim towards Mike.


    Mike expected to be aimed at some time, lucky him, the man was already in his range long ago and he could read the telekinesis user''s moves.


    The injured one downstairs would take a time to get in the combat again, so it was now Mike against the other ability user.


    Mike fired his gun once.


    *BANG* The bullet obviously was deflected.


    Then the man finally shot back, he was aiming beside Mike, not at Mike exactly.


    *Bang*


    He did the same he did to Miles to get his attention. But sadly for him, Mike only laughed at him.


    "Hahaha! Man, failing at this distance? You sure you know how to use that weapon? Or is that ability of yours the only one you know how to use?" Mike knew the bullet was to fail from the start.


    The masked user thought he would make Mike fear his fate like just before with Miles, but looks like he got misunderstood.


    "I failed on purpose, you moron."


    *BANG* without delay, Mike fired again. He was hoping to get the man distracted but sadly, the bullet was deflected again.


    "hmm... sad, looks like I failed on purpose too?" Said Mike.


    The man lost his nerves and this time aimed towards Mike, and just before pulling the trigger, Mike moved.


    *BANG* Mike evaded but got close to the man, prepared to use the sword.


    The man fired again but Mike evaded casually with small moves and got close.


    Now it was close combat, and the man had doubts about how a sane person could evade bullets, wasn''t Mike a telekinesis user without experience as his bosses told him?


    Mike swung the sword towards the man''s neck, he tried to deflect the edge but couldn''t like he was dealing with an antiPhySEC material, just more resistant.


    Barely the man could evade, mostly because of his training, he was a veteran at his work after all.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Mike clicked his tongue, he thought he could get the other''s head quick, but the man had more training than he thought.


    Anyway, could not counterattack Mike, his moves were experienced too. Also, when trying to use the pistol in close combat he would face a sword trying to cut his hand.


    Mike suppressed the masked user so easily that made the man doubt about his own training and ability.


    He could not take Mike mid-air like with Richard earlier, since Mike could produce PhySEC himself.


    Telekinesis users cannot use their abilities on other users no matter the variation they have.


    But with two people with telekinesis, the most common way of dealing with each other was simple, close combat.


    Anyway, the man only had a knife and Mike a short sword, the distance advantage was clear.


    The man, anyway, released the grip on his weapon and the pistol reached ground, but just before it reached the ground, a combat knife was already in his hand.


    Mike lost no time and got away from the man, getting out of reach from his sword.


    "Oh man, oh friend, you have some speed and reaction there, but you are fucked anyway... and yes, I just thought of making the words a verse"


    For Mike, making his words rhyme while fighting was hard but still showed the confidence he had to win against the man.


    "Dead man tell no jokes!" The man took the chance to get his pistol again, but sad for him, the pistol was away and the moment he tried to get close, Mike unleashed his attack,


    A cut attack from a few meters in front of him, he did not succeed before while training, but still could deal some damage to the person in front of him.


    Just when the man was almost reaching the pistol, he felt a heavy blow on him, making him roll on the ground away from the pistol.


    The blow was not lethal but heavy enough to push him away when jumping in the air.


    He even could not feel the movement of the ability when being a telekinesis user himself, but the impressive thing was even more impacting.


    "How can he use telekinesis on another user?! What the hell is that?!" He thought Mike''s ability was telekinesis after all "Young man, you are clearly talented..."


    "I don''t need comforting from a terrorist, thanks"


    "Listen to me, you want to use that talent to defend trash like Richard? Are you sure that...?" The man got interrupted.


    "Don''t yell at me man, I am defending myself, and sadly Richard is my client, are you telling me to stop being professional? Tsk tsk, stupid people everywhere" Mike really felt like the villain, but still wanted to act as a professional.


    *BANG* a weapon fired, it was the man from the stairs, but Mike already expected it.


    With the move from evading, he used his sword while turning around and the invisible attack went towards the man.


    The other user could not think what was happening, he felt no any kind of energy from the move, but it looked like he was using his power on it.


    And he was right, the attack made a heavy blow to the masked man, hurting his hand and throwing the weapon away.


    "Looks like I have the advantage now, want to keep fighting or want to leave? I don''t think Aotheles can keep allowing you guys to do a disaster here, for your voice I can guess you both are not from here maybe, so..."


    From the distance, the police sirens could be heard. It took them a while to arrive despite so much security keeping their eyes on Richard.


    Had Mike allowed Richard to stay in the hotel, he should be already dead.


    They even took some time to get here in the parking building.


    "We will go, but think that we are not alone, your ''client'' was being searched while we got here" Said the ability user while holding his partner to leave.


    "Me good guy enough to let you alive, not turn around and go... and this time I never thought of making it a verse, life is a curious thing..."


    Miles was already dead behind him and Mike took a look at him. He was really hiding something, why collaborating with the other guys against his boss, did they convince him by words?


    The answer, only the guys and Miles himself would know, but the reality was that they threatened him, and Miles accepted quickly, he was mainly forced to work for Richard after all.


    In Mike''s mind, however, the situation with Miles made him sad, he didn''t hate the man on the ground there, he took a look at the other two, they were starting to leave.


    They were the culprits that made him kill his own companion, although he really wasn''t close to him.


    But all in all, he was really the only one defending the terrorist here, the terrorist called Richard Stone.


    He aimed the weapons at the people leaving.


    Once a telekinesis user is shot from the back, they would not deflect the bullet since were not aware of the bullet itself, even if the man had protection, there are lethal areas still not covered at all.


    They were the culprits for making Mike look like the bad person here.


    They were the ones who forced this situation and made him kill someone, his co-worker at that.


    And also, they saw him using his powers, which he tried to keep as secret.


    If leaving them alive, he would be suspicious of having a different kind of ability.


    If leaving them alive, they could kill him next time for fear of him or revenge or something more.


    There were more people involved too, if killing those people, he could at least claim the life of one enemy, or two in this case, instead of not achieving much.


    He already had enough bullets in the gun and they were still close enough; he aimed towards the head of the telekinesis user first.

 Chapter 10: Face the consequences _ Part 1

    Inside an office, a big TV showed the current news about the incidents last night. The images shown on the screen were of the hotel incident and also of the parking building where Mike took Richard to hide.


    "On the last night the incident surprisingly showed very few fatalities and just a few injured persons, but the biggest surprise is this incident was held with the purpose of capturing Richard Stone who had steeped in Aotheles for a business travel"


    The TV showed the images of the security cameras during the incident and the face of Richard.


    Louis, sitting in the office chair, was not paying attention to the news despite having the TV turned on, like he didn''t really care,


    And just left the TV on running whatever channel it was; he heard it, he had sharp senses after all, is just that he didn''t really care.


    The news continued.


    "The man itself, Richard Stone, has disappeared that same night while being protected by his two bodyguards, Miles Johaness, who was found dead in a nearby parking lot, and Mike Blood..."


    The news anchor took a very short pause while saying Mike''s last name, but quickly returned to keep the words coming.


    "This last one, survived the attack, but by his own declarations, he lost track of his client, Mr Stone, while fighting against the responsible for the attack. The police are currently investigating the situation yet, while Mr Blood is being held in interrogation for investigation of this case..."


    Louis muted the TV while the phone rang in his office.


    "What?" He said when answered,


    And his assistant was used to that way of him to answer anyway.


    "Sir, I have a BHT member on the line..." The assistant could not finish his words when Louis answered.


    "Ah annoying guys, connect me"


    ...


    In the police department, Mike almost fell asleep, and he was held to interrogate for hours, they interrogated him and received medical attention last night in the streets, once the police closed the area.


    But he did not receive many injuries anyway, still, the police insisted on keep asking useless questions, he told them all about it, not really caring for what they were for.


    And during all night until morning next day, he was held by the police and even dragged up to the police station.


    He told them all he knew, except for the fact that he was the one who killed Miles, he blamed the telekinesis user.


    The police found the combat knife in the area, and given the circumstances and proof, they took Mike''s words as the truth. After all,


    Who could kill his own co-worker?


    In the morning, the two pilots of the jet finally arrived at the station, looks like they were fine, and were interrogated just recently, not from night to morning.


    "Lucky guys, they just disappear the night and appear once everything is calmed down. They surely know who was the responsible for all this" That''s what Mike thought about the pair.


    Richard got two pilots for the jet, not just one, it was to be sure that maybe one of them could be reached in an emergency.


    Or who knows what other motives he had, the man disappeared once Mike went to find him.


    There are users with mysterious abilities who can find people, so it was not really a surprise the guys had another ability user,


    And Richard could be found if searched carefully anyway.


    So, in the end, he failed his mission and started thinking that maybe it was better to have killed that telekinesis user and his friend.


    Why didn''t he pull the trigger at that time?


    Because the two men, both of them, tried to keep Mike alive, not to kill him.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    They thought he was an innocent dragged into the mess, and they tried not to kill him.


    He knew once since the people never really aimed at lethal areas when firing their guns.


    He even confirmed the fact, when the man fired his weapon the first time to fail him on purpose,


    And also when while in rage, he fired at Mike''s shoulder.


    He thought the two wanted to hurt, not to kill, at much.


    It was strange anyway, and Mike could not help but to think something was amiss.


    Why would they use explosives as Miles said? He heard the explosion and had sharp senses. Mike knew it was not an explosion coming from a c-4 or just a grenade.


    "That was a rocket launcher, I am sure of what I heard" Mike was totally sure.


    He indeed trained his other senses inevitably while training fully blind, his hearing was sharp.


    He heard the trigger of the rocket even while in the middle of that mess.


    It wasn''t hard to hear it anyway. He just acted dumb in front of those people.


    "Sir, prepare yourself to leave, my people already are bringing your luggage from the hotel since you gave us permission for this, and you are leaving soon."


    Said a police man taking him out of his thoughts.


    "Sure"


    Finally, he was leaving, the pilots went to him to chat with Mike, and when the three of them were called, they left at once not looking back.


    Mike''s weapons were confiscated, his sword included.


    They found the antiPhySEC proprieties of his sword, but Mike blamed the airport officials without shame, saying they were the ones who allowed them to get in with his sword.


    Lucky Mike, they found no truth on the real aspects of the sword.


    They took no action against him anyway since it was really not impossible for a bodyguard of an important person to hold antiPhySEC weapons.


    Just they had their weapons taken in the airport with an excuse for them to not have any resistance while the attack started.


    After reaching the airport, he got his weapons back, the pistol, the sword, and the special pistol they had taken from him in the airport before.


    The travel started quicker than he imagined, they clearly wanted them to leave immediately,


    And Mike was happy to leave as soon as possible and forget all this mess.


    His first mission was a failure and total disaster, he knew by now Richard must be dead or being held hostage in god knows where.


    And on top of that, the police could not even waste time searching for the safety of a terrorist.


    Also, the Aotheles government itself prepared all this, so why would they search for someone they have kidnapped?


    When they finally left Aotheles Air-space, Mike went to the pilot cabin and kept chatting with the two men there.


    He knew from their voice, and their attitude, that they really not care for Richard, not like Mike cared too, but their reputation was not ruined for it.


    Still,


    They were too nervous sometimes, like hiding something, and Mike gave up on interrogating them;


    He didn''t want to start a discussion with the two of them, and he made his questions in a way that appeared natural.


    His questions were like asking about their adventures in Aotheles and so on, but when being asked something about last night, everything seemed amiss.


    He stopped asking because he decided to not know about Richard, he was fucked up already, and nothing would change the fact.


    He took a seat, a cup of wine, and decided to drink the wine directly from the bottle; soon he was already drunk and fell asleep until they arrived at Aether.


    ...


    "Ok, don''t worry moving the container however you want, we only care for the one inside to be alive, don''t care if get injured" Said a man to the gantry crane''s operator.


    "Sure then!"


    They were moving a container to a ship; it was mostly devoid of people in the area.


    The first one talking walked in front of the container once they were ready to leave, and opened the door.


    In there, the only thing inside was a big chair, and a man tied up in the chair. The last one was Richard Stone.


    The man got close to Richard and inspected him.


    "He is perfectly fine, why not torture him a little to set up the mood?"


    Richard said some words in a language the man could not catch.


    "Damn! Man, we talk another language here, say your curses in our language if you dare!" The man screamed but didn''t really care for Richard''s language.


    "Sir, the people from Redzen are naturally stupid, give him some time to think about the translation for that." Said one of the men from behind.


