《The Stormrunners - A Scifi Fantasy Novel》


 Chapter 001 - Just Another Storm

    Nature plays many tricks, yet none is as cruel as the calm before the storm. On this ordinary Saturday afternoon, the sky stretched overhead like a pristine sapphire dome. Not a single piece of cloud marred the blue expanse, and not a single gust of wind stirred the crisp air.


    Nobody could sense the deadly atmospheric perturbations brewing thirty miles away, not even the few Fraxians wandering in and out of the bustling market.


    Suddenly, a few loud blasts echoed through the market, catching everyone off guard. To their relief, there were no gunshots. Instead, orange and blue confetti rained down amidst the melodies of trumpets and fiddles, and soon a huge crowd of forty gathered around the spectacle.


    In the middle stood a newly built restaurant, the walls still thick with the smell of paint and plaster. On the roof was a gigantic sign that read ¡°Bert¡¯s Brewery¡±, accompanied by a mural of two men walking side by side ¡ª a Valerian and a Fraxian, as revealed by their eye colors. In the heart of the mural were bold chalk letters that proclaimed ¡°Love Everyone!¡±.


    ¡°Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for being here,¡± the restaurant owner, by the name of Albert, seized the podium.


    ¡°I have dreamed of opening a restaurant since I was a kid. After saving up for over ten years with my loving wife, I am so pleased to announce that Bert¡¯s Brewery is finally open!¡±


    The crowd broke into applause. Amidst the cheers, Albert spotted a familiar face. He quickly approached his old friend.


    ¡°Hey Samuel, thank you for coming today. Why don¡¯t you come up here with me?¡±


    Samuel looked a little nervous. His large orange eyes darted between Albert and the crowd around him.


    Albert glanced around and understood. Samuel was the only Fraxian in the crowd. Although laws of segregation had been recently abolished, most Fraxians still felt uncomfortable coming here. However, the prejudices of ignorant Valerians should never overshadow the celebration, especially on such a calm, beautiful day.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Albert laughed, leading Samuel on stage.


    A few Valerians noticed Samuel¡¯s orange eyes and instantly recognized him as a Fraxian. Most in the crowd kept their opinions to themselves, but a few gasps flared up here and there. Samuel simply ignored them, as he did for all his life.


    ¡°As I celebrate the fulfillment of my childhood dream today,¡± Albert took over again. ¡°I¡¯d like to introduce you all to my friend Samuel. His daughter just graduated today. To celebrate that, I will get a round of free drinks for everyone!¡±


    The crowd clapped, and most put on a smile, though the enthusiasm was a little weaker.


    ¡°What¡¯s a goddamn Fragger doing at this place,¡± a middle-aged Valerian in the crowd whispered.


    Albert fell silent. He stared at the man. The sudden silence caught the crowd¡¯s attention, and they all stared in the same direction.


    ¡°Excuse me, sir,¡± Albert said in a slow staccato. ¡°Why don¡¯t you repeat what you just said?¡±


    The man looked a little embarrassed but not at all remorseful. He somehow gathered up his guts and projected his voice.


    ¡°I said, what¡¯s a goddamn Fragger doing in our place.¡±


    The crowd silenced at the palpable tension in the air. Samuel¡¯s face was flushed red, but he did not speak back. He turned to Albert and whispered.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Bert,¡± Samuel said quietly. ¡°Today¡¯s your big day. Don¡¯t let me ruin it.¡±


    However, Albert was buying none of that. He took a step towards the man.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to ask you to leave, sir,¡± Albert said firmly.


    Samuel pulled at Albert¡¯s sleeves, apologetic that his friend must endure this dilemma on the first hour of business.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want any trouble for you. I¡¯ll just leave,¡± Samuel said, starting to walk away.


    However, Albert reached out and stopped Samuel with a firm hand on his shoulder. He stared at the man with a gaze as cold as steel, and he took another step forward.


    ¡°What?¡± snickered the man. ¡°You are gonna ask me to leave for a Fragger?¡±


    ¡°Precisely, sir, and I won¡¯t ask twice,¡± said Albert coldly. ¡°In case you can¡¯t read our posters, we have no room for hate or discrimination here.¡±


    They stood like rock hills in a storm, unmoving amidst the restless atmosphere. After a few too many seconds, the Valerian man finally gave in.


    He snickered, spat on the ground, and walked away. A few more Valerians left with him, but most stayed in the crowd.


    ¡°You okay Sam?¡± asked Bert.


    However, Samuel¡¯s eyes were hollow and his expression dreadful. Compared to his earlier composure against the verbal abuse, right now he looked as if he had seen a ghost.


    ¡°Something feels off,¡± muttered Samuel.


    ¡°Of course, they had just -¡±


    ¡°No, not them. The air felt off.¡±


    Unfortunately, Albert was too slow to understand what Samuel¡¯s words meant.


    Suddenly, a few loud bangs erupted behind Albert, far louder than the confetti blasts earlier. With each bang, the earth tremored violently. Screams erupted from the crowd, and they ran in every direction.


    Albert slowly turned his head. The fine brewery he and his wife had scrimped every cent to build ¡ª with the nice Gothic lamps, white marble floors, and oak wood countertops ¡ªnow became a pile of rubble. In its place, a few giant boulders the size of stallions stood half buried in the wreckage, as if claiming a brutal victory against human civilization.


    Albert was too shocked to be horrified, but others were quicker to realize what was going on.


    ¡°A storm is coming!¡± the crowd screamed.


    As soon as the words were spoken, a thick curtain of sand rose up on the horizon and blocked the sky, shrouding the sun in thick veils of darkness. Only a few thin strands of sunlight penetrated through, dimly painting the buildings with a faded golden edge.


    Within a few seconds, another volley of rocks was hurled right at the marketplace. A mother quickly put her toddler child on her shoulder and broke into a run. However, the fist-sized shrapnel impaled her lungs with the speed of bullets. She fell quickly with a thud, gasping uselessly for breath in her leaking windpipe.


    Another man beside her stared in disbelief, and his hesitation cost him his balance. He fell hard on the ground. The strong winds lifted hundreds of gravel pieces into the air, spinning and accelerating them into a deadly maelstrom. Soon enough, the spinning air also lifted up the man, who kicked and struggled to no avail. The moment his body got sucked in, the hundreds of jagged stones tore up his body like a meat grinder disassembling a cattle, leaving him as a bleeding, lifeless pulp of flesh that continued to spin lifelessly in the air.


    ¡°Follow me!¡± Samuel yelled at Albert. He seized Albert¡¯s arm and plunged into the storm. Winds lashed their faces, and shrapnel whizzed past their heads. Torrents of gravel shards sliced through their skin, leaving streaks of blood along their tattered clothes. They squinted their eyes open against the clouds of dust, desperate to stay alert as they dodged the large pieces of debris.


    Thanks to his Fraxian genes, Samuel had a natural acuteness for thermodynamics. A sandstorm was made of clashing air pockets of different temperatures, and a safe passage could be found in the chasms in between. For an ordinary person, navigating a storm would take immense calculation, but for a Fraxian, this was a survival instinct hardwired in the genes.


    However, knowing the right way to go did not equate to making it out alive.


    Without warning, a canister of natural gas from some marketplace restaurant was catapulted towards them. At this speed, the impact would create a fatal explosion.


    Albert closed his eyes and waited for his fate. The impact came.A wave of heat. A series of scorching burns. Surprisingly, it was less painful than he imagined.


    Albert opened his eyes and expected heaven, but he was still stuck in this inferno on earth. He turned and looked at Samuel.


    Samuel¡¯s eyes blazed with a ferocious orange glow. Sweat poured down his face, mingling with the dust and ash on his skin. The entire left half of his torso was burnt to a black char, which crumpled into brittle pieces under the ravaging winds. His leg quickly buckled under his weight, and he slumped to the ground.


    Albert understood immediately. Samuel had somehow managed to redirect the heat energy of the gas explosion away into the surroundings. So this was the power of thermal transfer. Albert had always thought it was just a Fraxian myth.


    However, Samuel was only able to redirect a portion of the heat energy. Albert was still badly burnt in many areas, but at least he was still alive. Samuel, on the other hand, was burnt to half a crisp. To make it worse, pulling that move had drained the last bit of his energy out of his body.


    Samuel struggled to push himself up off the ground, but his legs would not obey. He felt so tired. All he wanted was to close his eyes and sleep.


    ¡°Leave me, get out of here¡­¡± muttered Samuel.


    Albert hesitated. He tried to carry Samuel on his shoulder, but he was in no physical condition.


    ¡°Leave me, Albert,¡± said Samuel quietly as he tried to push away Albert¡¯s arms. ¡°Head north for fifty yards, then turn east for twenty, then northeast for another fifty. You will be safe -¡±


    Before Samuel could finish, the ¡°Bert¡¯s Brewery¡± banner fell from the sky, decapitating Samuel in one clean cut.


    Albert felt nauseated and weak, but adrenaline kicked in. He had to get back to his family alive. So he walked on.

 Chapter 002 - The Last Day At The Academy

    The projector buzzed, and the scene of the marketplace faded, leaving a somber silence in the classroom. This was certainly a heavy close to the last day at the Academy.


    ¡°Five hundred Valerians and Fraxians died at the Orion Marketplace that day,¡± said Professor Lilah. ¡°And the rest is known history. The ensuing wave of sandstorms killed over half a million, including many of our loved ones.¡±


    Professor Lilah looked like a typical old Valerian lady, with graying hair and a slightly crooked back. While her demeanor was always calm and kind, one would need to look past her thick eyeglasses at her sharp eyes to decipher her true thoughts. She always spoke slowly and confidently, never saying too much to flaunt her knowledge and never too little to leave her audience confused.


    However, what Shon and the other students respected the most about her was her care for everyone, Valerian and Fraxian alike. Even when she was off the frontline of social movement, she made sure to help Shon and others through the struggles that only a Fraxian would face.


    In the distance, the clock chimed four times, signaling the end of class. However, the usual commotion was nowhere to be found. Everyone sat in silence to take one last look at the Academy. Once they left, they would not return again.


    Professor Lilah turned off the projector. The room slowly sank into darkness. The only remaining light came from a candle in front of her that dimly illuminated her visage. She took a deep breath. The candlelight flickered a bit, making the shadows dance along the wall.


    ¡°Can someone tell me how hot the flame is?¡±


    Shon raised his hand, along with many others. This was a simple question for the Fraxians, even simpler for an Academy student prepared for the exam tomorrow.


    ¡°It¡¯s 1923.78 degrees, ma¡¯am,¡± said Shon.


    ¡°That sounds about right,¡± said Professor Lilah. She slowly glided her hand over the flame, as if she wanted to feel the temperature.


    ¡°How difficult would it be to extinguish the flame?¡±


    Shon slowly dropped his hand, not quite understanding the question.


    ¡°Well, let me clarify,¡± said Professor Lilah. ¡°Would an ordinary Valerian like me, with no capacity to transfer thermal energy, be able to extinguish this flame?¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    The class nodded in silence. Shon could not see where this was going.


    ¡°The answer is yes, no doubt.¡±


    Professor Lilah raised her fingers over the candle. She quickly pinched her fingers together, and the flame immediately died. With the last bit of light gone, Professor Lilah¡¯s contour disappeared into the darkness.


    Shon could hear a few students¡¯ breathing quicken. Shon inhaled and exhaled slowly, like what he had been taught. The fear of darkness, he had learned, was not unique to Fraxians. The only difference was that Fraxians perceived the world a little darker. While Valerians could fumble their way in the dark, Fraxians would be absolutely blind.


    Time in the darkness seemed to stretch forever. After an eternity, Professor Lilah spoke again.


    ¡°Now tell me. How difficult would it be for me to reignite the flame without any help?¡±


    ¡°It would be impossible,¡± someone muttered.


    ¡°And why is that?¡±


    ¡°Because you are a Val ¡ª I mean ¡ª because you do not have the capacity to transfer thermal energy.¡±


    ¡°Yes, precisely,¡± said Professor Lilah. ¡°It is impossible for me because I am not a Fraxian.¡±


    Shon sat in silence, pondering her words in the absolute darkness.


    ¡°Now, what about you guys?¡± continued Professor Lilah. ¡°Can you try to light up the flame?¡±


    Shon closed his eyes and concentrated. He sensed some residue heat in the projector and reached for it. His heart began to beat faster, and sweat beads started to form on his forehead.


    Suddenly, he felt a surge of momentum, as if he was pulling a heavy cart that suddenly lost half its weight. He opened his eyes and saw a few pairs of eyes glowing faint orange, signs that his Fraxian classmates were also performing thermal transfer.


    With their joint effort, there were a few sparks at the candle wick, and the candle lit up again. As the candlelight permeated the room, Shon regained his full vision. He looked around. A few of his other classmates were panting from the work. Shon tried to put on an effortless look, but he felt sweat rolling down his back. He must not be fatigued by such a small thermal transfer task, or he would have no chance to beat his classmates in the exam tomorrow.


    Professor Lilah lifted the candle from the table. Everyone¡¯s eyes followed suit.


    ¡°If you were to walk away from the Academy forgetting everything, I hope you would remember this.¡± Professor Lilah lit up a few more candles with the one in her hand, watching the room brighten up and the shadows recede into the corners.


    ¡°Anyone can extinguish a candle, but all that does is leave everyone in darkness. It takes strength to light up a candle in the dark.¡±


    The class sat quietly with all eyes on the professor.


    ¡°I know that even if I gave all my heart, I would not be able to comprehend even a fraction of the pain that you all endured from the injustice in our society. But I want you to know that in your blood you are blessed with a gift, and you can use it to do great things.


    ¡°As you take your Stormrunner Exam tomorrow, and as you journey through life, please use your gift to serve others around you and serve our great nation. Use it to save lives and bring hope to others. No matter the color of our eyes, no matter if we are a citizen or an auxiliary, it is our duty to make our nation a better place.


    ¡°And never, never forget. When the world is plunged into the darkness, you are the ones who can reignite the light.¡±

 Chapter 003 - The Train To The Exam

    After a sleepless night, Shon woke up at early dawn and dressed in exam attire. He stretched his limbs and dropped to the floor for a few pushups. Then he took out his notebook and glanced over the key materials one last time.


    Shon made himself a light breakfast with just enough food to keep him energized. He heard that anxiety would worsen nausea experienced during the stormrunning field simulation, and he would die of embarrassment if he threw up during the exam.


    Shon took a deep breath and headed to the train station. The exam center was an hour-long train ride away. Thankfully, he got Zora to keep him company.