    "HAHA! Ok ok, let''s set up the mood, but first, let''s see if you are ready to collaborate, as a wise man once told me: first is to see their stubbornness and then test their power of will" The man faced Richard,


    And with a cold voice asked -Who were the ones who fired that fucking Rocket towards our men?- He was made clear with the question.


    Richard was stunned "What?" He knew nothing about the explosion "Wasn''t it just your guys using explosives? Are you dumb?" He received a slap on his face.


    "Looks like that''s his stubbornness, now comes the real challenge, a power of will test, guys, get the tools here, also bring ''that'' person here" The man ordered.


    Was Mike here, he could not understand too why that question was, but only a certain person in Aether knew the truth, the truth of a third party involved.


    But Richard was the one to face the consequences of other''s and his decisions, terrorism had serious consequences in Aotheles.

 Ch10: Face the consequences _ Part 2

    Once back in Aether, Mike knew his fate anyway, so he took a car directly to the company building.


    At the company building, he went directly to inform them about his mission, it took hours, and he got scolded for ''this'' and ''that'',


    He wanted to be educated enough and wait until they gave him the magic words, sadly it could take hours to settle the things.


    Some procedures are really slow, but he cared 0% about it, he just waited,


    And also cared -99% about the scolding he was receiving, they even talked about cutting the salary or things like that,


    But Mike did not blink his eyes or change the boring on his face, he knew he was about to be fired from there anyway.


    What he expected was to receive the money after being fired give them the equipment, pistols, and ammo, and show his middle finger to the one in the armory before leaving.


    That last thought made him somehow show a smile, and the ones scolding him stopped talking and looked at him weirdly.


    "Come on man, finish it quickly, I need to curse that man openly" He wished for the moment to arrive soon in his thoughts.


    They took the weapons, the pistols only, since the sword was his property.


    When everything was finally ending, he was somehow sad the man didn''t show up.


    He would love to see the man''s happy face when showing him his middle finger suddenly.


    And luckily for Mike, the man showed himself.


    Mike was already happy to receive some money after being fired, so he could not help but wait for the man to talk and show him his thoughts.


    "Blood, your sword, by law, you cannot carry that weapon openly now so easily, what about giving it to the company instead?" Said the shady skinny man.


    Giving it, not selling, not like he wanted to sell it whatever the case; Mike showed a smile at the stupid request, and the man misunderstood it like he was accepting, but


    "Hope to not see you, never ever, bastard" He got Mike''s middle finger in front of his face suddenly.


    But Mike was quick and got inside the taxi by the time the shady man reacted, he was already leaving.


    Inside the taxi.


    "I love the happy endings, don''t you agree?"


    The taxi driver saw the discussion before, he was somehow willing to collaborate to take Mike away when he knew the company they were at.


    Most people in Aether weren''t fond of the current government, and they knew that the company belonged to politicians.


    So, the man was happy to help someone curse in the face of one of those people.


    "Haha! That was funny, where should I drive you to?"


    Mike gave him the direction and enjoyed a talk with the driver. Most people in Aether went along quick while talking bad about the politicians.


    It was fun for them, and since the incident earlier in front of the company building, they chatted so happily that he gave Mike a discount for the ride.


    Once inside the home,


    "Claire, I got the most brilliant idea! I missed you, yeah, whatever, now! My idea! I will insult openly politicians and corrupts just before taking a taxi!" Mike''s life was about sarcasm anyway, and it didn''t surprise the android.


    "Master, I hoped they did not beat you up so hard in Aotheles, now I feel like they really did." But the android learned from Mike.


    It was the perfect example of how the student surpassed the master.


    "Tsk tsk tsk, you know nothing about great ideas, I am taking a bath to wash away your words" Said Mike while passing beside the android.


    On really, Claire was worried about Mike, she had confidence her master would be alive but still was worried about him.


    But once looking at how tired Mike looked and still up for sarcasm and stupid ideas, she was now relieved, like a heavy weight on her was suddenly lifted.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    If her master dies, not only there will be no more users of the Bloody Hand, but there will be no more house and no more Claire,


    She was instructed to detonate everything here, including herself if her master died.


    But only she knew that if her master died, she would take revenge on him; somehow, another flaw in her system was that way of thinking should break the orders given by the guild.


    Now, in the bathroom, he received a call and being informed by the android of who was calling him, something in his brain made a quick light.


    Still, it was a very subtle light, he made note of it and decided to answer, the android connected the call to the speakers in the house.


    "Advanced technology is awesome" He thought of it as another fact he liked about the house.


    But it was not a simple function, Claire made it herself to work that way, anyway, she had no intention of explaining her master.


    "Mike, you fine? I was told you arrived at Aether already; man, I just barely could call you right now" It was ''Male'', Rose''s male bodyguard.


    His voice was somehow strange, was it the speakers? He did not care for it and just talked casually.


    "I am perfectly fine, not disappeared like someone, lucky me I guess"


    "I am glad you have the mood to tell sarcasm. Anyway, I was barely informed you were fired, so I thought maybe you would like to get a job?" Male offered a work all of a sudden.


    Male usually talked directly and sometimes in some cryptic way, but this was like he was being pushed to talk.


    "What do you mean? You want to give me a work?"


    "No rush man-well-I..." His words were somehow strange in order "What about asking my boss, Rose herself, I am sure you can... or wait, just leave it to me, I can get you a job for her."


    He was indeed pushed to talk with Mike, and he found it. Clearly, Rose or maybe Kat was there insisting he to fix his words,


    And given "Male''s" way of talking, those words were crashing.


    "I will give it some thinking, but I will make sure to call you later" Mike really meant his words,


    He wanted to get a simple and honest job, that or becoming an ability user mercenary, but that last option was still away from his reach.


    It was possible to become one of those mercenaries, but he wanted to become stronger first.


    On Aotheles the only reason he won was because the opponent was a telekinesis user, and his ability was the perfect counter to telekinesis.


    The telekinesis cannot reach the opponent''s body, but the Bloody Hand can reach the opponent''s body, as simple as that.


    Also, he thought of playing with Rose''s bodyguards a little.


    "Oh, ok, will call you later, probably" Said Male.


    "Sure sure, don''t make your boss wait and go do your job, bye..."


    The phone call ended.


    "Haha! Is she so shy to send Male to make the call for her? Or I am naturally handsome, maybe both reasons?" he joked.


    "Master, I think is just a way to keep an image of authority, she could not keep it if was the one calling you directly" His sarcasm was broken in a moment.


    "You cold and electronic female, you are blind"


    "Blind? I can say the same for you on each training session" She said.


    "... Hey that''s funny so I accept it for this time"


    ...


    On the other side of the call, Kat took the phone away from Male''s face, she made sure the call had ended.


    Male was tied upside down on a rope from the ceiling.


    He was injured from what looked like a whip or something similar.


    In the same room, Rose was a little back watching the scenario.


    "Is the punishment over now?" Asked Male.


    "Not even in your dreams" Said Kat "You were ordered to investigate him deeply, but the information you got is totally different from the truth" her voice cold even to her own brother.


    "For now, let''s settle things like this" This time, it was Rose speaking, making Male recover his happiness a little.


    "Finally freedom! Mike, don''t hide your information like that next time please, I am too lazy to search hard things on my own" Male admitted his laziness in thoughts.


    "Remember, bring Mike to my side, I want him now more than always, he will be a very important asset for my new company" Rose was serious in her words, she had an idea of what Mike''s ability was about.


    Similar to Louis his ability must be a mutated one. That was her conclusion after the incidents in Aotheles;


    She was informed about everything there, she was part of the third party involved, and they sold Richard and tried to mess up things even more.


    "And Kat, watch your brother closely, make sure he gets Mike"


    "Yes, I promise you we will hand him to your new company" Kat then made a cut to the rope holding Male in mid-air,


    *THUD*


    "O-o...Ouch!!" He took time to put his pain in words "Tell me first before cutting the rope!" And said from the ground.


    He was being restricted by special chains, and could not use his power to break free or get up.


    Kat got him from the ground and carried him.


    "Let''s start by giving you another scolding, it is my turn now, Lady Rose already finished with you, but why should I release you when you made me work to tiredness to get Mike''s real information?"


    "Ehmm... I''m sorry?"


    "And I am sorry too, for your future punishment"

 Ch10: Face the consequences _ Part 3

    The next day, in the morning, after the weapons training, Claire praised Mike for his rapid progress.


    He was fast in progressing with practice, just he still has flaws in the theory,


    And that made him somehow slower to catch up with his ability.


    Anyway, a little slower at being fast was still good.


    He got injured; it''s just that he was able to catch up with Claire now.


    His moves were improving with practice for sure. Still, the fact that made him improve his control over his ability, was resolution.


    He was using his ability to attack now, even Claire could not feel his Bloody Hand, she just reacted to Mike''s moves.


    But anyway, the real league for the Boody Hand starts when one reaches phase 2 or 3, better said, when one can attack without using a tool like a sword.


    But the sword won''t be put away after that, he would still get some use from it even at higher levels.


    It makes a lot of sense, it was a sword made from the guild to give it to a class 5 member.


    All in all, he was about to start his routine life as before, spending time training and relaxing all day.


    "Ah~ I missed this routine... except for the injuries" He thought while Claire was healing him with the medicine.


    At just barely the sound of his phone, Claire quickly informed him,


    "Is a number from a governmental office" She had no need to look at the phone.


    It was like she was the phone itself too, not only the house.


    "You better not be spying on my phone, you stalker"


    "Fearing I can find something there?"


    "Just accept and connect the call to the house"


    Claire did as order to, and the voice of a man could be heard.


    "Hello, good morning, is this Mike''s Blood number, right?"


    "Yes, it''s me, who are you?"


    "I am Clark, a lawyer in the National Civil Court" Just the job of the man meant bad news,


    Mike could almost see dark clouds in his future days.


    "I made sure to know nothing so far, what now? _ And what can I help you with?"


    "Mr Blood, is my duty to inform you about your current situation, by tomorrow, a police officer will arrive at your house with a signed order, and take you under custody to answer some questions at the station."


    "Am I under investigation? Why?"


    "I am only on duty to inform you about it, Mr Blood, as for the details, the officer will hand you the information, please collaborate with us, and remember that this call is also recorded, we already have the proof that we informed you about the situation, thanks for your collaboration."


    The call ended, just like that, the man had no need to listen to him, just his confirmation about his identity was enough.


    "Should I have acted like the call was lost or something?"


    "You know that those kinds of things don''t work with the lawyers in this country, master"


    "I can try tomorrow, you know?"


    "I doubt the police officer will care" Claire''s words were true.


    Why was he being investigated? For insulting the skinny bastard from yesterday in front of the company?


    For Richard''s disappearing?


    For both reasons?


    Who knows, only time would tell him.


    He did nothing wrong and felt no need to worry.


    Only time can tell us all anything we desire, if we live to see the truth, of course.


    When having lunch, he received another call.


    "I never received so many calls if I skip the scammers, damn!" He placed the phone on speakers after cursing, to keep eating.


    The call this time was from "Male" again.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Bro, I have some free time, want to practice shooting? I can get you a spot on the shooting range, I have nothing better to do anyway... If you are not busy"


    The shooting range was not commonplace in the country, after all, only the national armed forces were allowed to carry and use weapons in Aether.


    Not being a police officer or military, he had no chance to use the shooting range in Aether.


    Even getting in the company''s shooting range was hard.


    "As long as that shooting range is not the one from that company, count me in. Oh, is it today?"


    "Who do you take me for? Is right now, I am close to your house, so decide fast"


    Mike made up his mind and quickly ate his lunch to go meet with Male outside.


    "Claire I am leaving and I don''t accept sarcasm this time, see you later" Mike quickly flew from the house without listening to her answer.


    "..." She was speechless, did Mike enjoy those things?


    To Mike''s fear, she was already preparing a training with fire guns next time he could advance.


    Phase 2 training was about to be Mike''s most painful memory in his records so far.


    ...


    In the shooting range, Mike was arriving with Male, they were wearing casual clothes, not the usual formal clothes they used to wear.


    The casual clothes were the happiest feature he got from being fired.


    As for "Male", he said it was his free day, so it made sense.


    "Thank you for inviting me, I thought you would ask me about the job again."


    "Haha! Why would I so suddenly? _ How can I talk about the job now? Mike you better not read minds" He showed no weird face while lying to Mike.


    He wanted to tease the man to see the real reason, but he got a simple answer.