    ¡°You know, Shon, you should treat yourself to a cab ride sometime,¡± said Zora. ¡°Today would be a good day to do it.¡±


    ¡°Well, they say standing is good for blood circulation,¡± rebuked Shon. ¡°You get a better warmup by standing in the train.¡±


    ¡°I call bullshit on that. I bet you are just trying to wear me out so I can¡¯t kick your ass during the field simulation.¡±


    Shon laughed, but deep down he knew that he couldn¡¯t afford a cab ride when it cost a day¡¯s worth of meals. Of course, Zora would offer to pay for it in a subtle way that wouldn¡¯t hurt Shon¡¯s pride. However, Shon hated being indebted ¡ª especially financially ¡ª to other people, even if it was his closest friend.


    Nonetheless, Shon was grateful for Zora¡¯s company on this train ride. The Stormrunning exam was perhaps the most important event in a Fraxian¡¯s life. Most Fraxian families would throw in everything they had to raise their children¡¯s odds by just a tiny sliver. Zora¡¯s father had ordered her a private ride, so she could get ample sleep on the way, but she refused it immediately upon hearing that there was no space for Shon.


    At this early hour, the train was mostly empty, but it already reeked of sweat and other bodily fluids. Most passengers were in shabby clothes or dirty work uniforms, Valerians and Fraxians alike. There was no other sound except the monotonic rumbling of wheels against rails and the unstable radio broadcast from the car next door.


    "A new wave of colossal Sandstorms had struck the Northern Provinces. Refugees are flooding towards the interior."


    The northern provinces. That was where Shon''s mother and sister lived. Shon walked closer to the radio.


    "The city of Thiab is in ruins. Over 8,600 Valerians and 2,300 others had been killed."


    Two Valerian women were also listening to the broadcast.


    "These damn Fraggers are like roaches," one of them said.


    Shon was too busy worrying about his family to care about the slurs. Besides, they got a point. Although it was mostly Fraxians who lived in the impoverished frontier provinces, they were more likely to escape the storms with their enhanced thermal cognitive capacities. It was always the Valerians that died in the storms.


    Shon thought about Thiab. The city of Thiab was bordering his family''s town. For now, his family was safe, but luck wasn''t something he could count on.


    Zora grabbed lightly onto Shon''s wrist. She knew about Shon''s family too.


    "Don''t think too much, especially now," said Zora.


    Shon took a deep breath and tried to focus on the present again. However, his inner peace didn''t last for long.


    There was a sudden commotion in the car next door. A few large middle-aged Valerians were ganging upon a young girl.


    Shon took a closer look at the girl. Her eyes were blue, but the irises did not carry the natural luster. Shon could easily tell that she was wearing some cheap camo contacts, products that Fraxians used to conceal their most identifiable physical feature. Thankfully, the Valerians hadn¡¯t noticed that.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    However, they began getting more physical. The one in the center shoved her against the wall, and the others began towering over her.


    Shon instantly felt the air chill, literally. He cursed lightly and began approaching the train. A Fraxian under fear would instinctually pull heat towards themselves, resulting in lowered ambiance temperature. Since this fight-or-flight response was a dead giveaway of not only their identity but also their mentality, Academy Fraxians like Shon had learned from a young age to control this reaction. However, the girl here had no such training.


    After a few seconds, the air had chilled so much that even the Valerians next to her could sense it. Immediately, they laughed.


    ¡°I thought I caught some normal thief, but turns out this one¡¯s a Fragger,¡± said the huge man in the center.


    At the sound of that word, Shon strode towards the group. Zora tugged on his arm and shook her head, but Shon ignored her.


    ¡°Excuse me, guys, is there a problem here?¡± Shon said firmly, inserting himself between the girl and the Valerians.


    ¡°Mind your own business, Fraxian,¡± said the one in the center as he turned towards Shon.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want any trouble here. Let¡¯s all take a step back, shall we?¡± said Shon, raising his hands up with palms open.


    ¡°Shut up, did you know what she did?¡± said the man on the left. ¡°She stole our hard-earned money.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t mix concrete for eight hours just for a lazy Fragger to take it for herself,¡± added the one on the right.


    Shon looked back at the girl, giving her a look that asked whether these accusations were true. The girl looked away in fear and nodded her head lightly.


    ¡°Give them back the money,¡± said Shon.


    The girl reached slowly into her pocket and produced a few crumpled bills. The man in the center snatched it away from her. Then he spat on her face and let out another slur. Shon¡¯s fists immediately clenched tight. He fought against the urge to punch him. He didn¡¯t want any trouble on the Exam Day.


    ¡°Alright guys, you have your money back. Can we all go home now?¡±


    ¡°How unfortunate,¡± said the center guy, ¡°but we can¡¯t let a criminal go unpunished. Especially a Fragger.¡±


    As soon as he dropped the slur again, he swung his left hand and slapped the young girl straight across the face. The blow was so strong that she fell towards the wall. Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.


    The center man raised his right fist and went for another blow, but Shon stopped his attack halfway and firmly grabbed onto his wrist.


    ¡°How dare you raise your hand against a Valerian?¡± said the man. He glanced up and down and noticed the Academy badge on Shon¡¯s shirt.


    ¡°You are an Academy Fraxian,¡± he laughed. ¡°Isn¡¯t the Stormrunner Exam today? They would fail you immediately if they knew what happened here.¡±


    Shit, they are right. Shon thought. However, he simply could not stand by and do nothing. He let go of the man¡¯s hand, but he got into a combat stance, ready for another strike from the man. The man looked at him in a taunting gaze, as if daring him to fight back so he could report him for assault.


    Suddenly, Zora¡¯s voice broke the tension.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to escalate, gentlemen,¡± said Zora calmly as she inserted herself between them. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can figure something out.¡±


    ¡°Tell your little boyfriend to walk away now, and we will not report him,¡± the man sneered.


    ¡°You cannot report him for self-defense. Proof¡¯s right there¡± Zora pointed towards the ceiling. The men looked up and saw a surveillance camera glaring down. Evidently, the camera had also recorded the man striking the girl first, but the cops probably would not care. Even if Shon walked away innocent, he would still miss his Exam, which was the only opportunity for him to turn his life and his immigrant family¡¯s life around.


    Before the men could rebuke her, Zora continued speaking.


    ¡°However, I understand your desire for justice, so I suggest a compromise.¡±


    The men stared at her. So did Shon.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call the cops right now. They will arrest her at the next stop. You get the justice you want, and we walk away without trouble. Is that a deal?¡±


    Zora extended her hand, waiting for a handshake of truce.


    Shon stared at her. He couldn¡¯t believe that she would turn that girl over to the cops. Petty theft would land a Fraxian at least a few years in jail. Valerian prisons were notoriously bad. Who knew if she could even survive?


    Shon desperately wanted to do something. He wanted to punch them. He was confident he could beat them up badly. However, that would only get him arrested and disqualified from the Exam. The bright Academy student would be branded as a criminal. After all the sacrifices his family had made for him, he could not bury his own future from a fit of rage.


    As time stretched out, Shon felt sweat beads rolling down his forehead. He hated how useless he was. He did not have Zora¡¯s eloquence and calmness to produce a better solution, and perhaps there was no better solution. After all, it was undisputable that the girl committed theft. However, something just didn¡¯t feel right.


    But there was no time for Shon to protest. The man in the middle nodded his head and shook Zora¡¯s hand firmly. The girl broke into a sob. She knelt on the floor, begging the Valerian men for forgiveness and pleading with Zora not to call the cops. However, the deal has already been made, and Shon and Zora could not wager their future over a hopeless case of theft caught on camera. Under the Valerian men¡¯s tight scrutiny, Zora called the police.


    At the next stop, two Valerian officers handcuffed the girl and escorted her out of the train. The girl stared desperately at Shon. Shon kept his gaze straight and quickly walked away. He did not look back.

 Chapter 004 - The Exam Begins

    Although the exam would not begin for another half an hour, the testing center was already packed with thousands of Fraxian and Valerian students from different institutions. Shon and Zora spotted a few friends from the Academy, but nobody was in the mood for small talk.


    Many students, whether Fraxian or Valerian, were doing some last-minute cramming with the textbooks. Near the training room, some Valerians were sparring with each other.One Valerian slammed another onto the ground with a loud thud, and Shon winced at the pain. Thankfully Fraxians were not tested on hand-to-hand combat.


    On the other side, there was a large shooting range. Several Fraxians and Valerians were gathered there. On the Valerian range, a talented marksman caught the admiring eyes of many. He fluidly moved from cover to cover, like a dancer gliding across the stage. As soon as the human-shaped target popped up, he would quickly strike them with perfect headshots, sometimes even without looking. The moment he emptied his rifle, he picked up a revolver from the table and brought down the three remaining targets.


    As the marksman put down his gun, his gaze crossed Shon¡¯s. He saw Shon¡¯s orange Fraxian eyes and sneered. He proceeded to pick up a bullet, sliding it across his neck. Shon ignored his taunt.


    ¡°That¡¯s Damian Strauss,¡± whispered Zora. ¡°Stay out of his way. He¡¯s made a few questionable statements about Fraxians in the past.¡±


    ¡°What a pity that such a good marksman has rocks for brains,¡± Shon muttered.


    Shon walked onto his own half of the range. On the Fraxian side, there were no human-shaped targets. Instead, numerous large and irregular objects flew in predetermined trajectories, resembling debris in a sandstorm.


    Unlike the fancy arsenal on the Valerian side, the Fraxians were only given three models of XetaCorp blasters equipped by Stormrunners. As weapons against the sandstorms, these blasters would fire special energy beams that only damage inorganic matters like rock and metal, while passing harmlessly through any organic matter in between.


    Shon picked up the biggest blaster and aimed it at a flying boulder. However, a few Valerians passed by behind him. He quickly lowered his blaster to prevent misunderstanding, but his eyes were still fixed on the parabolic arc of the boulder. The moment that the last Valerian walked away from him, he raised his arm and pulled the trigger. A blue beam shot out from the muzzle. As soon as it made contact with the boulder, the entire boulder pulverized into dust, leaving behind a faint smell of char mixed with smoke.


    Shon moved on to the Stormrunning training range. There were a few Fraxians and Valerians equipped with Stormrunning gear. Some ran along the walls and dodged obstacles up and down. A few others jumped through the air with their grappling hooks and jump packs. Shon was itching to try on the gear, but he took a deep breath and walked away. He should not waste his energy.


    The bells began ringing. An assembly was called. The Fraxians and Valerians separated into two crowds. Shon laid down the blaster and walked along with other Fraxians into the dark auditorium.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The auditorium became pitch black as soon as the last student entered, or at least pitch black for Fraxian eyes. Surprisingly, Shon found himself welcoming the temporary blindness. Without the ability to see the outside world, he was given a few solitary minutes to introspect. This allowed him to calm his nerves a little.


    Shon heard some film strips rolling, and the projector buzzed to life, casting a larger-than-life image of President Claudia Valtora on the center of the screen.


    The video began playing. President Valtora¡¯s piercing blue eyes glanced down at the audience as if staring right into the souls of each student. She waited for a few seconds before she began speaking.


    ¡°Good morning, students. Congratulations on making it this far in your journey. You have already come further than many Fraxians would ever will.¡±


    President Valtora¡¯s full and powerful voice made her a natural orator, carrying her words throughout the room, bouncing off walls and echoing off the students¡¯ hearts. Since everywhere else was dark, Shon found his eyes glued onto the glowing screen.


    ¡°This Exam will be a life-changing event. The students who scored the highest will be granted a Valerian citizenship status alongside their families. This would be the highest honor any Fraxian could receive in their lifetime.¡±


    Shon¡¯s heart began racing. A Valerian citizenship. That was what he had been working for. After all the sacrifices his family had made to settle down in this nation, after enduring all the systemic injustices and personal insults he had faced as an auxiliary, and after studying and training at an intensity that few Valerian or Fraxian would understand, he would finally become an Honorary Valerian. By then, his family would no longer need to scrimp and save every cent. No one would be able to disrespect him or his family. He would be an equal. He would be free.


    ¡°Becoming a Stormrunner means carrying a sacred duty,¡± President Valtora continued. ¡°When the sandstorms come ¡ª whether it be naturally occurring or artificially induced ¡ª you would be the ones charging towards danger.


    ¡°When everyone else will be running for their lives, you must be prepared to give your own. When everyone else will be hiding, you must dive headfirst into the sand and gravel. When everyone else will be praying to never encounter another sandstorm in their lifetimes, you must be constantly on the chase, diving into one storm after another, not only diffusing them but also extracting data and knowledge. Your individual lives will be part of the Valerian frontline, and your intelligence will contribute to the Valerian compendium of knowledge.¡±


    ¡°I wish you the best of luck on your exams. It has been my honor to serve Valeria, and likewise, it will be your utmost honor to serve our great nation. Through service and patriotism, you will find meaning like never before, and your lives will change forever after today.¡±


    With that, the videotape finished playing. The room was once again engulfed in darkness.


    There was a chill in the air. Shon felt goosebumps on his arms. Having fallen under the hypnotic powers of President Valtora¡¯s oratory, Shon dreamed of the future ahead.


    Shon wondered what it would be like to become something bigger ¡ª bigger than his current life of nine-to-five Academy drudgery and five-to-three exam prep, bigger than that cramped sun-less apartment in the low-city next to nothing but gunshots, bigger than calculating if picking the one digit train fare could afford him the two-digit grocery cost.


    If he became part of something bigger, perhaps the senseless repetition of his current life would have some meaning. Perhaps by then, his mother and sister would also reap meaning in their sacrifices for him.


    The thoughts rose and fell in Shon¡¯s head, eventually leaving only one thing in his mind.


    He must become a Stormrunner.

 Chapter 005 - The Written Test

    The first part of the Stormrunner Exam was a written test on physics, geology, and meteorology.


    As Shon opened the booklet, he chuckled. This exam seemed to be an easy one.


    ¡°What is the first law of thermodynamics?¡± the first question asked.


    ¡°The first law of thermodynamics,¡± Shon wrote, ¡°dictates that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but only transferred between different states.¡±


    Yes, the first law of thermodynamics. Because of this iron law, Fraxian powers depended heavily on their surroundings. It would be useless to transfer energy if there was none to begin with. Furthermore, in realistic settings, it would take a Fraxian much more energy than the ideal number derived from equations. Disrupting thermal equilibrium meant heavy heat loss into the environment, and like all other organic beings and inorganic systems, the Fraxian biology was simply not a perfectly efficient machine.


    Valerians also understood the laws of thermodynamics well, perhaps even better than Fraxians. Shon heard many stories from the earlier days of the Gloom Centuries, especially during the November Riots. The Valerians who broke into Fraxian homes would extinguish all sources of heat so the Fraxians could not fight back. Some shot the Fraxians outright. The crueler ones would tie the Fraxians up a beam and light a fire under their feet. The fire was big enough to cause physical pain, but it was just small enough so that the Fraxians were physically capable of redirecting it without inflicting damage. Faced with the burning pain, those Fraxians would instinctively perform thermal transfer to protect themselves. After an hour, they would reach the limits of their physical capacity and die of exhaustion rather than thermal injuries.


    Those were dark days. At least these bloody riots would never happen again under President Valtora¡¯s rule. Shon breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was not born into a life of comfort, at least Fraxians like him were given legal protection and a chance to work their way out of poverty.He could even join the ranks of Valerians as an honorary citizen.


    Shon smiled. The future ahead of him carried infinite possibilities, even though some possibilities were infinitely far.


    Shon refocused on the exam booklet. He breezed through the other questions. He almost regretted spending so much time preparing for the written portion, given how easy it was.


    However, every now and then, he would encounter an interesting problem that got him thinking.


    ¡°What are the four types of lethal debris in a sandstorm?¡± asked the booklet.


    Shon struggled to remember. Evidently, there was sand. Death by asphyxiation. There were boulders, like the large rocks he shot up in the range earlier. Death by blunt trauma. There were those sharp metal poles blown from destroyed buildings. When they got accelerated by the winds, they would effectively become lethal javelins. Death by penetrating trauma.


    And of course, there was gravel. How could he forget? This was the mechanism of death on his dad¡¯s death certificate. He remembered that during the funeral, his dad¡¯s body was wrapped entirely in shrouds. The autopsy report could not find a word precise enough to describe the state of his father, or whatever was left of himDoctors said that the torrent of high-speed gravel disfigured his father, but according to people who had been there, these gravels tore up his flesh and bones and brought them into the wind, like a horde of bloodthirsty locusts. There were photos from the autopsy, but Shon never had the courage to take a look.


    ¡°The four types of debris: aerosol, boulder, spike, and shrapnel,¡± Shon put down the formal names on paper.


    Shon kept writing, trying to push the thought of his father out of his mind. He could not let any emotions distract him from passing this exam.He silently apologized, but that was what his dead father ¡ª and his living mother and sister ¡ª would have wanted.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    For nearly all the remaining questions, Shon could recite the answers from the top of his head. His mind began wandering off. He wondered how he would do in the thermal manipulation test and the political loyalty section. Those shouldn¡¯t be too much trouble. The hardest one would be the Stormrunning simulation.


    Thirty minutes left. He flipped the booklet over. One essay question left.


    ¡°In 500 words, describe the relationship between Fraxian biology, the laws of thermodynamics, and the city¡¯s power infrastructure.¡±


    No wonder the rest of the exam was so easy. This problem was novel, unseen in any past exams or exam prep. While most problems depended on rote memorization, this problem required a thorough, systemic understanding of how the sciences in the textbooks apply to daily life.


    Shon wondered why this year¡¯s exam was suddenly so different. Did the criteria for selecting Stormrunners change?


    Shon smiled. Although he had not encountered this problem in his earlier preparation, this question had tested him right in the area of his interest. The best Stormrunners fell in two categories ¡ª those with a personal vendetta against the storms, and those who wanted to explore the unknown with the help of the most cutting-edge technology. Shon happened to be both.


    He picked up his pen and began writing. The entire power infrastructure of the Republic of Valeria was designed and built by XetaCorp. The founder and CEO of XetaCorp, Theo Xeta, combined the laws of thermodynamics with Fraxian biology to create ThermoTech, a branch of engineering applied in most modern-day tech.


    The details of ThermoTech remained proprietary information, but Shon understood the basics. Fraxian cells contained specific genomes capable of sensing and transferring heat. While a regular Fraxian could not even extinguish a candle without breaking a sweat, ThermoTech extracted Fraxian cells and amplified useful traits through genomics. By building amplification devices around these cells, they could serve specialized roles like power sources, information carriers, or sensors.


    Shon looked around the room for some inspiration, and he saw the bright thermolamps hanging overhead, illuminating the room for years without a break. That was a perfect example. He began illustrating a diagram.


    In a thermolamp, cells were built to be specialized in incandescence, or changing heat energy into electromagnetic radiation like visible light. There were only very few cells, condensed in an orb smaller than a speck of dust. However, with the help of amplification infrastructure, the perceived energy could be made much bigger.


    Shon drew another picture of a person yelling into a canyon. Normally, a person¡¯s voice could not travel far. However, in a perfectly shaped canyon, the voice might carry for miles. A ThermoTech amplification device was like a perfectly shaped canyon. It did not produce extraneous energy, but it rearranged existing energy in the most efficient manner.


    Suddenly, a thought came across Shon. Valeria had always glorified ThermoTech as the cutting-edge technology that solved all of humanity¡¯s issues. However, Shon looked back at the stinky train ride earlier today. Then he remembered how he had shivered in the cold shower he had taken the night before.


    What if the world should not have been this way? What if Fraxians, serving as such an important cornerstone of science, deserved to enjoy the benefits of their creations?


    He had heard stories about the land far, far away, about the Bastion Empire. Of course, not the official propaganda that threw all kinds of derogatory remarks at the Bastion Empire, but from word of mouth.


    In the Bastion Empire, Shon had heard, Fraxian powers were celebrated instead of detested, which allowed them to create much better innovations.


    From the whispers of refugees and immigrants, Shon had learned that Bastion scientists had discovered a revolutionary energy source called electricity, capable of powering even the poorest homes. The Bastion Fraxians used thermo manipulation to create superconductors ¡ª lossless energy mediums used to build floating trains and machines that split atoms. Some veterans had even described how Bastion Fraxians manipulated energy particles in mysterious patterns, crafting fearsome thinking machines that could compute storm trajectory and thermodynamics simulation ten times faster than the best Valerian scientist.


    Perhaps in the Bastion Empire, Shon and his family could live with dignity¡­


    Shon quickly shook his head. No way. The Bastion Empire was a horrific dictatorship. His mom did not risk her life to sail across the seas just for her son to be so ungrateful. His future was in Valeria. That was why he must become a Valerian citizen, so he could never be exiled. That was why he must become a Stormrunner.


    There was a loud buzz. The exam bell broke Shon¡¯s train of thought. Thankfully, he had the essay long finished.


    Shon quickly stashed away his thoughts of the Bastion Empire. Given that the political loyalty test was in two hours, he should not let any questionable thoughts enter his mind. Especially not thoughts about the Bastion Empire, supposedly Valeria¡¯s biggest enemy.


    Shon quickly went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face, bringing his mind back to the present moment. Right now, his priority was to ace the thermal transfer test.

 Chapter 006 - The Thermal Transfer Test

    On the way to the thermal transfer test, Shon noticed a group of students crowded around something. He stood on the outer fringe to sneak a peek, but someone grabbed his hand and pulled him into the crowd. It was Zora.


    ¡°Come over quick. Squad Osprey is here!¡±


    It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Shon quickly followed Zora¡¯s lead, shoving past confused faces. Since Squad Osprey was always battling the toughest storms on the front, even many currently serving Stormrunners did not have the chance to meet them in person.


    Near the front, a tall, lean man was encircled by a group of students, with both Fraxians and Valerians. The man stood firm and upright, with an unusual stillness and brevity in his motion, as if he would never waste a second performing a useless act.


    However, the most noticeable feature of all was his lightly glowing orange eyes. Although he was a Fraxian, all Valerian students and adults treated him with the utmost deference.


    That was Captain Lynx, the leader of Squad Osprey.


    ¡°Captain, can I get your autograph,¡± one Valerian student said. ¡°You saved my mom from Storm Aries. She would be so happy to see you.¡±


    ¡°You probably don¡¯t remember me,¡± said another Valerian student. ¡°But your squad saved my town in the northern basin.¡±


    There were so many Valerian fans that Shon did not want to squeeze in. However, Captain Lynx spotted Shon and Zora, and he invited them in.


    ¡°Tell me, what are your names?¡± asked Captain Lynx in a kind and gentle voice.


    Shon¡¯s head went blank, and he began to stutter. However, Zora was quick to respond.


    ¡°I¡¯m Zora, a student of the Deercreek Academy. That¡¯s my friend Shon.¡±


    Typically, introductions like this would invite sneers from Valerian students. However, in Captain Lynx¡¯s presence, they maintained a nonchalant expression. Some even squeezed out a smile.


    ¡°Ah, Deercreek Academy, how I missed it there,¡± Captain Lynx laughed. ¡°Is Professor Lilah still teaching meteorology?¡±


    ¡°Indeed she is. I¡¯m gonna miss her so much. Though I have to admit, her lectures do put me to sleep from time to time,¡± Zora joined Captain Lynx in laughter.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Shon interrupted. ¡°You¡¯re from Deercreek?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I miss those days,¡± said Captain Lynx. ¡°You know that some of the best Stormrunners came from Deercreek. You are lucky to study there.¡±


    ¡°Wow. I - I just never thought that you¡¯d go to the same school as me.¡± Shon stuttered. ¡°No, sorry. I didn¡¯t mean it in a bad way. I just meant -¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean,¡± Captain Lynx smiled. ¡°Everyone sees Squad Osprey as something out-of-touch. But we are just like everyone else. In fact, I am probably just like you.¡±


    Shon was surprised. Captain Lynx, the face of Fraxian legacy, perhaps the second most popular Fraxian next to XetaCorp¡¯s Theo Xeta, just told him that he had the same potential. Shon stared introspectively. Could he also become a Stormrunner as great as Captain Lynx?


    As Shon and Zora left the crowd, they were met with stares of envy. As for Shon, whatever frustration he had felt earlier on the train was completely gone.


    However, it was not typical for Stormrunner celebrities to come to the Exam.


    ¡°Zora, did you feel like there was something different with this year¡¯s Exam?¡± Shon asked.


    ¡°Now that you speak of it, the written test was certainly¡­ different,¡± said Zora. ¡°Not that it¡¯s hard. But it seemed to test something more practical.¡±


    Shon thought about it. A different test meant a different set of criteria for selecting Stormrunners. This could only mean one thing.


    ¡°The sandstorms must have changed. That¡¯s the only reason.¡±


    Shon hurried off to his testing room for the thermal transfer test. Just like he had suspected, the thermal transfer test became much more different.


    Typically, the thermal transfer test involved extinguishing and re-igniting a fire. It was a test of concentration and brute force.


    However, this time, instead of a lamp in the middle, there was a matrix of eighteen by eighteen candles, each spaced a foot apart. Some of them were ignited.


    ¡°Candidate, please sit in the center of the candle matrix.¡±


    Shon walked into the candle matrix. He felt as if he was sitting in the center of what was a blend between a spellcasting circle and a chess board. The candles extended away from him in every direction, creating glowing orange lines of geometric patterns.


    However, Shon soon noticed that these candle flames each danced to their own patterns, causing the resulting geometric patterns to mutate quickly from one shape to another.


    This was the second difference. In the past, the thermal transfer test always took place in a room with stable currents, which allowed Fraxian to manipulate molecules in a much more predictable setting. However, this time, there were dozens of warm and cool currents in the room. Some collided against each other, while others interweaved together. Every few seconds, one current would die out, while another two would be created. The entire system of airflow felt like a shapeshifting mesh, enveloping Shon and the candles around him, folding and molding the flame patterns into arbitrary structures.


    ¡°Candidate, as you may have noticed, you are placed in a room with airflow pumped out in random directions and temperatures. Your job is to extinguish or reignite candles according to our instruction.¡±


    Then Shon noticed a large thermo screen hanging off the ceiling. There were three lines, each representing a mathematical function. For every round, Shon would be given fifteen seconds to solve the system of functions, locate the corresponding area of candles, and ignite them while extinguishing all others.


    Shon wondered about the changes. The complex air currents and the candle matrix all seemed to be emulating a sandstorm. This, combined with the weird essay question earlier, all seemed to be screaming that the nation was now looking for Stormrunners with practical skills.Stolen novel; please report.


    But why the sudden shift? Shon¡¯s worry grew beyond his personal future. Could it mean something bad would happen to the nation? To his family?


    The clock buzzed, signifying the start of the exam.


    Numbers and equations flashed on the screen. Shon dived into his headspace, pulling apart each equation and realigning the numbers and variables. He felt as if he could see the shape of the function graphs in front of him, and he layered each graph on top of another, finally locating the intersection that represented the target area of the candles.


    Fraxians were always stereotyped to be good at computation. Shon, in particular, was the top among the Fraxians. The computation was not difficult. The real challenge was extinguishing and reigniting the flames.


    Shon quickly did a few big sweeps, extinguishing rows and rows of candles. However, he realized he misstepped, and a couple of candles in the target area got put out.


    Shit, Shon cussed quietly. Compared to extinguishing a candle, reigniting one required way more energy. Shon tried to locate the heat from the recently extinguished candles, but like a paper bag caught in traffic, the heat had long been dissipated by the unpredictable air currents pumped from the machines in the walls.


    Finally, Shon grabbed onto the heat from a hot air current. He tried to bring it down to the candles, but he lost focus on the environment. A stream of cold air flew past and knocked the energy away, causing it to dissipate into the ambiance.


    The buzzer sounded.


    ¡°Stage one failed.¡±


    Shon froze. How could these tasks possibly be performed in fifteen seconds? There must be some mistake.


    However, the examiners gave no time for Shon to feel sorry for himself. The second stage began immediately.


    Shon jumped into action. However, this time it was even harder, as many candles were put out already and had to be re-ignited. This required even more energy.


    Shon tried to optimize the problem, trying to transfer each already-ignited flame before starting to capture new heat. However, while this saved energy, the optimization problem itself took up more capacity in his brain. Even after optimizing, Shon still had five candles to light up.


    Just like last time, the unpredictable current patterns knocked most thermal energy out of Shon¡¯s grasp. It took too much mental capacity to both hold onto the heat while minding the surrounding airflow.


    When the buzzer sounded, Shon was unable to bring enough heat into the candles to ignite the flames. He failed again.


    Shon became visibly anxious. The air around him began fluctuating in temperature. He couldn¡¯t afford much more failures. He didn¡¯t know the exact cutoff number, but he felt he was close.


    Stage three. Stage four. Stage five. Shon failed every one of those. Either he had his heat killed by unseen currents, or he was too careful and ran out of time.