    Mike didn''t mind then and they started a firing session.


    They used a few weapons Mike had no chance to try before.


    He only used very few kinds of pistols and assault rifles so far, now it was a good chance, who could guess that bodyguard had such a big collection of weapons?


    Sometime later, they were already leaving, it took some time to test and talk about each weapon and some hours had passed.


    "By the way, how did you manage to get free time? Worked your ass so hard to get free?"


    "I... have some little vacations from time to time, I guess? _ Now I think is the time for sure"


    Before Mike could keep leading the conversation he changed topics.


    "The work I told you before, remember? I still haven''t told you what it is, well, you can get some of those weapons there."


    "Oh really? Sounds like hard work then, honestly"


    "Fuck! He got me with that... _ You cannot be sure, anyway I have not much of an answer from it, so it doesn''t matter much, I will tell you later about it, I am sure you will like it"


    For Mike, it looked like he was here today to convince him to work, but Male was too lazy for hard things and was very straightforward.


    Mike took advantage of it all the time in the entire afternoon and evaded the talk about the job.


    He wanted to become a mercenary at best and go fix the places where spatial rifts were making a mess.


    Also, he wanted to hunt those criminals, his mother was murdered by one of those bastards, so he had a resentment towards them after getting that info.


    "Oh well, you tell me when it''s fine to know, just not tomorrow, I need to go to court, probably for insulting someone at the company building or probably for Richard''s case"


    "Really? The first one is not really important, but you have not much to do in Aether for Richard''s... oh well, you will do good" Male answered,


    But in mid-sentence, Mike saw the understanding in his eyes, still, he had no clue why.


    "I hope so too"


    ...


    The next day, in the NCC (National Civil Court) main building. Mike had his hands cuffed, looking around him.


    "Strange, it feels like a trial, not like I am under investigation or something, so much corruption"


    In the room, the judge finally arrived and the judgment started.


    "Fuck corruption, you motherfuckers have not a single proof and still are fucking me"


    The judgment was boring and very monotone.


    They used a tactic of rounding words without proof and without sense to make it feel like they make sense.


    Just that way of judging took his energy to stay awake, but managed to not sleep somehow.


    He had a lawyer, but he had no hopes for him.


    They discussed mainly Richard''s case, of course, they had no proof of anything against him. Richard was not from this country, and most importantly, Mike was the one who tried to protect Richard.


    Still, some people can put you in difficult situations when they want as long as corruption exists and is enough.


    But the sentence would be so ridiculous that his mind could not even imagine a fiction where he would be put in prison for that.


    Plus, the handcuffs on him were not antiPhySEC ones, they took his words of not being trained in his ability as true.


    And of course, he lied. How could he tell his ability was not telekinesis but a special one?


    Maybe in another moment he would, but didn''t care for now.


    Time passed by and, in the end, he was free, but it had a cost.


    They talked about his behavior of what he did after leaving the company he worked for, and sadly was fined a heavy sum of money.


    It would not be that much money usually, but they used his ability as an excuse to get him fined with more than necessary.


    "Was that man so rich to plan all of this? Fucking skinny bastard whose name I never remember!" Mike was cursing in his mind while then got a clue when connecting all the dots together.


    "Who was the one who initiated this shitty judgment? Wait... it was that man, right? But he is..." Mike finally got his wished answer.


    The man who initiated all of this was a different lawyer he had no interaction with ever before.


    His name was not important, he just connected the dots and placed 1 and 1 together.


    "RichManufacturing... that fucking company, it is that fucking company! fuck you!! Erick Stone! I hope your brother suffers a lot" He now had a rich enemy out of nowhere.


    Why so much circus for all this? Living in Aether, he knew those circuses were common, it looks like corrupted politicians have a thing for circus or something similar...?

 Chapter 11: Annoying people and dangerous people _ Part 1

    Next day, afternoon.


    Mike was reviewing the documents about his judgment and other such matters, especially the thousand Ethers fine.


    It was supposed to be paid in a month or the fine would increase.


    "The fuck with this country''s laws, one month to pay a thousand Ethers, crazy" Mike was not worried anyway.


    "Master, in normal circumstances, they should place three times more the time. Their intention here is clear." If it wasn''t for Claire, Mike would be struggling to find out how to pay the fine.


    Claire paid the fine just now, she made all the paperwork for it and prepared everything.


    If Mike could not pay the fine, many future operations could not be done.


    But the most important topic was,


    They now had very little cash to spend, what was left was for emergency.


    Luckily, the house had no need for money, he had already enough supplies and some emergency cash, and Clair had no need for it either.


    But still, the problem relies on there.


    If the one aiming at Mike tried to chase him again, they could easily find more opportunities to ruin him.


    And by being chased he would need to spend more, or he would end up forced to work for almost nothing.


    In Aether, people that don''t pay the fines and debts end up in something worse than prison;


    They are taken to do forced work by the government, day and night, and getting miserable pay and few bad foods.


    It was better for some people to just stay in prison and work their souls there.


    Law worked for Aether in the past, but with so much corruption, who knows if those forced people still have something to eat? There are many dead each year and nobody announces a shit.


    The people fear that if they spread the news the politicians don''t want to be spread, they will end up in prison like the ones who tried before them.


    But going back to the topic; Mike was discussing his possibilities with the android.


    Nothing seemed to work for him, maybe just staying some days in the house training.


    He decided to do so, first train, and then going to find work, if not, then he could risk his fate and ask "Male" about that work.


    He finished his day training, and the next day started, but exactly when the next day was starting, some trouble arrived.


    02:00 o''clock, the android got up from its "sleep", reason? There were people outside, and it looked like the story was repeating itself, one of them was shocked by the electric fence on top of the garden wall while touching it.


    Claire identified each person, 6 persons in total, 2 ability users, both armed with guns, the other 4 having a gun too, 2 of those guns were not just pistols, those were assault rifles.


    She quickly identified the weapons and each person, one of them was the one last from that day Mike arrived home the first time.


    There were four people in the garden that day, two arrived soon and 1 arrived when Mike was out in a travel.


    Now the last one was finally here, but he wasn''t the one leading the people, it was another person, specifically a female ability user.


    Claire studied the situation and in a second reached the conclusion to tell this to Mike, it took her just a short moment to reach Mike''s bedroom to wake him up.


    There should be no problem for her to act by herself, but worse come to worst, Mike could wake up by the noise.


    "What it is? I feel too tired to be morning already..."


    "Master, there are 6 people outside the house, each one having guns, two of those are assault rifles, 2 ability users between those 6 persons" She quickly informed without delay.


    "My mind is gonna explode, does that people know what time is it? Don''t they sleep?"


    He was cursing but got up quickly, it was mostly being dramatic, he really didn''t care it was just 2 in the morning.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "I can call the police already, but is your decision, master"


    "Somehow, I think somethings not right, they should not be able to enter the house, no?"


    "Right, but still could cause trouble, and I think a group as big as that doesn''t really know how to give up, one of them is the man from when you first arrived home"


    "Fuck, well, at least is not something made by RichManufacturing like yesterday"


    Mike''s mind was quick to think despite the early time, his mind was only wishing for one thing.


    Sleep.


    "Let them be and call the police, wake me up when the police arrive, is there something to cover my ears? I don''t want to wake up by the noise"


    As easy as that, Mike fell asleep quickly, it was not easy for him to fall asleep after waking up, but still got to it quickly thanks to Claire''s fierce in training.


    So in the end, the android got her orders and left.


    First, she got earplugs to not let Mike wake up by the noise, placed it on his ears, and left again after taking Mike''s phone.


    Then used Mike''s phone to call the police and explained the situation to them.


    She was somehow insecure about the situation,


    That people had nothing to do with RichManufacturing? Probably. But just to be sure, she searched the number of other police stations nearby and called them too.


    Outside, the situation was dead silent.


    Instead of getting through the electric fence, (that was previously repaired by Claire) they decided to go through the door.


    One of the ability users got to the garden door, and in a moment, with just a strong kick, the door was broken from the lock.


    It was a freezing ability, that was a dangerous one to fight. An ability that allows users to emit cold from their bodies.


    The other user, the female one did not show her ability, but it was clear she was stronger, looking at how the others followed her words.


    It took them some minutes to get the garden door broken, from that, Claire estimated the approximate level of his ability.


    Phase 3 at minimum, phase 4 at maximum.


    It was uncommon for a normal person to hold that strength if it wasn''t for the mercenary corps, but the man was not wearing any uniform.


    And if the man was that strong, what about the woman? Level 4 to 5? But which ability?


    She dared not to sleep and got her attention on the outside.


    They tried to take down the house door, the garden door was sturdy, almost like an armored door, but the house door was really an armored one.


    It would take them a good time dealing with that door.


    Some tried to move around the house, but it had only one entrance and the windows were even more resistant than the doors.


    It was already 2:30 in the morning, and the police still were not arriving.


    She then understood it was probably the doing of the people outside, she could call again and insist, but decided not to do so.


    She didn''t want to call the police, only did so because Mike ordered her to.


    But now, she would rather let the people outside struggle their brains.


    The armored door was not really hard to deal with, using force or using one''s brain.


    But they for sure would give up with the second door, it was not just an armored door, it was an armored piece of the house made by the guild.


    If they could break the door open, the guild members that were in the work of constructing those things would spit blood while looking at the scene.


    Time passed by and the decided to break the door first, but the female ability user stopped them and started to use their brains.


    The armored door was finally open, and the second door didn''t look as strong as the other.


    They used the same tricks, but none of them worked.


    They had some problems in the group when their leader was losing patience, and one of the guys besides the leader, one with the assault rifle, proposed something.


    "Let''s use that thing, my lady. We saved it for the end, but we aren''t getting in if we don''t use it"


    The man''s words were very educated, different from the others in the group, if Mike listened, he would recognize the voice of the man.


    The woman accepted and they got something from a bag, it was an explosive, plastic explosive, and a high explosive at that.


    Were they planning to blow up the house? Lucky for Mike and Claire, those things can only scratch the house, at least if only one or two are being used, and judging from their luggage, they held no more than one.


    "Unlucky master, the earplugs can''t help you to stop that noise getting in your ears"


    *BOOM*


    The explosion happened a very few minutes later.


    They of course awakened Mike; the android heard him cursing.


    Some people are annoying, even when they are shocked by not achieving anything.


    After the explosion, the police would arrive here for sure, no matter how much they tried.


    "Leader, the door is still... we should give up, we can''t kidnap that man... at least..."


    "Shut UP!" screamed the woman.


    "We are leaving" said the woman in lower voice after the scream.


    She was mad but still shocked, someone having an armored house was not common, and they thought they could get something good by kidnapping him.


    But in the end, they wasted more than expected and achieved nothing.


    "Just who is rich enough to get that much security if not being from the government?" Said one of the guys outside who stayed behind, but soon left too.


    But it was only the start, someone was aiming at Mike.


    Now the android wanted to get out and question the man after beating him up.


    Was she fast enough to kidnap the man before the others would realize something?

 Ch11: Annoying people and dangerous people _ Part 2

    The next morning, after handling the police, Mike finally could breathe.


    The police arrived late, too late, and still insisted on doing useless work and deprived him of his sleep.


    They were shocked the house was an armored one.


    Just how many people had that kind of thing these times?


    Not even politicians in the corrupted Aether these days had that kind of thing, they had armored rooms, but not a whole armored house.


    Much less an armored house that can stand perfectly fine after a big explosion.


    They even insisted on getting in the house, Mike rejected them, but still had no worries about the people getting inside.


    The house had many hidden rooms in the secret basement after all.


    He wanted to take a rest and his breakfast before starting training.


    "Ok, now the lazy-I mean police, are already gone. Peace returns once again"


    "If those people don''t come back later"


    "Tsk tsk, you are ruining my mood already, care for my breakfast?"


    "Already done, I will bring it to you now"


    Breakfast was ready and the annoying people were away, now it was the real start of his day,


    Just he was a little more tired than usual.


    After breakfast, he went again downstairs and rested a little, didn''t even care for resting upstairs.


    He was looking for today''s training, so he got in the training area to start the training after a rest.


    Of course, his rest consisted of meditating while using his ability.


    Training went as painful and effective as usual.


    And after training the day finished quick.


    That night he had no problems with delinquents or terrorists.


    A day finished giving birth to another day, and then a week already passed.


    And that week later, in the morning, the annoying guys called again, it was the NCC lawyer again.