    This task simply seemed impossible. Shon¡¯s breathing quickened, and different thoughts and emotions gushed out of his mind like a barrage of water breaking through the dam. He imagined failing the exam and having to work two minimum-wage jobs like his immigrant mother. He imagined facing his sister¡¯s disappointment, telling her that he had failed despite her giving up her own higher education to pay for his academy.


    As the thoughts raced in his head, the temperature around the room began fluctuating wildly, until it reached a point where Shon couldn¡¯t even ignore it.


    Shon raised his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to use my allotted break.¡±


    ¡°Do you understand that this is the only break left for the remaining twenty rounds?¡± asked the examiner.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Granted, you have five minutes.¡±


    Shon took a deep breath. He spent the first thirty seconds readjusting his emotions. Like what they taught in the Academy, extreme emotion was the killer of Stormrunners.


    Then Shon quickly began looking for a new strategy. Evidently, he was running out of time every round. Shon reviewed every step he had taken. Performing the mental arithmetics was an inevitable step, and Shon knew that his mathematical capabilities already lied in the top percentiles. That meant he must develop a new strategy to reignite the flames.


    However, Shon was already taking the most efficient approach to reignite the flames. He always transferred heat from one candle to another, extinguishing the old candles in the process. Of course, some energy would always be lost in the process of transfer, as proven by the second law of thermodynamics.


    The second law of thermodynamics. Shon gasped.


    This was the key to this challenge! The second law of thermodynamics stated that the entropy of a closed system would naturally increase, meaning that elements inevitably tended toward disorder. It would be easy to scramble an egg but virtually impossible to unscramble it into yolk and whites.


    A sudden realization dawned upon Shon. The entire environment, with its interweaving webs of hot and cold air currents, represented a disorderly system of high entropy. Shon¡¯s attempts to separate certain streams of air were akin to isolating egg yolks out of a beaten egg. It was arduous if not impossible.


    The buzzer rang, signifying the end of his break. Shon still had not figured out the details yet, but he had a strategy of some sort.


    Shon closed his eyes. As he was computing the target location, he also tuned up his senses of heat perception. He felt the interweaving web of hot and cold air, like cars in a busy city.


    He positioned his consciousness on one stream of air, letting it carry him through the traffic of air. He imagined that he was riding the same train he took earlier this morning, except he was not on one single train, but on all of them simultaneously. He felt the train accelerate, taking multiple loops around the city each second.


    As the air streams encircled the room, he felt the flames on each candle turning on and off, forming a slideshow of illuminated geometry like blinking constellations in the dark night. The entire room was enveloped in changing hues of yellow, orange, and red from the shifting flames. Shadows raced along the walls, combining, dividing, waning, and growing every moment.


    From all the positions at once, Shon focused his consciousness on one single stream of air. He found himself on the train this morning again, soaring past the junctions of traffic and people. He thought about the damp, musty air. He thought about Zora. He thought about the Valerian construction workers and the little Fraxian girl.


    Right when the train soared past his stop, Shon leaped off the train. He aimed his consciousness at the target area and let everything implode at once. He felt a surge of heatwave. Then everything calmed as quickly as they began.


    He opened his eyes. He ignited every target candle except for one.


    Shon smiled. It was imperfect, but much better than before.


    Suddenly, the examiners called for a technical pause. A few examiners came in and replaced a few candles. As they disposed of the old ones, Shon noticed that the glass cylinder of the candle was marred by dark scorch marks, presumably from the heatwave he caused earlier.


    ¡°Damn son, you burnt the wicks into a crisp,¡± one of them patted him on the shoulder.


    Shon felt confidence rising again in him. While this new way of thermal transfer was strange and foreign, he was confident he could control it well enough for the remaining rounds.


    And indeed, he passed every single round after with perfect precision.


    As Shon was about to depart the room, he heard a man laugh. The man clapped as he slowly approached him.


    Shon turned his head. The man in front of him was tall with shoulder-length hair. His glowing orange eyes sat behind what seemed like an ordinary pair of glasses, but Shon could see small gadgets retrofitted on top. In fact, every piece of accessory he wore, from his watch to his chains, all seemed to be an instrument from the future.


    Shon had seen that face in commercials and magazines too many times. It was Theo Xeta, inventor, philanthropist, and the first Fraxian billionaire. He was the CEO of XetaCorps.


    ¡°Good job. Not many managed to pass my test, especially not quite like you did,¡± said Theo Xeta.


    ¡°I¡¯m Theo,¡± he continued, extending a hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m Shon,¡± said Shon, trying hard not to stammer like he did earlier. ¡°Wow, Mr. Xeta¡­ I didn¡¯t know you¡¯d be here!¡±


    ¡°Just Theo, please,¡± Theo Xeta smiled. ¡°Now I know I¡¯m not allowed to interact with candidates directly, but I must tell you, I¡¯m very impressed.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir. I mean, Theo,¡± said Shon, trying hard to search for words but failing to find any.


    ¡°I will not interrupt you any future, Shon,¡± said Theo. ¡°Best of luck to you.¡±


    Shon walked away from the testing room with a dreamy smile. He couldn¡¯t believe it. It was Theo Xeta, the pride of the Fraxians! Like what his mom always told him over and over again since he was a kid, Theo Xeta was the embodiment of the Fraxian-Valerian dream.


    However,Xeta¡¯s presence, combined with that of Squad Osprey earlier, further confirmed Shon¡¯s suspicion that something was different this year. He was dying to figure out what it was. However, with the time constraints, he could neither investigate the subject of his curiosity nor indulge himself in the feeling of success.


    Still undergoing heavy and mental fatigue, Shon stepped into the next testing room, ready for the test rumored to be the most psychologically intimidating ¡ª the test of political loyalty.

 Chapter 007 - The Most Powerful People

    Shortly after Shon left the thermal transfer room, a conversation broke out in the examiner¡¯s chamber.


    ¡°Theo, I told you you can¡¯t talk to examiners. It¡¯s against the rules.¡±


    ¡°I was just excited that someone solved my puzzle,¡± said Theo Xeta sheepishly with a smirk, like a teenager who had just committed some mischief.


    All other examiners bowed their heads down and scurried out of the room respectfully, leaving some privacy for two of the most powerful people in the Republic of Valeria.


    One of them was Theo Xeta, CEO of XetaCorp, who needed no introduction.


    The other one had a more obscure reputation. Her name was not commonly uttered among Valerian and Fraxian civilians, and fewer had seen her face. Those who knew of her existence either served in the upper echelons of the Valerian government or were about to be subjected to the utmost cruelty.


    It was Vik Layden, the director of Valeria¡¯s top intelligence agency, the Valerian Unification Commission.


    ¡°The thermal transfer exam was not supposed to be this hard. I am concerned by this year¡¯s results,¡± said Vik as she strode towards a whiteboard, where a list of names was crossed out except for a few.


    ¡°You and I both know that we need better Stormrunners,¡± said Theo, reverting to the erudite look. ¡°This time, the storms up in the Northern provinces are different. I looked at the reports myself.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Vik sighed. She glanced around to make sure nobody was left in the room. Then she walked over and pulled a lever, shutting off all cameras and microphones in the room.


    ¡°Thank you for the XetaCorp safehouse,¡± Vik muttered, embarrassed to display outright gratitude. ¡°My husband told me that there was nothing left in Thiab after the storm.¡±


    The footage of Thiab was brutal. Theo had watched all of them. Buildings were shredded to pieces and got sucked into the storm before they could even collapse, along with the people inside. Natural gas leaked out of Thermo Pipes and got sucked into the air vortex, only to be lit ablaze into a spinning inferno. The might of the storm launched tens of thousands of broken boulders into the city, like a bombardment from heaven, leveling any organic and inorganic thing into a mush of flatland.


    ¡°I know,¡± Theo replied, the earlier boyish mischief gone from his face. ¡°Many Fraxians had died.¡±


    Vik looked almost apologetic.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Theo. I really wish we could have done more.¡±


    Then shut up and do it, Theo wanted to shout. However, he controlled his temper. Even with all the wealth and resources he could wield, he knew that he remained at the mercy of powerful Valerians in the higher chambers. In this nation, a Fraxian would never be truly equal. He needed Vik''s support.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°I know I said this many times, Vik. But why don¡¯t you move your family to somewhere safe in the interior? At least away from the frontiers?¡±


    Vik sighed. She looked through the glass into the testing room, now completely empty except for the hundreds of flickering candles.


    ¡°It¡¯s not safe,¡± she muttered. ¡°On the frontiers, your only enemy is the storms. In the interior, your enemies are the people. Some want to destroy me. Others want to use me. They all begin with my family.¡±


    Although Vik was correct, Theo still felt a rush of annoyance and anger at the sight of Vik Layden¡¯s self-pitying speech.


    ¡°Need I remind you what VUC has done? You owe our people too much.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Vik said quietly, continuing to stare into the sea of candles far ahead. ¡°And I try to make up for it.¡±


    Vik took out a parcel with a dozen rolls of videotapes and laid it on the table.


    ¡°These are the footage from today. Combined with the ones on Monday, it¡¯s two hundred footage in total.¡±


    Theo quickly stuffed the parcel into a metal briefcase and locked it.


    ¡°That kid you just talked to, he was in one of the footage," continued Vik. "Some Fraxian thief was getting ganged up in the train, and that kid almost got into a fight to defend the thief."


    "Interesting," said Theo.


    Theo pretended to be nonchalant in front of Vik. However, the description piqued his interest. This young man - an academy Fraxian reckless enough to get into a fight hours before the most important exam of his life -- was the kind of people he was looking for.


    "Hey, if you''re gonna do anything to those Valerians," Vik added. "Make it subtle. I don''t want the kid to be alarmed."


    "Huh?" Theo feigned confusion.


    "I may not care about your vigilante justice. But don''t assume I''m too stupid to notice it."


    Theo continued to stare blankly at Vik, unsure whether he should defend himself.


    "Isn''t it curious how Valerian convicts were five times more likely to get shanked in prison after committing anti-Fraxian hate crimes?" said Vik. "Those acquitted were twenty times more likely to get robbed, shot, or hit by a car if they were captured in the videotape I gave you."


    Theo blinked a few times and let out his words carefully.


    "I''m surprised the VUC noticed this trend yet permitted it to continue."


    "The VUC has not noticed. And I prefer to keep it this way," said Vik.


    Theo stared unflinchingly into Vik''s eyes, attempting to pry more information out of her cryptic gaze. He could see that Vik was doing the same.


    "Be warned, however," Vik continued. "Your other actions had stirred dissatisfaction among some powerful individuals."


    Theo scanned his memory for any noticeably controversial acts he had committed over the past few months. He had always tried to be on the Valerians'' good side, but he simply was not one of them.


    "Are they attempting anything?" asked Theo.


    Vik looked at him and sighed. The apologetic look reemerged on her face.


    "The full moon will be beautiful tonight. It would be a pity to sleep too early."


    Theo understood. What was coming was inevitable. In fact, the moment that he had acquired so much wealth, respect, and influence as a Fraxian, he knew that his paths would all end the same way.


    "Is it the VUC this time?" asked Theo.


    Vik hesitated.


    "Many decisions are beyond my control," said Vik.


    Theo said nothing. They sat in silence for a short eternity, staring at the rows and rows of candle flames flickering under the weight of unstoppable air currents. A few went dark, then bright again, then extinguished for good.


    In the grand scheme of things, no matter what shared or conflicted interests they had, their lives would be no more permanent than the candlelight.


    "Theo, you know I tried my best to leave you out of this, right?"


    "I appreciate it."

 Chapter 008 - The Political Loyalty Test

    The political loyalty test room carried an air of solemnity that inspired both awe and intimidation in Shon.


    Gigantic pillars in the corners of the room propped up a domed ceiling almost three floors high. There were no other windows in the room except the gigantic skylights on the roof, which were covered partially to direct beams of sunlight toward the center of the room.


    Shon took a seat in the center. In front of him were three examiners, two Valerian and one Fraxian. Around him sat many observers whose faces were covered. They were there to record the tiniest movements that Shon would make.


    ¡°Candidate, I believe you are familiar with the rules. We will ask you a few questions. All you need to do is to answer truthfully. Lying would result in immediate disqualification,¡± said the Valerian examiner in the center.


    ¡°Please be reminded that a Fraxian Truthsayer will be observing you today,¡± said the other Valerian examiner.


    Shon looked at the Fraxian examiner. She must be the Truthsayer. Truthsayers were Fraxians with an extremely heightened sense of thermal perception. Heavily trained in behavioral psychology, they could deduce whether someone is truthful through the tiniest change in body temperature or the heat flow from an accelerating heart rate. The Truthsayer right here was also wearing some additional Thermotech gadgets, likely to aid her perception.


    However, the Truthsayer wasn¡¯t the only answer to truth, because that meant giving too much power to a single Fraxian. Shon could also feel the heavy thermal-reactive gas pressing against his skin.


    ¡°In addition, please be reminded that the room is filled with thermal-reactive gas. Please do not be alarmed by the ensuing chemical reaction.¡±


    Thermal manipulation was as much a strength as it was a weakness for Fraxians. A Fraxian would betray their emotions by involuntarily altering the temperature of their surroundings.


    The thermal-reactive gas filling the testing room would change color from a temperature shift of a fraction of a degree. Although academy-trained Fraxians like Shon could conceal temperature swings from an ordinary Valerian, it would be near impossible to hide them from the detection of the thermal-reactive gas.


    This, combined with the Truthsayer, meant that Shon had no other options.


    He must tell the truth.


    Shon sat down slowly and took a deep breath, slowing his heartbeat and regulating his body temperature.


    The exam began with simple questions to establish a behavioral baseline, like asking for Shon¡¯s name and city of birth. Shon was disturbed by how the observers around him were rapidly taking notes on his intonation, microexpressions, and body movement, even when he wasn¡¯t speaking. He felt like a circus animal like one of those Fraxians put on a freakshow display back in the Gloom Centuries days.


    Shon noticed the air around him slowly turning to a pale, translucent yellow. He quickly pulled away from these angry thoughts and focused on the present. The air gradually cooled down again, and the yellow tint was gone.


    However, the cooling did not stop. At the sight of the thermal-reactive gas changing color, Shon began worrying about getting disqualified for the exam. The more he tried not to worry, the worse the worry grew, developing into fear and anxiety.


    The air around Shon chilled more. A light cyan hue began permeating the air.


    ¡°Candidate, please do not worry too much about the thermal-reactive gas.¡±


    The Fraxian Truthsayer spoke gently with a warm and soothing voice. If it wasn¡¯t for the serious demeanor and solemn outfit, Shon was sure she would be a personable woman outside the Exam.