    The same voice, different words but the same message.


    He was called for legal reasons again.


    "Does that people hate me so much?" He was bored that day, and now he had to waste a day again for it.


    The same day, at the afternoon a police officer arrived, to his surprise, he found out the police had other intentions this time.


    "Sir, please open up, we have a search warrant that allows us to legally enter your house"


    "What?! Show it to me, I was just called today, how can it be the same day?"


    "Sir, sorry for the trouble but I don''t think that''s relevant, here''s the order anyway"


    He showed the order and Mike quickly took his phone to search for the information.


    The signs on it looked real.


    The people mentioned there, are all real too.


    He quickly got on a website using the phone, got a number, and called.


    "Hello, I want to confirm a search warrant... yes, ok"


    The police were losing patience, most people ignored the common procedures and allowed the police to do what they wanted in the house.


    But the right procedure must be executed after all.


    Those who allow police officers in Aether without confirming the warrants usually end up being robbed by them, since some search warrant orders are fake.


    "Search order 147-2, Subject: Mike''s Blood, for house number 32-2... signed by H. Mathews, judge of the supreme court of NCC.... is... real? Ok, thanks"


    The order was indeed real, now he wished the android would end up doing its things inside the house.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    He opens the garden wall door and the house door, the only remaining house door.


    "May I ask why the warrant? I was clearly targeted by a criminal group a week ago"


    "We suspect you might have something hidden in the house, criminals don''t prepare high explosives for nothing after all"


    They entered and started making a mess all around the house, there was no electricity there, the android disconnected it.


    He has not paid any Ether cent to electric service since he got the house; for it to have electricity, it would be weird.


    As for the food, the android took away the things quickly.


    Aside from the computer in the office and the TVs in the house, there was not much of worth in there.


    The police were angry, they usually hand something worthy in their pockets before leaving, they cannot just snatch a TV out of nowhere when the house owner is in there.


    If only Mike was in any other place, they would have already got the computer and TVs in a blink.


    But sadly for them, Mike was looking carefully, and even using his ability to see if someone got their hands on something.


    He could not make things complicated for them, so he allowed them to snatch some stuff from the house.


    After all, he could not be in every corner of the house at the same time.


    But he lost nothing of interest aside from an expensive wine.


    "I forgot I had those things in the house, I would have drunk that thing earlier" But could only regret it a little.


    It was better if they found something to steal quick, so they could leave quick too.


    After snatching a few things, they left without even thinking of doing their real job.


    Not like there was a real job to do in any case.


    They just came to rob him.


    "Now what''s next? A warrant to take me to prison out of nowhere?"


    "I warn you to stay alert, some people had that fate on this country, master. I suggest you leave the country, honestly" Said the android through the speakers:


    The electricity was returning to the house now.


    "Nah, things aren''t that easy, this house still has much to offer, worst case, I can hidden here"


    He quickly forgot the problems since he had no need to go to the NCC, just allowed to get robbed by the police, and then is solved.


    Thinking about it, indeed he was fucked up, but still better than getting arrested for nothing.


    The next day, in the morning, he got a call in the middle of training.


    This time it was a robotic voice.


    "Mike Blood, Aether citizen, called to NCC main hall by... tomorrow, case number 30-32-8, remember to search for more information on the NCC website. Again, remember, case number 30-32-8 more information searching for this...*BEEP*"


    He got on the website after finishing the call.


    Tomorrow in the late afternoon.


    "I thought they held no judgments in the afternoon, only at mornings, what the fuck is going on here?" He cursed his luck.


    "Master, I detect movement outside the house, I''ve been analyzing patterns on it while you got the call, people are patrolling the area, some of them are the same from the previous week''s event"


    "Fuck"


    "Cursing won''t solve it"


    "And sarcasm won''t solve it too"


    "Your win this time"


    "Should I just fight them? Some of them have abilities?"


    "My scanners detect they have no supernatural abilities"


    "Hehehe, I am not gonna be trapped motherfuckers!" He looked like he had a plan.


    The android was getting worried at her master doing something stupid.


    Now it looked like the people from before wanted to get him while he was out of the house, it made sense now.


    RichManufacturing must be the ones who contracted those people or maybe told those people about Mike, or better said, Erick Stone was the one behind it.


    Whichever the case, he had no need to fall right into the hands of the people there, he quickly found a way to easily deal with it.


    But for dealing with the NCC?


    "Claire, my dear and full of knowledge Claire, can you defend this poor man in the NCC?"


    "No"


    "Fuck, you heartless, have some touch girl, a fucking little bit of caring"


    "I don''t have a legal identity in Aether, I can get it, but for me to appear out of nowhere I have no time to prepare the legal documents to defend your case"


    "Fuck!"


    "Cursing won''t fix your situation" Before Mike could answer the same as before, she spoke again "But I know who could fix your situation"


    "Oh? All hail Claire! Now tell me who the fuck is the god''s envoy"


    "The NCC president"


    "Ok I am recycling you"


    "Your grandfather had a friendly relationship with him. He knows nothing about the guild and is another corrupted individual in Aether, but he can still help."


    "Why you torture me so much? Is bad for my heart, you know? Why don''t tell me the full info about him instead of the short way?"


    "You once told me, master, to tell you the short version instead of the full text"


    "I... You... How can you even remember that if I forgot...? ... Wait... fuck! Your android perfect memory! Is your fucking artificial brain! Tsk, I will reflect on my own words"


    He was being dramatic just to lighten the mood, he knew she was just kidding him.


    But he had no intention of changing that fact of her, he was somehow like that too after all.


    No need for him to worry about the android''s behavior.


    Now he needed to get in contact with the NCC president, the supreme judge of Aether, or some title like that.


    "Hm.. let''s call him NCC president since I don''t remember the full title"

 Ch11: Annoying people and dangerous people _ Part 3

    Next day, 13:00


    Mike was ready to start his plan, he already prepared things yesterday just to be sure.


    But he could not trust his luck or the NCC president.


    He had to get away from the criminals, it was the easy part, but to get away from the NCC judge was a different matter.


    He was wearing sport-casual clothes, he wanted to make it easy for him, so he prepared to leave even before the right time.


    That way the criminals would not be prepared to take action.


    It looked like the criminal''s kidnapping was the first plan, and the NCC was the plan B, not only the bait.


    That was his conclusion, and even if was not like that, he was ready to act.


    In front of a wall, he was preparing mentally.


    Wearing casual clothes was nothing unusual, but combining it with a sporty style was for the mission this time.


    He would sweat a lot if things got wrong, so it was better to be prepared.


    "Ok, I am ready, open it" He ordered and the wall started opening from side to side.


    It was a secret door, the one that allowed him to get directly to the backyard.


    Using that door leads to the back of the house, but it still ends at a wall of the building behind it.


    It was not that high, but still, it was leading to nowhere.


    Anyway, he was about to make his own way, he studied his situation yesterday.


    After ensuring no one was watching, he hurried towards the wall. Using his bare hands, he began climbing up, utilizing the neighboring buildings to reach the rooftops of nearby houses.


    The weather was cloudy, like near to rain, it could rain any moment.


    "I should check the weather situation next time I am about to do something like that, better be careful from this point on" He had to be careful indeed.


    Some roofs were not easy to walk without being noticed, and it consumed a lot of stamina to move quick from roof to roof, much more with rain.


    But all in all, it was good the weather for him at least.


    The challenges would increase, but he would be difficult to trace.


    He put on his hood and started running.


    From there he could see the weird movements if looked carefully.


    As Claire told him the areas to watch out, he knew where those people were hiding, and decided to watch them to see if it was safe to run from roof to roof.


    But it was easy to say and hard to do.


    Buildings have different size and shape, walking from place to place without making any noise in those conditions, and not being noticed, it was more than just hard.


    It took him some time to leave the area of vigilance of the criminals.


    Or so he thought.


    He found a place to climb down and went to the main street.


    Once he was stopping a taxi, he noticed someone looking shockingly at him.


    He acted in ignorance and left.


    The man was about to get his gun but decided to not after remembering Mike''s information, it was better to call the bosses.


    He moved his hand acting like nothing was happening and reached his phone.


    But Mike was calm, he wasn''t expecting someone so far away from them, but it was too late, he was already far away.


    "Bye-bye, bitch" He told the driver the destination and left.


    The first obstacle was done successfully, it might be hard to get back later but those problems are for later in Mike''s mind.


    The next obstacle was the real problem, would the NCC president really help him because of his grandfather?


    No, probably it would only help him get contacted, he needed to lure the man with something.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He already thought about it, maybe money, money is after all what made the corrupt people work for others.


    At least it was the unwritten rules in Aether.


    Anyway, he had something no one could expect to have, the contact with a high-position politician man.


    At the NCC main hall, he asked in the reception about his case.


    "Sorry sir, those kinds of scenarios are not handled by afternoon" The woman was looking at him like he was the weird one.


    "You would not know until you check it, it stated 17:30 if I remember correctly"


    With a sigh, the woman searched the case number, she was ready to show him proof that those things were not handled at afternoons.


    She even saw the last Judge leaving already, and since the last magistrate left just a minute ago.


    "There is... a case!" The woman was surprised "Maybe, is a failure in the system... I will notify it, but even so is too early, is good you came here earlier, please wait a moment until I finish it" Now she was being educated.


    Since she found out Mike was not a weird idiot, she treated him with a little bit of respect, not with the same look as before but with an apologizing face.


    He sat down, maybe by informing it he could get away from the judgment already, or so was his hope.


    He could only think it since when the woman arrived very much later, she was giving him an apology.


    She took quite a large amount of time, she even thought it was a mistake but it really was scheduled for late afternoon, just half an hour before the NCC building would close activities for the day.


    She understood that he was being blamed for something he was probably innocent, so she felt pity for him.


    But Mike cared nothing for it, there was no prison that could hold an ability user in Aether...


    "No, there is one... Fuck, I forgot, the one who invested more in that prison is Mr. Slades..." He barely remembers that prison, it was not big news.


    Now it was big news, but he never used his powers in Aether in front of people, so he had hoped he would not be sent to that place.


    "It will be held a little earlier, at 16:00" Said the woman.


    "Ok, that''s at least a bit of good news, thanks"


    He went to the chairs and sat again.


    The woman, after some minutes decided to ask him.


    "Sir, there are still hours before the scheduled time..."


    "There are criminals waiting for me in front of my house, I will wait here"


    "Oh... O-o-Ok" To be releasing that info so quickly with no doubt, it would stun people easily.


    Mike was somehow resistant to it, he saw a real android after all, one with full control of the world around it... around her.


    Was there something that could surprise him?


    "Maybe Louis'' ability would surprise me, it is said to be a mutated one, I wonder what the truth is?"


    There was not much but he then reminded something about Louis.


    "Right, what is that bad about Louis? He is a psycho for combat, right but what did he do to be expelled from the guild?" Too many questions he forgets in the middle of the heat.


    Now he was summarizing those things, Claire would answer him later, or so he hoped for.


    Just as he was about to fall asleep, it was finally time for the scheduled show.


    Those people maybe wanted to get rid of him quickly so they scheduled it earlier than before since they failed.


    ...


    "Mr. Mike Blood, you are being sentenced with a fine of 5,000 Aether credits for using your PhySEC ability in public for no good reason or justifiable reason, and also imprisoned for 3 months in accordance with article 8 of PSCE user''s behavior law..."


    The judge kept telling the "crimes" and their consequences, it was mostly fake, but somehow, he knew not much about the articles and laws.


    His lawyer was again a public one, he had no need to get a private one.


    "I somehow Imaginate I could not be imprisoned for something so ridiculous, just give them the order and they will find a FUCKING FLAW!!" He kept his words and curses in his mind.


    The judge kept talking. They summarized it because of the event at New Gaia''s Islands in the UNA territory at that time.


    The events there were not worth mentioning and he was in a different country, but they still found a way to make him take the blame for it.


    "In total, your case ascends to 1 year of prison, and since you are a PhySEC user you are being sent to the special prison in Spartan Island, also, the fine is 8,000 Ether credits"


    "Not that place" he said in a low voice.


    "Do the defendant and defense attorney have something to say?"


    The defense attorney just showed Mike a certain face shaking his head slowly.


    "I do" This time Mike talked by himself, and had no a bit of hope for the lawyer beside him.


    "To start, that prison is made for people who use their abilities for bad deeds, not for those who never used their abilities in Aether territory" He made emphasis in those last words.