    ¡°The changing colors will not disqualify you,¡± she continued. ¡°Most candidates, including many Stormrunners in the past, had triggered the gas. It¡¯s completely normal.¡±


    Somehow, simply by speaking, the Truthsayer felt a lot more human to Shon. At her reassurance, Shon calmed down. The air around him went back to normal.


    However, just like in a sandstorm, the sudden calm typically indicated much more violent chaos ahead.


    ¡°So tell me, Shon,¡± the center examiner spoke. ¡°Your mother is an immigrant from the Bastion Empire, is that right?¡±


    Shon nodded slowly. He could feel himself sweating a little. The air turned to a very light hue of blue, representing uneasiness. Seeing no reaction from the examiners, he spoke out aloud.


    ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°And for your deceased father, was he also a Bastion immigrant?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The examiners paused a little. Shon felt the uneasy silence. The air turned a little more blue.


    ¡°What were your parents¡¯ occupations in the Bastion Empire?¡±


    ¡°My mom was a schoolteacher. My dad was a desk clerk. That¡¯s all they told me.¡±


    The two Valerian examiners shot a look at the Truthsayer. She nodded her head. Seeing that, they proceeded to question.


    ¡°Why have they not spoken more about the Bastion?¡± asked the left-side examiner.


    Shon hesitated. Back when he was a kid, whenever he had returned home bruised and defeated, he would beg his parents to tell stories about the Bastion Empire, where there were no Valerian bullies, and where Fraxian kids would be the center of attention for all schoolteachers.


    However, every time he wanted to hear these stories, his parents would smoothly change the subject. Sometimes when he pressed too hard, his sister would shush and reprimand him.


    Only after Shon grew up did he understand how intricate this subject was.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess my parents didn¡¯t like their time there.¡±


    The air remained in the same hue, signaling no temperature changes from Shon. The Truthsayer also nodded her head.


    The two Valerian examiners seemed skeptical, but they decided to move on.


    ¡°As a Fraxian now, what do you think of the Bastion Empire?¡±


    This question was venturing into dangerous territory. Public narratives around the Bastion Empire always resembled carefully constructed propaganda.


    ¡°I think the Bastion Empire is a dictatorship and therefore an enemy of the Republic of Valeria,¡± Shon replied slowly, carefully picking his words.


    ¡°I am not asking for facts. I am asking for your opinion, specifically your opinion as a Fraxian.¡±


    The question of the Fraxian identity was unavoidable. Shon wished he had Zora¡¯s eloquence, so perhaps he could mask his thoughts with some flowery rhetorics. However, all that Shon could do was to expose his naked mind.


    ¡°I believe that the existence of the Bastion Empire harms the Fraxians.¡±


    The air immediately shifted color, turning from the earlier blue to a mustard yellow. The examiners immediately became alarmed. They looked at the Truthsayer. This time, the Truthsayer did not nod her head.


    ¡°Candidate, if you are omitting some thoughts, this is your last chance to express them. Next time, omission would be seen as a lie.¡±


    Shon¡¯s heart pounded profusely. The truth was, that Shon saw the Bastion Empire as a distant homeland. In principle, Shon disagreed with the Bastion¡¯s military dictatorship. However, despite the Bastion¡¯s rough history of conflicts with Valeria, and despite the alleged conspiracy theories that they were controlling the sandstorms, the sole idea of a Fraxian nation was enough to fascinate Shon.


    Demonstrating curiosity of the Bastion would be career suicide, but lying to the Truthsayer would be no better.


    ¡°I believe Bastion Empire¡¯s dictatorship and wars hurt all Fraxians.¡±


    That was true. Whenever Valeria had conflicts with the Bastion, the Valerians always took out their anger on the Fraxians. There were countless lynchings, race riots, and burnt neighborhoods.


    As Shon finished speaking, the air gradually faded back to its translucent color. After a few more seconds that felt like forever, the Truthsayer nodded her head.


    However, the Valerian examiners did not want to let Shon off the hook so easily.


    ¡°Please elaborate more.¡±


    Shon carefully treaded through this minefield of a question, stepping through every word with the utmost caution.


    ¡°I dream of a world where Fraxian kids could grow up, finding role models around them in the Republic of Valeria instead of hearsay from the Bastion Empire.¡±


    The two Valerians considered this response. Finally, they decided to proceed after the nod from the Truthsayer.


    ¡°Do you believe that the Bastion Empire caused the storms?¡±


    This was another tough question. Because the Fraxians had the ability of thermal transfer, there had long been conspiracies about the sandstorms being a weapon of the Bastion Empire. However, assuming thermal transfer was powerful enough to manipulate the climate was simply outrageous.


    However, Shon was not sure he should just reject this claim. Although the Valerian government never publicly accused the Bastion, they made ambiguous jabs here and there.


    ¡°From what I know of Fraxian biology, even a thousand Fraxians cannot create a storm. But from what I know of the Bastion Empire, they would not hesitate to weaponize the storms if they know how.¡±


    The examiners pressed on.


    ¡°Then how do you explain the fact that disproportionately more Valerians die in storms than Fraxians?¡±


    This was tricky. The factual response was that Fraxians had superior abilities in thermal perception. The truthful response was that Shon believed that the storms were a retribution against Valerian oppression.However, a test of politics was no police for facts or truth.


    ¡°I wish that innocent Valerians are spared, but a storm is indifferent to who we are and what we want.¡±


    To Shon¡¯s relief, the Truthsayer nodded her head, and the examiners considered his answers satisfactory.


    What a close call.


    After a few more questions on the Bastion Empire, the examiners seemed to finally be convinced that Shon¡¯s loyalty lay with Valeria. However, Shon saw a bleak future. Even if he were to become a Stormrunner, his family¡¯s past in the Bastion Empire would forever be branded in him, becoming a burden heavier than the weight of his orange eyes.


    As the test drew to a close, the examiners threw out the toughest question.


    ¡°Do you think the people of our nation deserve more than the life they have now?¡±


    For this question, a wrong response meant not only failing the exam but also going to prison.


    If Shon answered yes, it could be seen that he was criticizing the government for not doing enough for the people. It was in no Fraxian¡¯s place to assume that he enjoyed the same freedom of speech as a Valerian. Worse, he could be imprisoned for suggesting usurpation.


    However, if he answered no, he would be suggesting that the people deserved a brutal life amidst the storms, an idea antithetical to the tenet of Stormrunners. He would be committing treason, as the storms were the biggest enemy of the Republic of Valeria.


    In all honesty, Shon wasn¡¯t even sure of his own opinions. In a world of meaningless, unpredictable deaths, believing anyone ¡°deserved¡± anything would be a futile attempt to impose manmade rules on an apathetic nature that arbitrarily picked her victims.


    ¡°If they deserve better, then may I bring them there. If they deserve their lives right now, then may I protect them with my own.¡±


    The Truthsayer nodded her head. The Valerian examiners looked satisfied. The political loyalty test concluded.

 Chapter 009 - The Final Test

    By the time Shon reached the simulation course for the Stormrunning simulation, he was already exhausted. The last three tests had worn out his intellect, concentration, and reaction. The Stormrunning simulation required a combination of all three, plus strong physical aptitude.


    This was, of course, by design. A Stormrunning operation was like a war. On the frontline, Stormrunners would fight a sandstorm for days without sleep. It took both physical and mental fortitude just to survive, not to say killing one of these colossal monsters.


    The simulation course was huge, the size of at least twenty football fields. Multiple photorealistic projectors hung from the ceiling, weaving together a three-dimensional artificial sky that covered the intricate web of air ducts on the walls. The ground resembled a sandy terrain filled with large boulder clusters and rock formations.


    A small cyclone of air began forming in the center of the field, gradually increasing in size and velocity. The wind sucked up a veil of sand along with tiny pieces of granite, but none of them were big enough to cause serious injury. Despite the strength of the wind, the boulders were firmly rooted in place, not even shuddering an inch.


    Of course, the simulation course would not resemble the harsh reality. The Stormrunning Exam wasn¡¯t meant to be lethal.


    Shon watched the other candidates flying around in Stormrunning gear. He thought about his family and the Academy. All his life, he had been training for his moment.


    Shon walked into the warmup room to get dressed. He wrapped the grappling system around his waist and checked the integrity of his grappling hook. He inserted the two power cells into his jump pack and took two consecutive hops in midair.


    This was the final round of the exam. In just a few hours, he would know whether he had passed.


    He had already practiced the smile and handshake for the podium walk. Then he would run to the closest telephone booth five minutes away. He would call his mom and sister to deliver the good news. With the money he had saved up last month, he could speak to them uninterrupted for thirty minutes.


    Shon picked up an energy blaster. He turned on a small blue laser, carefully touching the edge of the laser with his palm. The blue beam passed effortlessly through his flesh without hurting him. Then he dialed up the power and fired down the range, watching the blue beams pulverizing any rocks in the way.


    If he passed this exam, his family would become honorary Valerians as well. His mom would no longer have to be a housemaid during the day and a janitor at night just to put food on the table. His sister could also quit the exploitative factory job and resume the education that she had given up for him. It would finally be his turn to give to the family.


    Shon picked up a thermal spear and swung it in his hand. The spear was made of two feet of solid carbon fiber and steel, with the engraving of ¡°XetaCorp¡± running along its body. Beneath the durable shell were ThermoTech contraptions advanced beyond understanding. All that Shon knew was that each of these was worth a month of his rent, but the warmup session was no time to be frugal, especially when XetaCorps sponsored all exam equipment.


    With his arm and torso pulled back like an Olympian, Shon threw a thermal spear towards a pit filled with solid ice. Despite its hardened, slippery shell, the ice was penetrated cleanly. The next second, the spear tip emitted a heat pulse so strong that it instantly sublimated the ice near the target into water vapor. Only the ice far away from its target was given time to melt into water before vaporizing. One second later, the heat wave traversed the two hundred feet between Shon and the target, forcing Shon to shield his face from the residue heat.


    Then he picked up a cryo spear, which carried the exact same weight distribution and texture as the thermal spear. XetaCorp spent millions to ensure the two types of spears felt identical, so Stomrunners only needed to master one type of throw. This time, Shon flung the cryo spear into a burning pit of fire. Following a cloud of white gas, the fire vanished, and the logs were covered in a thick layer of frost. At a closer look, some of the logs cracked open from the frozen moisture inside.


    If only he could go back in time to the fateful storm, perhaps he would be able to save his dad. Shon looked up at the sky behind the ceiling. He pictured his dad ¡ª his looks, his voice. Funny enough, all that he could see was this one scene from childhood, when his dad lifted him above his head on the top of a mountain, letting him fly through the trees and rocks. Distant memories were like dreams, slipping away before he could hold on tight, leaving behind only a few pieces to be played at the most unexpected moments,


    Shon took a seat in the waiting room. Nervous and anxious, he felt his senses flooded with atmospheric perturbations around the area. No shit, he thought. There were at least a thousand air ducts in this exam center pumping irregular air patterns. Hoping to distract himself from the perturbations, he began pacing around, mentally rehearsing the wallrunning moves he was about to use.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    During the Stormrunning Exam, a traditional stormrunning squad of six would be shrunk down to three, with two Fraxians and one Valerian. Following his Academy training, Shon would serve as the striker, in charge of delivering the killing blows to the storm with the thermal spears. Zora would be the recon, collecting data from key parts of the storm. Another Valerian would be randomly picked to serve as the guardian, who would handle miscellaneous tasks, including the supposed protection of Fraxians from other human threats. However, everybody knew the real meaning behind this.


    The examiner began calling his name.


    ¡°Candidates Shon, Zora, Damien Strauss. Please group together. You have twenty minutes to discuss your strategies.¡±


    Shit. Damien Strauss. Shon remembered him.


    He was that gifted Valerian kid showing off his marksmanship before the start of the Exam. He would have been a strong teammate, had he not decided to taunt Shon the first time they crossed eyes, for no good reason.


    The trio quickly gathered together.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m Damian,¡± said Damian Strauss with no memory of Shon¡¯s face. ¡°Hope you guys are not a burden.¡±


    Damian extended his hand for a handshake, but quickly retracted them halfway and rubbed them on his pants.


    ¡°Sorry, a force of habit,¡± he sneered. ¡°I don¡¯t usually meet Fraxians.¡±


    Shon was growing irritated, but he tried not to let emotions overcome him.


    At a closer look, Damian Strauss was one of those typical rich brats from an elite Valerian family. Even though they were all dressed in Exam uniforms, it was the tiny details that mattered. Just like Zora, Damian had impeccably cut and brushed hair. Also just like Zora, he had perfectly aligned teeth and flawless skin devoid of old acne scars. But unlike Zora, Damien exuded a self-important haughtiness that no Fraxians ¡ª no matter rich or poor ¡ª could ever acquire.


    Ignoring Shon and Zora¡¯s dislike of him, Damien blabbered on about himself.


    ¡°You know, I am gonna score top. But I¡¯m not just gonna be a Stormrunner. I got much bigger plans.¡±


    Shon ignored him. He strapped the thermal spears onto his waistbelt. Then he swung his blaster over his shoulder, extra careful not to point the muzzle at any Valerian.


    ¡°You see, they said the top candidates get secret offers from the VUC. You ever heard of the VUC? The Valerian Unification Committee. I heard they hunt down Fraxians at night. Ha! Just kidding! Don¡¯t take it so seriously!¡±


    Shon was spending every bit of restraint not to slap Damien across the mouth to get him to shut up, but he knew better than challenging a trained Valerian in hand-to-hand combat.


    But Zora seemed to have had enough of it.


    ¡°Are you gonna keep talking, or are you gonna actually cooperate with us?¡±


    Damien was a little shocked at how a Fraxian dared to speak to him in this tone, but Zora carried a boldness and self-confidence, unlike any typical Fraxian. Daughter of the XetaCorp vice-president, Zora had dealt with too many rich Valerian brats to be intimidated.


    Zora stood unflinchingly and stared at Damien, waiting for an answer.


    ¡°Fine,¡± said Damien sulkily.


    As they worked together, Shon managed to get a better grasp of Damien¡¯s character. Aside from his arrogance, rudeness, and more-than-occasional racist remarks, Damien was a rather intelligent problem-solver. He also threw in questions here and there, to which Shon was unsure how to feel.


    ¡°Yo, Shon, is it true that Fraxian gangs would gauge out people¡¯s eyes?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, some of them.¡±


    ¡°Do Fraxians really eat rats?¡±


    ¡°How would I know?¡±


    ¡°Will Fraxians actually burn people to death when they go berserk?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll find out yourself if you don¡¯t shut up.¡±


    ¡°You know, my dad never really let me hang out with Fraxians,¡± Damien continued. ¡°He tells me all kinds of horror stories, but you guys really seem like one of the good ones.¡±


    Once again, Shon felt a melange of reactions, but he was unsure how to express them. The nuances of dissecting one¡¯s identity were never taught in the Academy, and many delicate opinions and emotions were never even coined into words.


    Before Shon could respond, Shon felt the floor shaking. His jump pack allowed him to stand firmly on the ground, but a few around him fell to the ground. As the lights began flickering, screams began to erupt here and there.


    However, everything died down just as quickly as it began.


    Suddenly, the broadcast system began speaking. A familiar thick voice echoed throughout the Exam center.


    ¡°Candidates, please do not be alarmed. This is Theo Xeta making an emergency announcement.¡±


    Many in the crowd gasped at the name of Theo Xeta. Shon realized that only he had the privilege of meeting him in person.


    ¡°Once again, please do not panic. A level five storm had struck a nearby area, but the containment process had already begun.¡±


    The walls shook again. Shon could hear clatters of things falling out of cabinets. A level five storm. That was why he had felt the atmospheric perturbations half an hour ago. It wasn¡¯t his anxiety. There was in fact a storm building up.


    But a storm in the deep interior of Valeria? How could this even be possible?


    ¡°The exam will resume as normal,¡± Theo Xeta¡¯s voice continued. ¡°Rest assured, candidates. This Exam Center is probably the safest place in the nation. We have the best Stormrunners of the Republic guarding your perimeters.¡±


    With that, the announcement stopped.


    Everyone looked a little uneasy. A level-five storm by itself could barely hurt a wooden cabin. However, everyone knew that no storms were supposed to hit the deep interior, especially Valeria¡¯s capital. The implication of a dreadful future was what weighed down people¡¯s hearts.


    However, seeing that no more disruption occurred in the next ten minutes, examiners and candidates resumed their activities. The exam center bustled back to life, and a few more groups got called to the Stormrunning simulation course.


    And then it was Shon¡¯s turn.

 Chapter 010 - Stormrunning Simulation I

    The mission was simple. There was no scientific data collection, no civilian evacuation, nothing fancy that real Stormrunners would do.


    All that the trio needed to do was to defuse the storm in fifteen minutes. Period.


    The moment the gates closed behind them, the sandstorm began. Walls of dust stretched all the way to the ceiling, blocking any sight into the terrain that lay beyond. Multiple vortexes started forming throughout the terrain, launching tiny pieces of granite that posed no fatal risk but hurt nonetheless. The artificial forces of nature clashed against each other, pushing Shon to the brink of falling.


    Without a word, Shon, Zora, and Damien Strauss fell into the tactical position discussed earlier. They stood on top of a tall, sturdy rock, which gave them a bird¡¯s eye view of the terrain.


    Shon and Zora closed their eyes, using their Fraxian perception to identify the shape of the air currents. Damien, with his vision blocked by the wall of dust, fired a flare inside the wall and tracked the trajectory of the bright light.


    ¡°There are three nuclei linearly positioned one behind another,¡± said Zora.


    ¡°I got the same thing,¡± confirmed Shon. ¡°Seems like the innermost nucleus is the strongest, but the turbulence is too big to get a good read.¡±


    Unlike the mono-nucleus storms of the ages past, the colossal sandstorms that ravaged human civilization were composed of multiple nuclei. Each nucleus was like a storm within the storm, possessing its own behavioral pattern and meteorological properties. Much like the different heads of a hydra, the nuclei each carried a mind of their own, yet their combined behaviors somehow managed to magnify destruction. And just like a hydra, a colossal sandstorm could only be killed by defusing all its nuclei.


    Fortunately, storms made of linearly positioned nuclei were fairly easy to defuse. Following the most logical order, Stormrunners simply needed to destroy one nucleus after another, fighting their way to the innermost nucleus.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get a detailed read on the first nucleus,¡± said Zora.


    Zora grabbed two recon spears and launched herself toward the canyon in front of the opaque dust wall. She fired her grappling hooks toward the opposite walls of the canyon, using the cable like a slingshot to shoot herself forward, rapidly closing in the distance.


    As she closed in towards the dust wall, she adopted a more careful stance. With her jump pack powered on, she ran up the walls of the canyon until she was entirely running sideways.


    When Zora was about to reach the dust wall, Shon and Damien fired a few more flares inside. Although Zora could probably find her way relying purely on her thermal perception, it would be safer to give her vision as well.


    Following the trajectory of the flare, Zora accelerated sideways along the highest wall of the canyon. With the recon spear in her hand, she took a leap of faith, ready to plunge the recon spear into the depth of the first nucleus.


    However, the moment her spear touched the dust wall, it bounced off as if it hit a yoga ball. Zora was shocked. She tried to change position midair, but it was too late to stop her momentum.


    Zora crashed against the dust wall, now an impenetrable solid. She was launched back where she came from.


    Right before she was about to hit the ground, she used the jump charge in her jump pack. It took away most of the fall, but she still stumbled and rolled on the ground.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Wiping blood away from her mouth, she yelled into the comms.


    ¡°Guys, what the hell was that?¡±


    Shon was shocked too. He saw the flares penetrating the dust wall right before Zora. This didn¡¯t make sense.


    However, now was no time to panic. They already used up three minutes, and they did not even defuse the first nucleus.


    ¡°It¡¯s non-Newtonian!¡± Damien yelled from sudden realization. ¡°The wall follows properties of non-Newtonian fluids!¡±


    ¡°What the hell?¡± said Shon.


    Non-Newtonian fluids carried a unique property: The more force they received, the higher the viscosity, and hence the more solid it would seem. That was why the small, lightweight flare round could pass through easily, but Zora could not.


    ¡°You ever mixed starch with water and tried to punch it? Or you tried to escape a quicksand? The harder you hit it, the more resistant it becomes.¡±


    Shon understood. Theoretically, with all the sand, moisture, and air inside this dust wall, it could theoretically become non-Newtonian. Shon didn¡¯t know this was possible in real life, but the storms always defied the current understanding of physics, even artificial ones.


    ¡°Seems like we have to blast our way through,¡± said Zora over the comms.


    Zora planted a recon spear near the dust wall. Shon glanced at the display on his arm. The velocity of the dust reached up to 150 kilometers per hour. At this rate, any breach they blasted in the wall would be filled with more dust in less than half a second. This meant that someone had to continuously keep the breach open while others passed through.


    Damien understood this as well.


    ¡°You guys go in and kill the nucleus. I¡¯ll keep the breach open,¡± said Damien.


    Shon sprung into action without arguing. He began wallrunning on the same path as Zora did. With a double jump from the jump pack, Zora also quickly positioned herself next to Shon.


    Shon put one hand on his grappling system, preparing himself for any obstacle beneath the dust wall. On the other hand, he used his blaster pistol to open a few small holes on the dust wall, but they were nowhere big enough for him to pass through.


    Thankfully, Damien¡¯s covering fire came immediately. Damien Strauss truly lived up to his reputation. With the largest caliber blaster, he fired blue energy beams around Shon and Zora, perfectly tracing their silhouettes but never letting the energy beam touch them. Like flames burning a sheet of paper, a few gaping holes opened up in front of them.


    Zora jumped in headfirst. Immediately launching the recon spear into the first rock she could see. Shon followed suit immediately.


    As he was still flying in the air, Shon saw new readings pop up on his display. These numbers from the recon spear provided more details on air current composition, temperature, and speed.


    The moment he passed through the dust wall, he found himself in a dome of dusk where nearly all sunlight was blocked.. All he could see were streams of sand racing past his eyes. The moment he tried to focus on his moving surroundings, he felt dizzy. After all, he was trying to stand still inside a rapidly spinning sphere of air.


    Shon closed his eyes to tune in to his thermal perception. With all the sand inside a storm, thermal perception often helped more than the naked eye. Dodging obstacles along the way, he performed the meteorological computation in his head.


    ¡°Ten o¡¯clock, forty down, One hundred fifty meters,¡± Zora yelled. She found the critical point before Shon.


    The critical point was the fatal weakness of the storm nucleus. A storm was made of clashing currents of hot and cold air, and the critical point was where the source of the energy resided.


    Shon closed eyes. He could feel a huge pocket of warm air bubbling like a cauldron at the base of the storm nucleus.


    He rotated himself in midair and scouted the path towards the critical point. There were no opposite walls for him to do the canyon slingshot move. The only solid structure that stood between them was a few boulders.


    Shon launched a grappling hook towards the first boulder in the target direction. As he accelerated towards the rock, he detached the first hook and launched a second one at another boulder further away. The new hook sharply turned his acceleration to a different angle, but his body was well-trained to handle this kind of stress. One more shot and he was close enough.


    He drew the cyro spear from his waistbelt and took careful aim, accounting for the different gusts of air at play. Then he launched the spear forward, hearing the satisfying crack as the tip of the spear dug itself deep inside a rock near the critical point.


    The white cryogenic mist was not visible behind the dust, but Shon could feel the explosion of chill air rushing toward him.


    Immediately, the winds slowed down. The dust wall, without the heavy winds to support itself, slowly settled into a heap of sand. The sun was able to shine in. Damien and Zora quickly gathered around Shon.


    One nucleus down. Two more to go.

 Chapter 011 - Stormrunning SImulation II

    The second storm nucleus was larger. After the trio ventured through the cloud of dust, they anchored themselves as close to the nucleus as possible. The core of the nucleus, spanning two hundred feet in radius, was made of two powerful spiraling arms that thrashed sand into spirals of towering waves. With the constant spin rate of the core, the sand wave rose and fell rhythmically, like the heavy breaths of a Herculean monster.


    Without the obstruction of the non-Newtonian dust barrier, Zora scouted this storm fairly easily.


    There were three critical points that needed to be defused within twenty-second intervals. For Shon, it would be physically demanding but not nearly impossible.


    Shon fired his grappling hook into the storm, but before the hook could attach to anything solid, it got slammed off its course by the sand wave from one of the arms. Although the velocity of the storm was not fast, the sand wave carried enough mass to deflect any projectiles.


    Flustered, Shon devised a new strategy. He sprinted alongside the storm¡¯s whirling arms. Activating his jump pack, he accelerated forward to match the frenzied speed of the outermost sand waves. The moment he spotted a fleeting gap in between the two waves, he fired his grappling hook inside, letting his own inertia guide the hook through the narrow crevice.


    The hook latched onto a boulder inside. Shon quickly retracted the cable, propelling himself into the churning sand waves. Like a surfer who mastered the ocean, he rode along the sand waves in the same dizzying circular motion around the nucleus, occasionally giving himself an extra push with the help of his jump pack and grappling hook.


    He closed his eyes and used his thermal perception to analyze the terrain. He quickly located the first critical point and launched a thermal spear towards it.


    This time, he did not detonate the spear immediately, because prematurely defusing a critical point risked altering wind patterns and changing the location of the other critical points. He must detonate all three spears simultaneously.


    He fired a grappling hook at another boulder and rode the sand waves toward the second critical point. Suddenly, he felt an oscillation down the cable, followed by a sudden tightening that spun his body around. He quickly adjusted his body back on course with the help of his jump pack, but he felt something off about his trajectory. He pulled onto the cable, but there was no tension.


    Shit. The grappling hook must have gotten detached somehow. He remembered the earlier quakes at the Exam center from the level five storm. The storm must have caused a quake in the simulation course that dislodged his grappling hook. Ironic that the simulation course of artificial storms was getting struck by the real storm.


    However, now was no time for these thoughts. Without the grappling hook, Shon was thrown out of the sand waves. His jump pack charges were depleted, and he had no way to correct his course.


    He was hurled with full strength toward the rocky wall of a canyon. With his current speed, he would certainly be knocked out if not killed.


    Shon closed his eyes and braced for impact. However, before he got to replay the precious moments of his life, he felt a powerful grip seizing his waist and yanking him out of his trajectory.


    Startled, he opened his eyes and found Zora¡¯s face mere inches away from his own. As they soared through the air, strands of her dark hair swept lightly across her face, and Shon had a sudden urge to brush them away. Never before had Shon looked at Zora¡¯s eyes from this close. For the first time, his gaze traced the elegant sweep of her long and delicate eyelashes, danced along the perfect contours of her eyelids, and finally settled into the enchanting orange glow of her iris.


    Before Shon could finish processing his thoughts, the two of them crashed into a pile of sand. The world spun wildly around him as they rolled over and over, finally coming to a stop twenty feet away.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Shon glanced up. Zora was on top of him, her hands still firmly clasped around his body. Her chest, pressing firmly against his, heaved in and out with each breath. A few beads of sweat rolled down her cheek, glistening in the dim light of the storms. Shon suddenly became aware of how fast his heart was pounding. It was a near-death experience after all.


    Zora looked down, and their eyes locked. For a second, it was as if he could speak a thousand thoughts with a single gaze. He could feel the warmth from her body enveloping the atmosphere around them. He wanted to reach up, to close the distance between them. But just like for every beautiful moment in life during the storms, reality crashed back too soon.


    The ground shook again. This time, Shon felt the full force of the quake. The quake broke apart many artificially reinforced fixtures used to hold rock formations in place. Large boulders fell from the high cliffs, shattering into tiny pieces of gravel. The smaller rocks got swept right off their fixtures and assimilated into the artificial storm winds as deadly projectiles.


    The Fraxian survival instinct immediately picked up the danger. The blanket of air in front of them was getting shredded apart. This meant only one thing.


    Shon grabbed Zora¡¯s hand and helped himself up. They stared at the breathing storm nucleus, now more alive than ever. The sand waves accelerated around the core, and with each revolution, they picked up hundreds of pieces of gravel from the shattered boulders and broken sandstones. Like a hammer thrower spinning his hammer, the storm accelerated every second with the new gravel mass it picked up. If anybody stood near the sand wave right now, their body would immediately be torn to shreds.


    Finally, the hammer thrower¡¯s chain snapped from the velocity, and all hell went loose.


    A barrage of gravel ¡ª some the size of bullets and some the size of golf balls ¡ª headed straight towards Shon and Zora. Shon could sense the incoming onslaught, and he knew that by the time he could see the gravel, it would already be too late.


    Death by shrapnel. This must be how his father had died.