    "But let''s forget about that for a minute, one year? Ain''t am getting a f- I mean, an easier sentence since is my first time being sentenced to prison? As far as I know, the law allows me to reduce half the sentence if is my first and if it is under 5 years"


    The judge was thinking about how to refute but saw something on his table and read it quickly.


    "Ehem... indeed, but your case is very special as a PhySEC user, anyway, I am allowing it to be reduced to 8 months"


    "*SIGH* Understood"


    He had no hope, being imprisoned by stupid things, what kind of fate it is?


    Some people are crazy, but his autobiography would have something at the beginning saying: "Life is stranger than fiction, some people can get imprisoned by just living their normal day like everybody, while some walk under the sun while killing people openly"


    He thought the android would have better ideas to tell his bad luck.


    "8 months, I am already missing that android"


    And worst come to worst, the really dangerous people were in that same prison he was going to.

 Ch11: Annoying people and dangerous people _ Part 4

    The prison guards had special equipment, different from any other prison in the country.


    Most guards in other prisons in Aether were scarce when compared to the total of prisoners.


    But in the special Spartan prison on Spartan Island, it was different.


    To start with, there were very few people who could use PhySEC abilities when compared to normal humans.


    And also, the security there was tight.


    From start to end, each cell was made from antiPhySEC material.


    "Prisoner 30-11-A.S. Mike Blood" Said a guard from behind an armored window.


    At some point, he was told to advance by himself. The guards threw him into a hallway and closed the door behind him.


    At the end of the hallway, there was another security door and a guard behind the armored window.


    For any other prison in the country, this looked like a real one, the others were just small buildings, most of those in decay.


    Yes, even the prisons all around the country were in decay, there was no budget to spend on prisons.


    And the only budget they had, was placed on building this prison.


    But why was the security so high in this place? It was because of the people who were supposed to be imprisoned here.


    But something was not just right with this place when the guard behind the window was talking to himself.


    "Ability user, I see, block 2 then..." He was ignoring Mike''s presence.


    "Of course, I am an ability user man, why would I be sent here if not?" He was thinking why a non-user would be sent to a special prison,


    But found no answer.


    "Well, all done, your cell is the number 11, leave now." The guard, like all others, was wearing a black military uniform.


    Weird, because the military doesn''t use those uniforms in Aether, but this was a special kind of place after all.


    The guard opened the gate by pressing a switch in the cabin.


    He still had the handcuffs on, those ones were really antiPhySEC handcuffs.


    It looked like all tools in here were antiPhySEC.


    Mike thought the prison looked like a real one, worlds apart from the others in the country, but being in a different country he would finally see what a real prison looks like.


    He reached a place where was ordered to place his hands in a hole in the wall.


    "Looks weird" He introduced his hands there, and got locked up.


    But in just a few seconds, a guard placed something on both wrists and took off the handcuffs.


    By taking off the handcuffs, he got free and looked at what they placed on his wrists.


    It was a metal wristband.


    "AntiPhySEC I guess" he murmured.


    "No shit! Really, genius?!" Said the guard behind the wall.


    He wanted to answer the sarcasm back but knew that it would complicate things for him.


    Using all his willpower, he swallowed his words.


    After some minutes he finally reached the last destination, cell block number 2.


    But before entering, he quickly got instructed by the guard in the next armored window.


    It looked like the guards had no direct interaction with prisoners.


    "You were told your cell number, now, when you get inside, go right there and go to sleep, don''t you dare to stay outside the cell or will be punished, I don''t care if you don''t go to sleep, but be silent, is 4 in the morning"


    As if Mike didn''t know it; it took time to arrive to the Island, they moved him yesterday, and was moved directly to the prison.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Also, the alarm sounds at 5 in the morning or so, be sure to have your cell clean before 6 in the morning; whatever happens I don''t care, but those who make trouble are doomed, that''s my warning, now, don''t lose time and go to your cell"


    The guard was not very friendly, and that was understandable, very much indeed.


    He knew or not if the other was a real criminal or not, it would make no difference.


    That was his job anyway.


    And all guards used masks, exactly the same kind of mask for every one of them.


    That way, no matter who they mess up with, they would not be recognized.


    Each mask modifies the voice, making it difficult to identify them by voice, as their voices sound very similar.


    As the door opened, he searched his cell directly, but while looking around, he saw people were already waking up in each cell.


    Each time a door was opened it made a lot of noise, it was understandable.


    Some of them were talking in low voices between them.


    Mike even heard his name being told by someone.


    There were very few prisoners in the cell block number 2.


    There were 20 prisoners, including him, and each cell held only one prisoner, making a total of 20 cells, the maximum capacity of the cell block.


    "Looks like the man finally arrived" Said one of the men in a loud voice without fear of being heard by the guard.


    "Mike, his name''s Mike, I remember correctly" Said another man in a lower voice than the other.


    Mike could not help but feel that voice sounded very familiar.


    Very very VERY close to his own cell, just before getting inside it, at cell 12 he saw the owner of the voice.


    He stopped walking for a moment but had no intention of annoying the guards and kept walking.


    But he saw the owner of that voice.


    He could not clearly understand why that man was here.


    "Didn''t he escape the police station before? What the hell? Maybe I saw it incorrectly, right?" He was surprised finally.


    While entering the cell block, he saw that the upper floor was inaccessible, at least from below in there.


    He saw the guard patrolling from that floor, it looked like it was the floor for guards only.


    The cell was closed automatically, probably was the guards in there.


    He felt no need to sleep, and the people in the other cells were talking in low voices.


    He decided to ask to quit his doubt at once.


    "Aren''t you the drunken one that wanted to kill that girl Rose at the city center?" He had no worries about talking directly.


    If talking in riddles, when would the answers arrive?


    "So, you remember me?"


    "I knew it, so you never really escaped the police?" But instead of an answer only silence remained.


    "Hey?"


    "Don''t make noise, after the reveille at 5:30, for now, don''t speak much"


    He noticed the people started to talk less until finally, only silence remained.


    For him, it looked like the criminals were being silent and obedient.


    "Are they really criminals? Haha!... wait, are they really criminal?" The first question was joking,


    But after thinking about it, he found it strange.


    The man in the cell beside his cell was really not a criminal, at worst he would be fined and be free.


    And he was falsely accused of crimes that didn''t really exist.


    He was indeed somehow surprised for the first time in a long time.


    Maybe not all prisoners here are bad people, and looking at the situation deeply, maybe even the real criminals here are not as dangerous as expected.


    That was what he thought, but discarded this way of thinking while looking at the scene in the cell in front of him.


    On the other side, meters away from him, in that cell, a man was looking at him with a weird smile.


    He was... laughing.


    He moved his lips like saying something.


    Mike tried to read his lips, what was he trying to tell him?


    He noticed that all prisoners had their metal wristbands on. It looked impossible to take it off.


    The man trying to talk to him was no different.


    He finally understood the words when a man started making hand gestures.


    "You... Are... Dead"


    The message was clear, and Mike was not the one who let others bully him.


    He showed a strange facial expression like he was shocked for not understanding.


    He truly was; why would anyone want to kill him? Especially someone he had never met before.


    The other was laughing again but froze when Mike, without changing his facial expression, showed him his middle finger.


    "Try... bitch..." That was his words.


    And probably the man really understood his words.


    He knew he was challenging a dangerous guy, but what could he do? Let the other bully him without even knowing why?


    "There are annoying people, those are idiots, and there are dangerous people too; the worse comes to worst, there are dangerous idiots"


    It was not like he was really fully shocked at why someone would kill him, there were some possibilities and he could think of a few names.


    Erick Stone, the Shady bastard from the company armory, and even who knows, those from the house bomb incident before.


    He had not many enemies, and there were a few more he could think but discarded them.


    But one thing doesn''t make the other less important.


    The guy there was really dangerous, or he thought so.


    But some problems can only be solved in the future.


    For now... "Would this thing really cancel the PhySEC energy?" He was planning in his mind.


    Every detail can be useful for future problems, or not...

 Ch11: Annoying people and dangerous people _ Part 5

    When day finally arrived and the cells opened, instead of making a mess, they left their cells without making a sound. It looked like they were waiting for something.


    Mike saw the guards on the upper floor, they could not make a move without being noticed by the guards.


    The man beside him said "If you Follow the rules in the morning, the rest of the day is mostly free"


    That was the one he talked to before, beside his cell.


    One of the guards stayed behind an armored window beside one of the two exits and gave instructions.


    "Those who want to eat, move up and remember to pay your share, not free meals here"


    "What does that mean? Don''t tell me I need to pay for my own food" He asked to no one.


    But one of the prisoners answers him anyway.


    "If you live enough to get your food that''s it, haha!"


    They talked in low voice, seemed like prisoners would not say things loud while in the cell block.


    They must have a reason, but he decided to not find it for now, curiosity kills the cat.


    With patience, the answer will arrive by itself, sometimes...


    He had no need to eat food since no one would give him free food; and stayed in there.


    The man from yesterday was waiting there too, it looked like he wanted to deal with Mike right away after the guards would leave.


    Ability users have a great advantage over other''s physical capabilities, more when their ability is from the Physical variants.


    Even with the antiPhySEC wristbands, they still had the physical fitness to deal with problems.


    The man waiting for Mike clearly had a physical emission ability variant.


    Or maybe he was just naturally big and muscular.


    "Physical appearance has no relation with strength but can tell hints sometimes" He convinced himself.


    But he knew nothing about the other, anyway, there was no escape. Some problems were better dealt with quickly instead of waiting for the opportunity.


    In the worst case, the guards would not let a prisoner kill another one, at least in the cell block.


    But luck got on his side for a moment.


    "Ignore the man waiting for you. Trust me, no matter the result, you will end up with problems"


    The one from cell 12 told him while dragging him to the exit.


    "Why are you helping? I mean, thanks, but it was me who placed you in a hard situation"


    He was stunned, he thought that man would be the first one to kill him.


    "I made the situation hard for you once, this is my payback. But after breakfast, you are on your own"


    They waited in line for their turn and quickly left, the door led to a hallway after a hallway.


    At the end, they reached an area with big windows. On the other side of the windows, the prison yard revealed high walls, and the sound of sea waves was barely audible beyond them.


    The island was big enough, but they made the prison close to the sea.


    They sat at a table, and there were some people around, Mike noticed some people had no wristbands.


    The dining room where he was, was right beside the kitchen.


    In the kitchen, the guards were patrolling taking a look at the ones cooking.


    The chefs were, like him, prisoners.


    "You new here? Not like there are a lot of people anyway, so I can tell"


    One of the men talked to Mike, but he said so in a low voice, it seemed to him that they were still not a little bit free.


    "The prisoners here take the role of chefs, and the guards leave after the food is on the tables"


    The man was kind enough to explain him, and the one who saved him before handed Mike some money.


    "What?"This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "You need it to get the food or you will be kicked, take it or leave it"


    "Thanks, what''s your name by the way?"


    "...Oliver" He hesitated a moment but told him, without worries, his first name.


    Then just as he received the money, the prisoners taking the role of chefs passed through a door with the food, no guards were accompanying them.


    Instead, the guards were looking at them from the upper floor, following the travel of the food cart.


    It looked like the breakfast price was 25 ethers in cash.


    Very expensive for breakfast even in Aether.


    And it was just the quantity he received from Oliver earlier.


    The food was not really bad, it was bad yes, but not as bad as Mike imagined before.


    He got the advice from the people at the table, the real instructions he needed.


    Only during the morning and while serving the food, the guards would be a pain in the ass.


    Other than those times, he can be mostly free, relatively speaking.


    And he noted it, while the food cart left, most of the guards left too, and the noise was growing quickly.


    There was only one guard left and they would take turns patrolling the upper floors of each place.


    "How do you guys get money?" That was Mike''s first objective since he had money but not able to get it in prison, banks don''t work there.


    He had to search for his survival.


    "That''s easy, from outside"


    "Heh! Money comes from outside, how could I have ever guessed? so?"


    "Family or friends outside, mostly, some get it through getting in debt, but I doubt there are good people outside giving money like that"


    "Well, I''m fucked then"


    "Living alone? No family?"


    "Not even friends" Mike had no sadness in his eyes while answering.


    "I see" said the man talking with him.


    But he got up, like the others on the table.


    Mike was suddenly surprised.


    "Don''t tell me..."


    "I see you are alone and by yourself, that''s why we are leaving, the one there looks like wanting to keep you company"


    Even Oliver got up and wished Mike good luck.