    Images flashed in Shon¡¯s head. They were images of his dad that intruded on his dreams, images of what he imagined his dad went through from other¡¯s descriptions. Words like ¡°complete disfigurement¡± and ¡°total organ puncture¡± raced through his head. However, since Shon never looked at the actual autopsy photos, he would never know which was more terrifying, the storm that really happened or the storm in his imagination.


    Overwhelmed by the memories, Shon found his feet rooted to the ground. Everything in front of his eyes happened in slow motion. The first piece of gravel emerged from the heavy clouds of dust. It was shaped like a jagged cube, traveling with just enough force to burrow into Shon¡¯s organ but not exit from the other end. The next instant, a few dozen pieces of gravel emerged behind it.


    Suddenly, a large beam of blue light emerged from behind Shon. The pulsing energy instantly vaporized that jagged cube and half a dozen pieces behind them.


    ¡°Stop standing there like idiots!¡± shouted Damien Strauss. He was firing the blaster rifle at full horsepower.


    However, with its sheer mass and velocity, the torrent of gravel soon overpowered the blue beam in just a mere second. However, one second was enough.


    Shon and Zora snapped back to their senses. In perfect unison, they held up their right arms. The bracer covering their forearm buzzed to life, emitting gigantic pulses of energy that rippled to its surroundings. Within a few milliseconds, the energy ripples stabilized into a translucent blue shield covering half of their torso.


    With their shields covering their ten and two o¡¯clock, Shon and Zora assumed a defensive position with one knee on the ground and braced for impact. Their shields instantly vaporized the smaller gravel pieces, but some larger pieces still squeezed through with their burnt remains, leaving cuts and scorch marks along their arms.


    The barrage went on for ten whole seconds, but it stopped at last.


    Shon peeked up from behind his shield, now flickering from depleted energy. The storm was shrinking in size for some reason. He turned his head and found the answer.


    Behind him, the artificial sky of the Stormrunning simulation course was completely torn apart, exposing a jumbled mess of broken Thermo Pipes and torn air ducts. Hot pressurized steam erupted from one of the broken pipes, while coolant liquids trickled down from another.


    This was the first time that the simulation course¡¯s stormmaker had been destroyed by its own creation. Shon waved at the examiners. The Republic of Valeria had never paused a Stormrunning Exam before, and Shon was unsure what would happen now.


    After a few minutes of silence, a voice boomed in the simualtion course¡¯s broadcast system.


    ¡°Candidates, please be aware that the stormmaker is partially damaged but still functional. Terminating your exam now would be considered forfeiting your scores. You are expected to continue your exam.¡±

 Chapter 012 - Stormrunning Simulation III

    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± Damien Strauss shouted with a grumpy look. ¡°That damn thing nearly killed us.¡±


    The examiners ignored them. Shon and Zora dared not protest, for anger was not a Fraxian privilege.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they are apathetic,¡± Zora whispered.


    Shon shot her a look.


    ¡°I think they are desperate.¡±


    This made sense. The sudden boost in difficulty in this year¡¯s Exam, combined with the storm broadcast on the morning train and the sudden storm in the interior, all signified that something about the world was rapidly changing.


    For all these years, Shon had persevered by seeing opportunities where others saw despair. This time was no exception. If he could defuse this storm right here in the face of the volatile conditions, he could be chosen as a Stormrunner.


    Mom, Lydia, he thought. I am only one step away from the life I promised.


    Shon, Zora, and Damien approached the third storm nucleus.


    Compared to the two previous ones, this nucleus looked rather mild. The dimension of the nucleus was much smaller, reaching only a few floors in height. Despite the high winds, there was no sand or debris in the area blocking the sight.


    However, the Fraxian thermal sense told Shon that something was off, though he could not pinpoint the exact reason. After all, the thermal sense worked as a survival instinct rather than a quantifiable measurement.


    ¡°Let me scout the area.¡± Zora took off.


    Suddenly, Shon understood the reason behind the bizarre feeling. He picked up much more information than usual. It was the jarring sensation of stumbling upon a photorealistic painting in an impressionist gallery.


    But the realization came a little too late.


    The moment Zora¡¯s body soared across the boundary of the nucleus, she lost control of her movement. Her body became a dice in a cup, tossed and spun in every direction by a wild mix of currents. Unlike the last two nuclei, which she navigated easily with her thermal sense, this storm nucleus stripped away her balance and perception.


    But worst of all, Zora¡¯s screams began piercing the comms.


    ¡°Help me¡­ It¡¯s so hot here.¡±


    At a closer look, Zora¡¯s face turned red and dry, and not a bead of sweatdrop could be found. She was struggling to keep her eyes focused, but getting violently thrashed around by the winds only compounded her nausea. Having lost control of her grappling hook and jump pack, all that she could do was ride the most optimal currents by adjusting her body in delicate angles to ride the most optimal currents. This would not help her escape the winds, but it could buy her some time.


    However, at this rate, she could lose consciousness at any moment.


    Before Shon could think, he found himself dashing toward Zora. However, right before he was about to leap into the winds, a pair of strong arms pulled him to a stop.


    ¡°Are you stupid? This is suicide.¡± Damien Strauss panted heavily, still catching his breath.


    ¡°She will pass out from the heatstroke. Let me go.¡±


    Damien shook his head.


    Shon looked into the winds of the nucleus. Zora¡¯s trajectories became increasingly contorted, a sign of her losing control. If she were to pass now, the currents would swallow her whole.


    Before Shon could protest, Damien spoke into the earpiece.


    ¡°Zora, turn on your recon spear.¡±


    ¡°This is my last one.¡±


    Damien looked at Shon.


    ¡°Do it, Zora,¡± said Shon. ¡°It¡¯s the only way we can get you out.¡±


    ¡°But the Exam. You will fail¡­¡± Zora¡¯s voice trailed off.


    ¡°I will defuse it without recon information. I¡¯m the best striker at the Academy, remember?¡±


    No more sound came out from Zora¡¯s end. However, the display on Shon¡¯s arm beeped. Zora had turned on the recon spear.


    Without a solid surface for the recon spear to dig in, the rawly exposed sensors only collected data for a few seconds before getting shattered by the winds.


    Only two pieces of information showed up on the display. Firstly, the temperature around the nucleus was fifty degrees Celsius, enough to give Zora a heatstroke in the next few minutes. Second, the atmospheric pressure inside the nucleus was abnormally high.


    ¡°This is a heat dome!¡± Shon shouted to Damien.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Storms can¡¯t happen in a heat dome.¡±


    Damien was right. This should be impossible.


    Back in the Academy, the meteorology professor had once brought out a steaming piece of roasted chicken covered by a glass cloche. Through the dome-shaped glass, Shon could see the steam building up inside.


    A heat dome was like this plate, the meteorology professor explained. The cold air pressed down like a cloche, trapping all the warm air beneath. In this system, temperature and pressure would drastically increase under the dome.


    The only problem was that storms were only supposed to form in low-pressure regions. A heat dome was high pressure, and therefore it should be stable. However, the air currents hurling around Zora¡¯s body seemed to suggest otherwise.


    Being a Stormrunner required a delicate balance of science and faith. Stormrunners should always seek out the scientific explanationAt the same time, they must be prepared to fight against new monstrosities that seemed scientifically impossible. Some of the most brilliant Stormrunner scientists had lost their lives when they obsessively attempted to reconcile scientific dogmas with new observations.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    At the present moment, Shon knew two things for certain. The nucleus was definitely covered by a heat dome, and there were definitely storms happening.


    An exception to the rule existed. Storms could form at the peripheries of the heat domes, where air pockets of different masses collide. For Zora to be exposed to both the heat and the storm, there was only one possible explanation.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just one heat dome. It¡¯s multiple layers of heat domes.¡±


    The idea of nested heat domes sounded like something straight out of science fiction, and a heat dome spanning so small an area seemed like pure fantasy. However, after encountering the non-Newtonian dust wall earlier, anything seemed possible. It was such a pity that Zora wouldn¡¯t be able to witness this. A scientist like her would surely be fascinated.


    However, Shon and Damien were no scientists. They immediately jumped into action, with only one goal in mind ¡ª to destroy the storm.


    The plan was simple. To break the heat dome, the cloche of cold air on top must be shattered. After that, all the pent-up hot air would burst out of the gap, creating an unpredictable system of pure chaos.


    Well, so let the chaos be.


    Damien propelled himself onto the face of a tall cliff right across the storm nucleus. Taking a vantage point at a small pile of rocks protruding from the midpoint of the cliff, he swiftly set up his rifle.


    ¡°Remember to throw the spear far. This is real bullets I¡¯m firing this time.¡±


    Shon nodded. An energy blaster was insufficient to detonate a thermal spear in midair. Only a real bullet could do that.


    Firing his two grappling hooks, Shon skirted along the edge of the nucleus, carefully positioning him just a few feet away from the boundary of the heat dome. He could already feel the violent air currents from the colliding air pockets around him.


    Using the rock formations around him for support, he gradually climbed higher. He could not go straight up to the heat dome, because the unpredictable air currents would toss him off course like they did Zora. To maintain enough momentum, he had to orbit the heat dome in a careful dance, elevating only a few inches at a time.


    After completing five orbits in under two minutes, Shon reached the top of the dome. At this velocity, he only had one shot.


    He threw the spear with all his might. The flare tied to the spear lit up immediately.


    Suddenly, the ground shook again. It must have been the storm quakes. The imperial Stormrunners still did not manage to secure the Exam Center.


    Shit, that meant Damien might miss his shot.


    Before Shon could complete his thought, a bullet whizzed past his ear. Had it been an inch closer, Shon would have dropped dead.


    Because of the quake, Damien did not hit right on target. The bullet scraped the tail of the thermal spear, leaving a trail of smoke. The thermal spear was swallowed by the heat dome before it could blow up.


    It was too late for Shon to change his course. He already anchored his grappling hook at the boulder across him, pivoting under extreme speed and sharp turning radius. Pressed by an acceleration force equal to five times that of Earth¡¯s gravity, blood rushed onto Shon¡¯s head, making his world turn black.


    Shon could barely see or hear anything, but survival instincts made him release the hook at the last second, launching his body right at the heat dome. However, he was so tired. He could just give up the fight and go to sleep right now.


    But Zora still needed him.


    Shon felt a massive heat wave crashing against his body. The thermal spear detonated eventually, ripping apart a large hole in the lid of cold air on top. Barrages of hot air flooded out from that opening, but they were not nearly enough to stop Shon¡¯s momentum.


    At the last second, he opened his eyes. With the wild currents now escaping, Zora¡¯s unconscious body went into a free fall without support. Shon snatched her from midair and held her limp body tightly in his arms. He could still feel her faint heartbeat.


    Shon had to do another three pivots before he decelerated enough for a safe landing. By the time he hit the ground, most of the air had already escaped the heat dome. He looked at the nucleus. The storm was gone.


    But there was another quake.


    The cliffs, with their already shakey boulders, could not stand both the force of the quake and the chaos of the escaped currents. There was a loud rumbling sound. Shon looked up slowly. A wave of boulders, rocks, granites, and sand rushed down the hill that Damien stood on. They reached Damien¡¯s cliff in no time.


    Damien noticed the landslide too, and he immediately propelled off his grappling hooks. However, he was a guardian, not a striker. He could not maneuver nearly as quickly.


    A torrent of sand struck Damien, swallowing him and slamming him off his course onto the ground.


    Shon immediately flew over to help, but he could not accelerate in time to reach Damien.


    Another quake. A huge boulder was dislodged this time. It rolled down slowly from the top of the hill, gaining more and more speed along the way, finally accelerating into a death ball, heading straight toward Damien Strauss.


    Damien struggled to move, but he could barely push himself off the ground. The contraptions in his grappling hooks and his jumppack were completely immobilized by the sand.


    Damien, now sitting right in between Shon and the rolling boulder, looked up at the death heading his way. He closed his eyes.


    Shon realized he could not reach Damien in time. There was only one way left.


    Shon braked himself immediately. With only a few seconds to spare, he drew his only weapon, the tiny rock blaster pistol in his holster. Shon would have hoped for that blaster rifle, but he had given it to Damien earlier. He prayed that XetaCorps blasters could live up to their names.


    Shon, Damien, and the rolling boulder lined up perfectly. Shon aimed down his sights. He pulled the trigger once, twice, and then rapidly.


    A torrent of blue laser beams headed straight toward the boulder and Damien. Some beams went around Damien¡¯s silhouette, leaving fist-sized holes in the boulder. Others passed through Damien¡¯s body and burned through the boulder behind him.


    By the time the boulder reached Damien, it had already become shot through like a beehive. Its structural integrity was completely pulverized by the laser blasts.


    Upon impact, the boulder shattered into pieces. Damien was knocked back. The rock probably still broke a few bones in his arms, but at least he was still alive.


    Shon rushed over and checked on him. The blaster shots had burned his stormrunning suit into a tattered rag. The laser beams left scorch marks and bruises all over his torso, but that was as far as the flesh wound went. Just like XetaCorps promised, the rock blasters were unable to hurt another human being. After all, that was why a Fraxian like him was allowed to carry them.


    All the air currents in the simulation course dissipated slowly, leaving behind an eerie void. Finally, the examiners began to speak.


    ¡°Congratulations, candidate group 76, you have successfully defused the storm.¡±


    Shon breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over.


    ¡°Candidate Damien Strauss has been awarded 92 points for his excellent marksmanship and quick situational response.¡±


    Shon looked at Damien Strauss, who was still slumped on the ground from fatigue and shock.


    ¡°Candidate Zora has been awarded 94 points for her intelligent reconnaissance decisions and robust application of scientific knowledge.¡±


    Zora was still lying on the ground. She had regained consciousness. A team of medics were giving her heatstroke treatment.


    Shon anxiously waited for his own score. This was the moment he had been training for all these years. This number would decide whether he and his family could turn their lives around.


    ¡°Candidate Shon has been disqualified.¡±


    What? There must have been a mistake.


    ¡°Reason for disqualification: Candidate raised a weapon against a Valerian citizen. The candidate fired a weapon multiple times against a Valerian citizen. These are not only violations of the Exam rules but also offenses against the Valerian criminal law.¡±


    Shon could not process this. This couldn¡¯t be true.


    Zora and Damien looked at him, both of them trying to understand the decision. Damien opened his mouth, but no words came out. He closed his mouth and looked away.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Shon spoke in both anger and despair. ¡°Damien would have been dead if I didn¡¯t do that!¡±


    ¡°The examiners have acknowledged that fact. The candidate will only be disqualified from the exam, but no further criminal prosecution will be pursued.¡±


    Shon could not speak. He could not think. Disqualified. That word was all he could hear as the world around him crashed down.