    The man from before was walking toward him and made hand moves to tell the others to leave.


    From the conversation earlier, he got the name of the man wanting to kill him.


    Joshua Perez. Joshua was known in the prison, very well known.


    He was the newbie killer, worked for a big criminal group in the country, and got captured by bad luck.


    He was getting close and beside him was another man.


    They both sat at Mike''s table.


    Mike still had not finished eating and kept eating while the other two guys were staring at him.


    "Enjoy your last food, man"  Said Joshua.


    "Thanks, but ain''t sharing it with you"


    The man placed his hand loudly on the table.


    "I saw many people like you, but as long as I twist their legs or make them bleed, they stop laughing and cry"


    Mike was not stupid (Just acted like one sometimes). While talking he was scanning the other two with his ability, he knew from the last hours he could still do so.


    While trying to use it, he would need more energy and concentration than before and could only scan with it.


    While trying to use it for any other thing, the result would be... nothing.


    He cannot use his ability for other than scan around him.


    The distance for the Bloody Hand was still almost the same, that was the good news, sadly he could not use this scan all day, not with the antiPhySEC on him all day.


    Joshua made a weird nod and moved his other hand too.


    Mike noticed the only guard left patrolling was leaving.


    That was the signal.


    "Now let''s show you how dangerous is your situation, shall we?"


    The man was overconfident.


    That gave Mike the idea, that as soon as the guard left the door on the upper floor,


    Without even looking since he was scanning with his ability...


    *THUD*


    He used the fork to pierce Joshua''s hand.


    Strike first, and face the consequences later.


    But the man had enough physical resistance and reacted quickly too.


    Mike could not finish stabbing the other''s hand while the other moved the hand.


    He was quick, too quick, clearly a physical emission variant as Mike thought before.


    The other beside Joshua reacted quickly and jumped over the table, directly to Mike.


    Mike was seated but he already felt the moves from the other, so made his move to the side while getting up.


    The situation was getting hot in less than a second.


    The nearby tables got away and surrounded them, the loud noise was about screaming for Joshua to break apart Mike.


    "Savages... let''s dance with death today, then"


    The one before him, Joshua was already going towards him, launching a punch.


    He could feel the move beforehand, he could think of the best way to evade it.


    But still,


    Joshua was too quick; he could barely evade the first one.


    Just by the wind pressure, he felt that punch was dangerous.


    The size of the man in front of him made no sense with the speed he had.


    One might expect the speed would be less.


    That''s why people must think twice before fighting an ability user.


    And even if Mike''s physical capabilities were higher than normal humans and increased in each phase,


    At the end of the day, he had invisible mind variant ability.


    This fight was just the first one in the prison, where the real dangerous people were waiting for him.

 Chapter 12: Is not my fault but the worlds _Part 1

    Joshua''s speed at throwing his fists was over Mike''s expectations.


    But that alone did not allow him to get beaten. He tried to dodge while using his ability and also tried to scan the man helping Joshua.


    But to scan two persons at the same time was not easy.


    He got hit by Joshua while trying to evade him and the other man too.


    The force of the fist was less than the previous ones, but it still made Mike lose his breath.


    While the opponent''s fist successfully connected to Mike''s abdomen, they tried to take the chance.


    But lucky or sadly for Mike, he was used to fighting under pain.


    With his will alone, he threw himself to the side, evading the attacks of his two opponents.


    He had no time to counterattack; even while fighting Joshua alone, it would probably make no difference.


    While the powers of both users were shut down, in a fight between an invisible mind variant and a physical emission variant, the last one had the advantage.


    Even taking in mind that Mike still conserved his scanning, he was still at a disadvantage.


    Mike had no time to recover himself while Joshua was launching himself at him again, the other man following from behind.


    He was about to get beaten again.


    But how can he give up so easily?


    *THUD*


    Trying to protect himself, Mike blocked.


    He could feel as if his arm was about to get broken.


    But paying no attention to it, clenched his teeth suppressing the pain tried to counterattack.


    He knew that while getting hit by Joshua, the pain would be greater than before, even if blocking.


    So, if he wasn''t sure about properly evading, then when would he attack?


    Also, Joshua could not expect a sudden attack when he already had the upper hand.


    Joshua barely evaded, but the hit still made some damage, or so everybody thought.


    Joshua was perfectly fine.


    No trace of pain, as expected from a physical kind of ability, even when shut down, those kind of ability users were resistant.


    It could actually be said that Mike was the one who got his fist in pain.


    Joshua got angry anyway, for getting hit by someone weaker than him, he wanted to recover some pride.


    And the other man got close to Mike in the perfect time, getting behind Mike, he tried to hold him.


    Mike noticed the man already, he was not as fast as Joshua, but his strength was still over Mike.


    But between technique and strength, Mike''s moves were more calculated.


    He used a foot move and kicked the man getting behind him.


    The wan was thrown away to the people surrounding them in a circle.


    And just when getting his attention back to Joshua, he noticed the big man himself was already throwing another punch.


    It was indeed hard to control the situation on two sides at the same time, he could not properly scan Joshua''s movements.


    And just like that, he got hit in the face.


    The strength was so hard and got bleeding with just one hit, and there were more like those incoming.


    He was at the border of the circle of people surrounding them, his ability detecting the surroundings.


    Beyond the circle of people, there were some tables with people still eating or relaxing.


    Looked like not all people were interested in the fight, and there was still no sight of the guards on the upper floor.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Against Joshua, he had no chance without his weapon.


    "What about the upper floor? Is not like is very high" Mike''s mind was already executing every idea while getting hit a second time.


    Then a third time, he was losing even balance, and the other man was already getting closer again.


    Just before a third one, Mike used his forbidden technique.


    Hitting Joshua with a kick between his legs.


    Joshua was taken by surprise, and Mike used all of his remaining strength for him to do something.


    He used his muscles with only his will and determination, went past Joshua,


    And moved his body to not just evade the other man but also used him to pass over the people surrounding them.


    Since there were not many people in the prison to start with, and some were still on their tables, he did need not much strength to pass the circle.


    But the fight did not end like that, Mike rolled on the ground and kept running away when Joshua pushed through all the people surrounding him.


    Some were unlucky and got thrown away by Joshua,


    While some were lucky to get out of his way.


    Mike was slower but got the distance advantage, so made sure not to annoy the ones on the table.


    He scanned this route before, especially the people at the table, some had looks of being stronger, he knew of those people before, while talking to the others at his table. Some big fishes that usually had no eye for the problems in there, the big bosses.


    While Joshua, went right directly to Mike, rushing without paying any attention to the ones he just passed by,


    Mike was running towards a wall, there was no escape in that place, all doors were closed since they were not supposed to leave yet.


    But Mike knew he had no escape; he kept running and got to touch the wall.


    It was not just a wall; it had some pipes on there.


    While Joshua got closer, he saw Mike facing the wall, he guessed Mike was desperate.


    Mike was facing the wall, not Joshua, but he was using his ability to see behind him.


    While Joshua tried to strike...


    "NOW!" Mike moved to the side.


    He had his hand holding the pipe on the wall and when Joshua hit the metal pipe, it broke.


    With the punch of a strong savage on one end and Mike pulling the pipe from the other end,


    The pipe was broken and in Mike''s hands.


    He got a weapon now, but Joshua was not a normal human.


    Before Mike could celebrate, he kept throwing his fists.


    He wanted to beat Mike.


    But with the pipe in Mike''s hand, even if he could not counterattack, he can still deflect Joshua''s fists to a certain extent.


    Mike''s plan changed, he thought of resisting for a few minutes, but against Joshua, and since he was already depleted of energy, it was almost impossible.


    In just almost a minute of combat, Mike was on the edge again.


    So, he threw the broken pipe towards Joshua''s face in the perfect moment, he made sure, that he would not grab the pipe.


    In exchange for the calculations, he received a punch, but it was worth it for Mike.


    Anyway, Joshua evaded the pipe, it was thrown in a perfect line and not to the center of his face,


    So with just a little move, he could evade it.


    *CLANK* the pipe hit something on the upper floor.


    Everybody''s attention turned towards the upper floor, even the attention of the big bosses in the tables turned up.


    Joshua heard it and paid no attention, but before hitting Mike again, he felt something was wrong and turned back.


    He saw where the pipe fell; it was in front of the door on the upper floor.


    But what got his attention was that the sound before did not sound like the usual metal falling on the ground or hitting a wall, it was different.


    The sound of metal hitting hard an armored or a heavy metal door.


    There were cameras on the site, and the guards would tell from there, what happened.


    But Mike, as well as everybody there, knew that was just a joke.


    Cameras, "Working cameras in a prison in Aether? Now tell me something I can believe" That was the usual thought.


    If prison guards were corrupt people, why would they need the cameras on? To expose their crimes?


    Everybody rushed towards their tables, even sitting at a different table from before, getting in conflict with others.


    But all evaded the bosses'' tables, it was not hard since those tables were in a corner.


    But Mike showed no sign of looking for a seat.


    He was bleeding, the guard could easily tell who was one of the culprits.


    Anyway, Joshua was stunned at what to do, he stood in place there, but as soon as he saw a guard looking through the armored window on the upper floor, directly to the center of the dining hall.


    He rushed to a nearby table but before he could reach one, there were a few guards already entering the hall from the upper floors and the base floor too.


    "Stay where you are!!" Screamed one of the masked guards from above.


    The man held a black uniform that looked the same as the others.


    But from Mike''s perspective, he noticed easily the differences in military clothes, the man there held an upper rank.


    "Guards on the base floor, identify all the people who are not at a table!" The man ordered and the prisoners that were already at tables sighed in relief.


    Some looked in Mike''s direction.


    "Is not my fault but the world''s, don''t look at me like that"


    But after a few seconds...


    "Wait, no. Is not the world''s fault, that gorilla is the one to blame"


    How could he lose his bright side of thinking?

 Ch12: Is not my fault but the worlds _Part 2

    *BEEP* the loud sound of certain doors in the prison.


    Everybody in the prison was used to that sound.


    "Opening the isolation cell for two" Said one guard while escorting Mike and Joshua.


    "Two? Another fight?" Asked the guard behind the armored window.


    "Yes, this one is also here for breaking prison property" He signaled at Joshua.


    The one in the cabin behind the armored window scanned the files given to him.


    "Joshua Perez, 4 days. Mike... Blood, 1 day... curious last name, it sounds like that man from Aotheles, never guessed there were more people with that name"


    "Stop shouting nonsense. Open the door, I want to get my food" Said the other guard.


    They were thrown in a different cell each, those cells were already in the basement and the surroundings were dark.


    However, each isolation cell had the property of getting the prisoners isolated. Once they threw Mike and Joshua into a cell each, there was no light once the door was closed.


    But Mike had no need for light when in the cell, he had his ability; sadly, the bed was just a wooden plank with a dirty blanket and the toilet was very close to the "bed".


    The cell was very small to start with.


    He had nothing more to do anyway, so sat on the "bed" and scanned around.


    They had no need to treat his injuries since Mike needed to pay for the medicine himself later, and since in prison were no banks, he had no option but to reject the medical attention.


    Also, Joshua and Mike were guided there with handcuffs and thrown in the cells without taking them off, but it made no difference for Mike to use his ability to scan.


    In any case, it became a little harder to concentrate on it.


    He scanned the door too. The door had a food slot on the lowest side, probably to pass food.


    It also had a peephole, where the guards would open it to see the prisoners if needed.


    Aside from it, there was nothing more in the cell.


    Solitary confinement only.


    It even had nothing to pass the time, and the cell was so small that he got bored after using his ability.


    While being in absolute darkness, most people lose track of time, lucky Mike because he was used to keeping his eyes closed.


    He had no need to see with eyes while he could "see" around him in a way human eyes don''t allow one to see.


    But it was just the beginning, while training at home, Claire always had advice for him.


    Also, when the time arrived, she would tell Mike the food was ready.


    Without a clock and no sight of light, it was still hard to tell how much time passed.


    He felt like hours passed already, and still, there were no signs of life, only the casual barely audible noises from outside.


    He would try to sleep, but from time to time, one of the guards knocked on the doors of every cell.


    The sound was heavy enough to wake him up.


    He cursed in a low voice but made sure to not be loud.


    After who knows how much time, a guard opens the peephole.


    *SWOOSH*


    The light was hard to the eye, and the guard aimed a flashlight directly at the hole.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Since he saw no trace of light for some time it almost got his eyes hurt.


    "Lunchtime! Hope you don''t have money for it" Said the guard with somehow the voice of a swindler.


    Mike closed his eyes, why would he need to bear the light intensity when he could just "see" with his ability?


    "So?" Asked Mike.


    The guard saw nothing weird when Mike closed his eyes. Some people did the same, and some others just tried to bear the intensity, mostly the second, actually.


    "Oh, you are new, right... 10 ethers more for food in the isolation cells, so to summarize, 35 for breakfast and 45 for lunch or dinner, take it or leave it, I have to offer the same to other prisoners in the isolation block"


    "I don''t have any money on me"


    "I know, you are the new guy, then let''s talk business. Debt with 10% weekly interest. You in?"


    "..." Mike started making numbers in his head.


    He could not stay all day without eating, he needed to survive, not to die of starvation.


    Plus, the food was necessary to give him the energy to fight if needed again.


    "Decide quick, I have one more client in the block waiting for lunch" The guard had no patience to do business.


    But that was fine, after all, the one on the losing side was not him but the prisoners.


    "Deal"


    "Great" The guard closed the hole and after a little noise, passed the food through the food slot in the door.


    The tray had some food, but it was barely enough for lunch, and from Mike''s perspective it was not exactly delicious.


    Actually, the taste was bad, but not that much.


    The guard also talked about a plus for 10 more ethers.


    He soon heard some noises beside the cell, the guard was doing business with Joshua too.


    The same happened for dinner, he returned the tray through the food slot and received the same tray with the diner,


    It was the same food as lunch.


    Just some soup and some tasteless rice, and also some water.


    He never asked about the plus, not because the food was bad; it was bad, but because without movement, the food would go to waste.


    Time passed and he finally got released the next day after breakfast.


    While leaving, it was hard for him to see due to the light, it looked like the guards had the intention of turning on more lights at the maximum intensity when someone was leaving the isolation block.


    So he closed his eyes.


    The guard told him to not forget his debt.


    "Mike Blood, 115 ethers. Remember it, isolation guard number 3, that was me the one you got your debt with"


    "Understood, not gonna forget it. With that high weekly interest rate who could forget it?"


    "Just to make sure, now get out of here"


    The guard handed Mike to the other guard to take him.


    He still had his eyes closed, the guards were stunned at how could he walk like that.


    The other guard placed Mike in front of a hole in the wall where he placed his hands and saw how they took off his handcuffs after the man left.


    He opened his eyes then since he was already getting used to the light.


    They took him to the yard and left him alone.


    Most people were in the yard after breakfast.


    It was the sight he wanted to see yesterday but got interrupted.


    While getting in there, he got glances from everybody.


    Some were looks of admiration or approval, some of hatred.


    He even saw that those who held hatred were the ones who got thrown away by Joshua while fighting Mike.


    "Some think I am a hero at least, I will take it then. Is impossible to get everybody happy" He searched around the yard,


    Trying to study the place, he would spend here some months after all.


    The cell blocks 1 and 2 were all in the yard, or maybe mostly.


    And there was another part of the yard, separated by a high fence, the side of the prison for female prisoners.


    He had no need to search for anything there; as long as he knew, it was the only place where the female''s section and the male''s section meet.


    Also, there was not just one fence, but two, and a path in the middle of it, from where guards used to patrol.


    But strangely, there were no guards while looking around.


    In the fence that separates the two sections, some people were talking to the other side, one of those, was Oliver.


    The man who gave him money for the food before.


    "Seems like he''s busy now, will take a chance to talk with him later"


    For now, he wanted to feel like the hero who had returned from hell in front of the other''s eyes.


    "Yes, the look of approval and jealously, is not my fault but the world''s, thanks world"


    And just like that, time passed by. He learned how to contact the outside and get money in the prison.


    He learned the best strategies for him to survive and how to get on the guard''s good side.


    In the blink of an eye, two weeks later...

 Chapter 13: Important guest _ Part 1

    Two weeks later was enough to adapt himself to life in prison.


    Most people were innocents these days in most prisons in Aether.


    But the isolation from the outside world made everybody slowly become what they were.


    If one doesn''t become a hunter, the others will hunt the bunny.


    Life was like that, but of course, only those who remain sane are the ones who never forget their morals.


    And Mike got used to life in prison without leaving his morals behind.


    Anyway, life was not fair for him.


    Life was hard for most people, especially in a place like that.


    But there were calm days anyway,


    Like right now, for example.


    Mike was taking a break on a bench with a few others, they were playing a basketball game.


    But they took turns since there were many people for just one basketball court.


    Actually, that same court was used for soccer and basketball at the same time, so the prisoners took different days for each sport.


    Those were the only sports to play, and actually, it was hard to get the ball for a basketball match.


    There was not much support for sports in Aether to start with.


    They could try to improvise a soccer ball, but it was difficult to make one for basketball.


    Anyway, sometimes, even when relaxing, problems arise out of nowhere.


    Just like right now, a group was approaching the court. They discussed with the others playing but in the end, the ones playing could only sigh and leave.


    "It was about to get heated, what the fuck happened?" Asked one of the people resting on the bench to another who was playing previously.


    "The big fuckers- I mean, the big guys there got the approval from the big boss"


    The man signaled to a corner of the yard not far away.


    In there, one of the rarely seen-on-yard big bosses was standing.


    He was hiding from the sun in the shadow of the wall, avoiding the sunlight.


    "Well, we can do nothing, let''s see the game at least, not like we have something better to do anyway, plus, if they are approved by that boss, there is money running around"


    "What do you mean" Asked Mike this time.


    "When the sharks are seen in certain places it means something, like the boss right there"


    The boss in the shadow of the wall was the owner of some big casinos in the country.


    Casinos were illegal in Aether, that''s why he got captured after a trap made by a competitor.


    Anyway, that competitor went missing after that and was found days later, dead.


    But it made no trouble for the big boss there to administrate his casinos all around the country from inside his cell.


    There were indeed not only ability users in the spartan prison, there were normal humans too.


    And those normal humans were the ones in the cell block 1.


    So, before the game could start the bets were on, and people were comparing players.


    In a game between teams, the ones with the most ability users should win, but the two teams had the same number of them on each side.


    As they were discussing the teams to place their bets, Mike was talking with Oliver.


    "Is strange to see ''stick bones'' in the same team with ''crawler''" Said Oliver.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "To me is strange to see ''crawler'' not behind Joshua"


    "The man barely survived after himself to Thomas that day you two got sent to the isolation block"


    While saying that name, Oliver looked towards the big boss; his name was Thomas.


    "Oh, and don''t get too comforted, I heard Joshua is going to be free from the isolation cell soon"


    After Joshua was released 10 days ago, he got in trouble with the big bosses.


    The man barely had any time to hold grudges.


    So, after some problems, he got in trouble with the guards and was sent to the isolation block again.


    It was said he should get more months to his sentence after that.


    But while the news was good for Mike it was only a temporal freedom.


    Once Joshua gets out of the isolation block, he would start searching for the perfect time to beat up Mike.


    Since, after all, the big bosses of the prison would not play with the same toy every day.


    Some guards were looking at the yard from the top of the walls.


    From below, one could still hear them talking, they were taking part in the gambling too.


    For Thomas Crane, just relying on the bets between prisoners wasn''t enough.


    Thomas even reached the guards and the female pavilion, even the warden sometimes placed bets.


    Just the game today was a small event, so it was not much of a difference from normal gambling.


    Still, the guards were taking their bets too.


    It meant there was more pressure on the prisoners who were to play than usual, if one of them performed poorly, only problems with the guards would wait for them.


    Lucky for them it was just a small event this time, but still some problems would happen, so they were serious.


    The game started and the bets closed.


    Some time passed and in the middle of the game a guard could be seen running toward the others, quickly informed them and one of those guards made a signal to Thomas.


    Thomas went close to a lower section of a path and talked with one of the guards.


    Mike, like everyone else, was curious.


    But no one could listen to it, and the situation looked no good from the face Thomas was making.


    The guard left quickly, but no one stopped the match, so everyone thought it was nothing to worry about.


    ...


    From the guard''s POV.


    "Fuck! Fuck! Why today? I wanted to leave home earlier today" The guard was cursing in low voice.


    Why instead of later did they arrive today? That was his luck, just some minutes before leaving his turn to another guard, some people arrived at the prison.


    And they were no normal people.


    Even the warden, who barely took any action in the prison, was there, greeting and pleasing the guests.


    It should be nothing serious but he got orders from the warden, and Thomas wasn''t happy with those orders.


    Thomas started to negotiate only after hearing about the guests'' origins.


    He didn''t want to reveal the info, but there was no other option.


    He reached his destination and saw the warden impatiently waiting in front of a door.


    "Done?" asked the warden in a low voice, not wanting to disturb the other side of the door.


    He wore a normal military uniform, unlike the others'' clothing, not wearing any mask.


    The guard quickly informed in a low voice too.


    "Sir! Prisoner Thomas Crane informed about not wanting to cooperate, however, to convince him I told him some information about the guest"


    "Don''t tell me you told him everything"


    "No sir! I swear it! I only told him a little, and he told me he is willing to send some people from the teams to return their cells, but not everybody; and as for the other prisoners looking at the game, they can be sent too, only the ones playing the match need to keep playing"


    The guard talked quick to not get scolded, but still talked without any mistakes and made his words clear.


    The warden was thinking but then, the door suddenly opened, and from inside a woman was staring at them with cold eyes.


    "Is there any problem?" She asked.


    "There was one, but is solved, just a little minuscule issue quickly solved" Said the warden "You go there and inform the other that is fine to do it that way" He said to the guard.


    "Yes Sir!" The guard quickly left while giving orders through the radio.


    The warden had no other option, being faced from one side with Thomas and from the other with that woman, he had to think quick.


    "There should be no problem, relax yourselves a little bit, Lady... eh..."


    "Sure" The woman said and went inside the room again, closing the door.


    The warden was just trying to ask her name but instead looked quite pathetic after the woman left him there.


    Still, he held no grudges.


    The woman before was the bodyguard of a woman with a great power in the country after all. Rose Slades'' bodyguard.


    Back into the yard, the guard talked through the speakers.


    "Prisoners from cell block 2, excluding those at the current... ongoing task. All of you, go back to the cell block 2. I repeat, those prisoners from cell block 2 excluding those at the current ongoing task, return to your cell, now!"


    The guard called a few names from the current match too.


    But just a few, he didn''t want to annoy Thomas by asking for too many. Also, he made sure to leave the same number for each team.

 Ch13: Important guest _ Part 2

    Once inside the cell block 2, everybody got in their cells.


    The guards also tied every prisoner to the bars using handcuffs.


    Just why so much trouble? But the answer arrived quickly.


    Some people with cameras were recording the prison, taking quick recordings of each place.


    It was probably political propaganda.


    Nothing new, so the prisoners were willing to collaborate, so they could return to their routines.


    The recording was done quick, and in just a few minutes they left.


    The guards, however, left too, without releasing the prisoners from the handcuffs.


    Some prisoners complained but were silenced by the guards on the upper floor.


    They left only the base floor, as for the upper floor, they still kept their usual patrolling.


    After one hour, they were still tied by handcuffs to the bars.


    "Damn, I was supposed to get my money today" Claire kept sending money to Mike using the non-official channels in the prison, the ones made by the big bosses of the prison.


    Also, he sometimes used the channels made by the guards to receive money, none of those were exactly the right procedure,


    But nobody cared for it.


    Even so,


    His worry was the money; usually, the guards take the money if it is not claimed after a certain time.


    Aside it,


    They also charge a certain high fee for transactions.


    But that''s how things worked in the prisons in Aether.


    Just while he was thinking about the usual trivial stuff, the loud "beep" made by the door awakened all in their cells from their world of thoughts.


    They were finally thinking they should be released into the yard.


    But it looked like there was no hope of it.


    From the door, some people were getting escorted by the guards.


    Mike quickly identified them.


    "That must be the warden, given his face without mask, everybody here knows about him"


    He already knew who the prison warden was.


    "That one with the mas has a higher status than the other guards, is a high-rank soldier, I already meet him before"


    However, he was just losing time in his mind, he already saw the one getting escorted, the one who probably would not need escorting after all.


    "And those are some journalists, accompanying Kat in the center"


    He quickly dismissed the importance of it, she usually hated everyone, or maybe that was her personality.


    Whatever the case, she would do nothing for him.


    Why would she try to help him? Or better said, why would she try to talk to him?


    They were no co-workers anymore, and just when he saw her, their eyes met,


    But she quickly withdrew the gaze, and returned to the talk with the journalist.


    Like the typical "Not my problem".


    He was already expecting something like that.


    They left not much after that.


    Kat never looked at Mike ever again, and he didn''t mind.


    As it was not her problem, she was not Mike''s problem too.


    After some more minutes, the guards took them free from their cells,


    But the event wasn''t over yet.


    They were taken with the handcuffs holding hands and were put on iron legs too.


    All of those, antiPhySEC materials.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    They even met with the ones from before (those at the game in the yard court) and arrived at an auditorium.


    There were no chairs, and the guards would not let them sit on the ground.


    Mike''s only worry was to end this quickly.


    Not long after, the warden and some other people made the announcement.


    "Prisoners from cell block number two from the spartan prison" Said the warden "All of you from cell block 2, hold supernatural abilities, known by the world as PhySEC abilities"


    The warden was just stating well-known things in front of the camera, he introduced himself in a very formal yet boring manner.


    Most prisoners were already tired of the pointless words.


    But then the warden finally started talking about the main topic.


    "...The friends from the Golden Corps, recently formed, are in need of help. Those prisoners who desire to shorten their sentence have hopes. Because you can still get back to the right path"


    The warden finished speaking and introduced one of the guests to explain the situation.


    Most people there got interested.


    They were, mostly, innocents.


    So, the last part only made them curse the warden in their minds, they''ve been always on the right path.


    Anyway, the rest of the words caught their attention.


    Free from prison? And more to it, the Golden Corps? While most of them thought bad about the politicians,


    They still held hopes for that company.


    Nobody liked things coming from the current government.


    But the Golden Corps were made by Rose Slades, the only person in the country most people thought of as a saint.


    However, while they were excited to hear the words from the representative of the Golden Corps, two persons there had different reactions.


    One was Mike, he had no need to work his ass just to reduce his sentence that was already short.


    And the other one was Oliver, making a strange face, between sour and angry.


    He never told Mike what was the deal that happened with Rose, neither tried to pry into his situations.


    The Golden Corps representative was a young man.


    He talked about the Corps and so on.


    The ability users'' mercenary organizations were not tied to just one country, they were mostly international organizations.


    The same applies to the Golden Corps, but sometimes some of those corps are deeply tied to one country to a certain extent,


    Like in this case.


    He also told the specifics about the service necessary to shorten their sentence, and after some minutes gave his farewell.


    "Those interested in knowing more about it and joining the corps, follow the guards on your right" The guard in charge told all the prisoners and most of them rushed to line up.


    They felt no need to explain anything about those who didn''t want to be part of it.


    But the guard saw Mike and Oliver not moving.


    Mike made hand signals.


    "We ... don''t want ... be part of it", and the guard understood it quickly.


    But instead of saying something to it or getting angry, he got close to them and instructed them to follow him.


    They two got guided back by the high-rank guard and other two guards.


    "Why don''t you two want to be part of it? Not gonna lie, is not a dream job, but still..."


    "I was imprisoned here thanks to one that works there. So no, thanks" Said Oliver without any fear or doubt.


    The high-rank guard didn''t mind it, he already knew something about the innocents in the prison, there were no saints between the high ranks after all.


    He looked at Mike, waiting for his answer.


    "Prisoners released to work for ability user mercenary corps... funny. I made training with three international ones, no need to convince me."


    His words implied two possibilities, and the guard understood both of them quickly.


    They were sent directly to their cells again.


    They did not talk once inside their cells.


    Even the guards left without uttering a word.


    "What do you mean by prisoners working for mercenary corps?" Asked Oliver.


    "...Once you have a criminal record, you can''t be fully a mercenary" Mike said in a nostalgic yet regrettable voice "It is not uncommon to use prisoners, but there is more risk than usual, plus, no matter what, your reputation once ruined is ruined forever"


    Oliver understood the first part, there must be something more to it than meets the eye.


    As for the second, the reputation thing was mostly like Mike''s regret, something personal, but it had more meaning attached to it.


    After an hour, a guard got into the cell block again.


    "Mike Blood"


    "That''s me"


    "Follow me" The cell door opened.


    He was guided to hallway after hallway as usual.


    But at some point, he was guided to the upper floor.


    On the upper floor, the hallway style was somehow different.


    He was dragged into a room, and in there he saw only a woman, Kat.


    "I think you got it wrong, I don''t know her, take me back" But just as he was mid-sentence, the guard already closed the door and left him there.


    "Hello, lady, can I help you with something?"


    "...Why are you here? And why did you reject being part of the Golden Corps"


    "Is not my fault but the world''s" He said, but again, mid-sentence he was interrupted.


    Anyway, he finished his words despite it.


    "Be serious, and answer"


    "Serious answer, one you will never hear from me again after it: actually I know what a prisoner-mercenary means, don''t take me like an idiot. Why? Will you help me get out of my problems? Funny"


    Mike could not become a full mercenary if was once a prisoner.


    So why care about the reduced sentence if the sentence was already short?


    There was nothing to gain from it,


    Or so he thought.

 Arc 1 Epilogue: The first nightmare creature awaken

    In the deserted streets, only the wind could be heard.


    But occasionally, the wind slowly stopped making noises and only the void remained in the light fog.


    "To central foxtrot, here is Alpha team, ready for hourly report" Said one of the men holding a radio.


    There were only 5 of them, each holding not just simple weapons.


    "We are exactly at the corner of street number 32, following the main avenue. Can you copy me?"


    The team was waiting in position waiting for their leader to end the report.


    The communication was bad last time, but they already expected it.


    And right now, they got no answer.


    "No signals from central foxtrot, after all, we are already in the area zero" Said the leader.


    For them, they knew that the moment when losing communication would be when the real action starts.


    "Central Foxtrot, if you copy me, we are already at area zero. We proceed to objective 1. Over."


    They resumed their travel.


    The team advanced slowly since the start, they were instructed to do so until reaching zone zero.


    But now they advanced slowly because from this point on,


    They had no idea what was waiting for them, even when they were already away from the main objective.


    They held their rifles in hand ready. All those were antiPhySEC guns.


    The antiPhySEC material was expensive, but still mercenaries and military from every nation need it anyway.


    For a few minutes, they advanced until a military base was barely visible.


    "We are close, captain" Said one of them from the front of the team.


    "Sergeant Smirnov, try the comms again, leave the message even if there is no answer" Ordered the captain.


    "Here''s Alpha team, close to objective 1 in area zero of the exclusion zone on Asgars. Whoever can copy me, answer" The sergeant said without delay,


    He was ready to do it before.


    Surprisingly, the signal somehow showed some sight of life.


    Sadly, it was mostly buzzing sounds, and some incoherent words could barely be heard.


    "No answer as expected..."


    But then, from the radio, even with the buzzing noise, audible voices were heard.


    "Help.. Us! I don''t wanna die!..." words like that were heard, and then... "Die..." A demonic voice was heard too in the middle of it.


    But none of them got surprised or scared.


    They already guessed what it was.


    The spatial rift could make things like that, they knew beforehand.


    Even when the supernatural events were explained in scientific terms,


    It was still called supernatural.


    The current science on Gaia could not explain it.


    Actually, it was thanks to some notes and clues left behind by the guild that they knew some basic information.


    The sergeant turned off the radio.


    They have met nothing in their way so far, and not even a single sign of life could be heard.


    Animals disappeared, no insects could be heard, and now, they were going to get clues about the humans in the military base.


    "Sergeant Smirnov, stay in the middle, Lieutenant Novak, with me on the front, the rest behind" The captain quickly ordered.


    They advanced in that way across the empty streets.


    Even Redzen made no moves on this side of Asgars, or so they said.


    Then some voices could be heard on the radio again, it was the same as before.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    It came from the sergeant''s radio.


    "Smirnov, shut it down!"


    "I already done it before" Despite his words he moved quickly, and pressed the switch some times, but it showed no sign of turning off.


    "This shit is broken"


    "Throw it away" They already had enough radios anyway,


    So, Smirnov did as he was ordered to do.


    Just in front of the military base, the captain shouted loudly.


    "Colonel Melnyk! We are from the Albion Vanguard Mercenary Corps! Answer us if you are there! We were sent by the UNA!"


    Only silence answered him, but he still kept trying.


    "Investigators from the TGI sent by the UNA! Answer us if you are still alive! We were sent to help!"


    Again, nothing worked.


    They waited a few minutes in formation.


    "DIE... DIE..." A radio turned on again with the demonic voice from before.


    It was the lieutenant''s radio this time.


    Lieutenant Novak was not a newbie and after confirming the switch to turn it off didn''t work,


    He threw the radio to the ground and smashed it with his foot.


    "At this rate, we are getting out of radios, captain, take out the batteries from your radio, just in case"


    "Good idea, prepare to enter while I do it"


    The captain did it and they were about to get inside the base.


    The main door was quickly open, it looked like it was already open.


    What came into their sight were multiple bodies.


    Dead bodies but without military uniforms; those were uniforms from the TGI investigators.


    "It seems like they met their end just at the entrance" Said the sergeant.


    But at his words, everyone got in position, ready to fire in any direction at any time.


    "We already know what happened to the investigators, but there is not a single body from any asgarian military. Eyes open, guys"


    Just a little shadow of doubt and they would react and fire their guns in a blink.


    The advanced and just inside a building, just at the entrance of it,


    Stood some kind of creature.


    The creature was entirely black.


    It looked like a human, but it was more than two meters tall.


    Still, nobody fired their guns, the creature stood still, and since it had a human shape, the captain thought of communicating with it.


    "Freeze! Identify yourself"


    The first part was useless, the creature made no move since the start, not even a little bit.


    That gave the mercenaries to see what were they dealing with.


    The creature looked very much like a human, but there were big differences.


    Excluding its tall height, it was totally black with red eyes, surrounded by a strange black mist too.


    Also, the creature opened its mouth, but it did not speak.


    From the mouth of it, only red like a fire could be seen.


    "Supernatural creature spotted, Can we shoot it already?" Said the Lieutenant.


    "Testing fire" The captain took a high caliber pistol and shot it towards the creature, it was a normal gun, not antiPhySEC.


    *BANG*


    He made sure to shoot its head, but no damage was made.


    But as soon as the creature didn''t fall, another gun fired.


    *BANG* this time it was a rifle in the lieutenant''s hands.


    "No damage taken!" He said, wondering if it was maybe the first creature in history who could take a shot from an antiPhySEC special gun and survive.


    Then out of nowhere, the creature started walking towards them.


    *RATAT-TA-TAT* The captain fired his rifle.


    A short burst but still no damage was taken.


    "The creature seems to be slow, take steps back"


    They did as the captain said. The creature was indeed slow,


    When they were walking, the creature followed them but did not rush to them.


    "What now? Keeping our distance?" Asked one man in the rear of the group.


    "That thing isn''t even making an effort; I think it was not the thing that killed people here" Said the last one.


    "Well, from now on we will..." The captain got interrupted by the sudden move.


    Just as he was talking, the lieutenant was walking closer to the creature without worries.


    But at the right moment, the creature disappeared, turning into dark smoke, and that smoke moved at an extremely fast speed that they could not react in time even as ability users.


    The creature manifested in front of the lieutenant and with his big hand, grabbed him by the neck and lifted him in the air.


    "Argh..." The man could not even scream properly.


    *RATAT-TA-TAT* And his gun failed to make a damage on it.


    The creature used its other hand and threw away the rifle.


    But as an ability user, he could not let a supernatural creature win without a fight.


    And so, he used his ability, spreading heat from his body, burning part of his clothes that were not made to resist his full power when the fire spread from him.


    He directed the fire with his hands towards the creature, concentrating his all on the monster holding him.


    The fire spread to the full length of the humanoid monster.


    Still, no damage was taken, but the creature made some sort of scream, not loud, but its voice could almost break their eardrums.


    Then it launched the lieutenant to the ground with a strength that only a veteran Physical emission variant user could use, or even stronger.


    In one strike, Lieutenant Novak was dead.


    "Fuck! Novak!" One of the soldiers fired another burst of his weapon.


    But how could he make some damage to it when it could not be damaged?


    The nightmare of those veteran soldiers could not leave them after that mission.