 Chapter 013 - The Assassination I

    Night in the capital was serene. The full moon stood on the edge of the celestial cliff, keeping watch of the city with her misty gaze.


    The moon looked down at Vye through her silvery halo, and Vye gazed back. Some imagined the moon as a guardian, but Vye knew she was merely a spectator. Like the wealthy of this republic, the moon sat in her safe and secluded palace every night, silently observing cruelty unfold in the corners hidden from her light.


    It was only nine o¡¯clock. Vye preferred to do her job when the night sank deeper, but the fixer insisted on this hour, so the job would look like a break-in robbery turned wrong.


    The target house was magnificent. Marble columns soared to the height of three floors, accompanied by intricate facades and engravings. The tall windows were so clear that they reflected unfiltered moonlight into Vye¡¯s eyes, hinting at the luxurious interior within. The biggest display of opulence had to be the two giant palm trees standing amidst an oasis of exotic shrubs and floras, their vibrant green stood out strikingly against the barren urban backdrop of rock and sand.


    Three other men were gathered around the house already, dressed in dark overalls and Stormrunning gear. To be precise, they were modified Stormrunning gear, altered to be more efficient at killing humans.


    It was not difficult to spot the ones with real Stormrunning training. The two men in the skull mask and teddy bear mask, despite their vastly different demeanors, both displayed a disciplined precision in their actions. On the other hand, the man wearing a clown mask seemed much more timid and unsure.


    Valerian Stormrunners huh? Vye was unfamiliar with the different roles Stomrunners took up, but she knew that only Valerian Stormrunners were trained in hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship. Assassination was an ideal post-retirement gig for them.


    ¡°Damn this job, I had to get the neighbor to put my son to sleep,¡± said the man in the teddy bear mask.


    ¡°Shut up about your son, will you? Nobody gives a shit.¡± The man in the skull mask said while checking his watch. ¡°When will the newbie - ah, speaking of the devil.¡±


    Vye approached the three Valerians. She wore camo contacts that concealed her orange eye color, and she moved with the Valerian composure that she had long learned to mimic.


    Skull Mask eyed her up and down. Although he had his face covered, Vye could already see the nasty smile behind his mask, the same kind of smile that too many men had given her. Even a disguised Valerian woman could not escape this.


    ¡°Put these on.¡± Skull Mask threw her a mask and a set of grappling hooks and jump packs.


    Vye looked around. She had to get partially undressed to put on the jumppack, and there were no covers around her.


    ¡°What, you shy?¡± Skull Mask sneered.


    ¡°Just give her a break.¡± Bear Mask turned around, signaling the other two men to do the same.


    Appreciating the temporary privacy, Vye quickly put on the modified Stormrunning Gear. She brushed her hand against the neat contraptions, mesmerized by the fine texture of the alloy. She had used cheap knockoffs many times in the past, but this one was the real deal.


    She didn¡¯t know who the fixer was, but it must be someone powerful in the government.


    ¡°Say, guys, why do we wanna kill him?¡± said the guy in a clown mask. His voice sounded young, no older than Vye¡¯s little brother.


    What a pity. He probably started on this path even earlier than Vye did.


    ¡°Who knows? He¡¯s some filthy rich Fraxian. I¡¯m sure he got enemies,¡± said Skull Mask.


    ¡°To be fair, his inventions saved Valeria,¡± said Bear Mask. ¡°Lots of cities would have been wiped out if it weren¡¯t for his tech.¡±


    ¡°Who cares? The only good Fragger is a dead Fragger.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Vye¡¯s blood instantly started to boil at Skull Mask¡¯s remark, but she kept her body still. It was not worth it to reveal her identity.


    ¡°So who is the fixer this time?¡± asked Clown Mask.


    ¡°Kid, just shut up and do your job,¡± said Skull Mask. ¡°The less you know the better.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s got a point,¡± said Bear Mask. ¡°Eliminating Theo Xeta? In Stormrunner gear? This seemed too much above our pay grade.¡±


    ¡°Whatever. The contact is from some unknown financial service company. I bet it¡¯s a shell corp of the government.¡±


    Bear Mask sighed. He looked around, almost seeming hesitant to continue. However, he made up his mind.


    Vye wondered what Bear Mask was like behind the mask. Men with families rarely stayed in this line of work. Was he a freelancer like Vye who was also driven by the pay? After all, this one hit could repay a year of her parent¡¯s debts. Or was he a government agent who truly wished to serve the nation¡¯s best interests?


    The clock struck a quarter past nine. Bear Mask took out a device and punched a few buttons. A few dots flickered on the digital display.


    ¡°There¡¯s no heat source around the perimeters. All clear.¡±


    ¡°Prepare to deploy cyro and smoke grenades,¡± said Skull Mask.


    This had to be one of the oldest tricks in the book for hunting Fraxians: isolate them from thermal energy and cut out their sight, and they become a sitting duck.


    Vye felt a little sickened. This same strategy could be used to hunt her and her family. But a job was a job. It didn¡¯t matter who the target was, as long as the pay was good enough.


    ¡°You sure this will work?¡± Clown Mask, his voice now a little shakey. ¡°Doesn¡¯t this guy make Stormrunning gear and design their Exam?¡±


    ¡°I heard he failed his Stormrunning Exam,¡± sneered Skull Mask. ¡°Apparently his score was so low he couldn¡¯t even be a police deputy.¡±


    Bear Mask twisted a few more dials, and the display now showed an orange dot situated on the third-floor master bedroom. That was the only remaining thermal signature in the house, emitted from Theo Xeta himself.


    Skull Mask pointed his finger upwards, and the group fell in formation. Vye activated her jumppack and ran up the wall.


    Once again, Vye was amazed by how satisfying it was to use the Stormrunning gear. The jumppack perfectly synchronized the boosters with Vye¡¯s motion, so wallrunning felt almost no different from running on flat ground.


    Using the grappling hooks, Vye anchored herself by the third-floor window. The four of them peeked inside the master bedroom. The dim glow of the night light reflected softly off the polished frame of the mahogany king bed. Theo Xeta was soundly asleep, his thermal signature a steady, unmoving glow in the darkness. Slivers of moonlight slipped through the gaps between the velvet drapes, only to be blocked by the closed door across the room.


    Skull Mask held out a smoke grenade. The moment he pulled off the pin, dense, black smoke instantly flooded out of the canister. Vye recognized this kind of smoke. The density and color of the smoke were carefully engineered, capable of blocking just enough light to blind a Fraxian but let a Valerian see.


    This was trouble. Vye would not be able to see in this smoke either. Her cover would be blown.


    Skull Mask handed the smoke grenade to Clown Mask. He closed his finger into a fist.


    Upon this command, Clown Mask leaped into action. In one motion, he shot his grappling hook through the window. The steel claw shattered the glass before grabbing firmly onto the wall across. He threw the smoke grenade by the bed, and in just one second, dark fog permeated the room, suffocating any remaining halo of the night light and moonshine.


    Vye felt both awe and pity toward Clown Mask. His fluid movement spoke of a level of experience unfitting for his age.


    Clown Mask launched himself into the dark room. Submachine gun in hand, he unleashed a torrent of bullets toward the bed. The mattress erupted into shreds, launching a flurry of cotton and down feathers into the air like a blizzard. The bedframe collapsed with a loud thud before it could be splintered further. The acrid scent of gunpowder, mixed with the odor of burnt fabric, left a bitter aftertaste in Vye¡¯s mouth.


    However, something seemed off. There were no screams. The thermal signature of Theo Xeta barely moved.


    Clown Mask hopped off the wall and cautiously approached the bed, or whatever was left of it. The smoke from the grenade began to fade, lending Vye a little more visibility. Clinging on the window ledge with sweaty palms, Vye fixed her eyes on the movements in the room, cursing Skull Mask in her head for letting a teenager be the first to go in.


    Clown Mask grabbed the tattered duvet and, with a big swing, threw it off the mattress.


    No blood. No body. Nothing except a tiny orb emitting heat.


    Fuck. It was a trap.


    Vye wanted to scream to Clown Mask to run, but she did not wanna give herself away. After a split second of hesitation, it became too late.


    From the shadow of the walls, Theo Xeta emerged unscathed, a shotgun in his hands. Before Clown Mask could turn his head, Theo Xeta pulled the trigger.


    A loud bang. A volley of pellets blew Clown Mask¡¯s head in half. The mask, now soaked with blood and brain, shattered into pieces. Behind the mask and gore were the remains of a young face, even younger than Vye had imagined. Had he not chosen this line of work, he would probably still be in high school, maybe even in the same class as Vye¡¯s little brother. At a closer look, he could have easily passed as Vye¡¯s brother if not for the blue eyes.


    Vye only looked at the face for a fraction of a second before ducking out of the way. Clown Mask¡¯s head fell onto the floor with a smushy plop, and his body followed a second later.


    Theo Xeta turned to the window, perfectly aware of the group¡¯s presence. His gaze pierced through the walls straight into Vye¡¯s soul.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you all come out and join the party? I¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡±

 Chapter 014 - The Assassination II

    Vye was transfixed. With her thermal sense, she could feel blood oozing out of Clown Mask¡¯s headless torso. Had she not been gripping the grappling hooks so tightly, she would have plunged down to the depth below.


    Death was no stranger to Vye¡¯s eyes, but the death of Clown Mask somehow hit harder than expected. Was it due to his resemblance to her brother? Or because of his young age?


    Perhaps it was because Vye saw both her helpless past and her grim future reflected in Clown Mask¡¯s brief life. The saddest part of his death was that he would forever be branded as a criminal, as an enemy against society. His death would draw no sympathy, no funeral, nothing except the silent tears of his family shed in solitude.


    Another shotgun blast right out the window. A taunt. An invitation.


    The three of them clung to the wall around the windows. Bear Mask pointed his submachine gun at the window, ready to shoot the moment Theo Xeta popped his head out. Vye could not sense Theo Xeta¡¯s body heat, but she could imagine he was fixing his shotgun at the window as well.


    They stood in stalemate for a few seconds.


    Bear Mask tried to locate Xeta¡¯s heat signature on his thermal display, but after a few seconds of fumbling, he shook his head.


    ¡°Damn it,¡± said Skull Mask. He pulled a pin off a cyro grenade and lobbed it into the window.


    Two seconds of silence and a blast. A frigid wave struck Vye, sending a chill down her spine. But worst of all, she felt all her energy drained away instantly. It was as if the ground she stood upon suddenly disintegrated, leaving her in a free fall with neither support nor balance.


    Any Fraxian ¡ª or any living creature ¡ª in that room should die instantly from hypothermia. However, after seeing how Xeta swiftly and ruthlessly executed their comrade, they knew better than to underestimate him.


    ¡°Now!¡± shouted Skull Mask.


    Bear Mask shot his grappling hook into the room. Vye and Skull Mask slipped in from the sides of the windows.


    Then everything happened in slow motion.


    From the cyro grenade blast, the entire room was covered in a thick layer of frost. However, the silhouette of Theo Xeta stood unmoving. Vye could faintly make out the array of weapons and gadgets attached to his body, making him look like a Stormrunner from the future.


    Bear Mask, with one hand on the grappling cable and the other on his submachine gun, swung across the room. Although he was flying in midair, he fired with perfect precision, shooting controlled bursts of bullets at Theo Xeta¡¯s head.


    As if already seeing this coming, Xeta held out his arm. A flood of energy gushed out of his bracer, stacking and weaving on top of each other until it formed a gigantic shield covering his entire torso.


    Vye had seen Stormrunners protect themselves from debris with these shields before. However, this one seemed much larger and thicker. Most prominently, unlike the calm blue energy shields wielded by Stormrunners, this one was glowing a fiery blaze of orange.


    All the bullets instantly vaporized upon contact with the shield. Despite the mask covering his face, Bear Mask¡¯s terror was palpable. Frozen in fear, he kept swinging forward and pulling the trigger, even though it was clearly futile.


    Xeta did not have the patience to wait for the gun to empty. Instead of firing at Bear Mask, he aimed at the anchor point of his grappling hook. With one shotgun blast, the cable snapped apart, and the hook was knocked off the wall.


    Immediately, Bear Mask lost control. He slammed loudly into the wall and slid down unconscious, leaving a streak of crimson.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Vye was terrified. Stormrunners, or ex-Stormrunners in this case, were worshipped in the underworld with their seeming invincibility. It was not unusual for a single ex-Stormrunner to take down a group of armed men. In all her time in the underworld, she had never seen someone without Stormrunning training hold their own against an ex-Stormrunner, let alone take one down in under five seconds.


    Skull Mask was terrified as well. Vye could feel the sweat drench down his back with her thermal sense. However, he chose to engage as well.


    Skull Mask fired his grappling hook directly at Xeta¡¯s chest. The dense alloy easily penetrated the energy shield. Xeta raised his shotgun to fire at the hook right before it reached him. The blast knocked the hook away, but the residue momentum and recoil also knocked the gun out of his hands.


    Seeing an opening, Skull Mask dashed forward at a speed disproportionate to his bulky size. With a knife in his hand, he lunged forward and went straight for Xeta¡¯s throat.


    Just as Skull Mask was about to hit him, Xeta pressed a button on his bracer, and a burst of flames shot out from his arm. Skull Mask dived down at the last second to dodge the flame, but he lost his balance.


    Seizing that moment, Xeta pulled out his own knife and slid it across Skull Mask¡¯s shoulder, lacerating all the tendons and ligaments. Instantly, Skull Mask¡¯s arm went limp, and the knife filled out of his hands. In one swift motion, Xeta plunged his knife into Skull Mask¡¯s stomach. It was not immediately fatal, but it completely immobilized him.


    Vye was frozen in place like a deer in the headlights. She knew fighting was the only way she could survive this, but she was facing a man who just effortlessly dropped two Stormrunners.


    Xeta finally caught sight of her in the shadows and came straight dashing toward her. His knife went straight for her throat.


    Frame by frame, Vye watched the blade inching closer and closer, and she could not move a muscle. Finally, her fear reached past a breaking point, and the Fraxian instincts overrode all her conscious effort of suppression.


    Instantly, the air around her went cold. It was the Fraxian fight-or-flight instinct to absorb as much thermal energy as possible for one last attempt to survive. The temperature around her dropped by multiple degrees.


    Theo Xeta sensed it too.


    ¡°You¡¯re a Fraxian,¡± he said, alarmed. His eyes suddenly opened wide.


    He instantly tilted the blade away from Vye¡¯s throat, but it was too late to stop the momentum. His elbow still slammed right into Vye¡¯s face with superhuman strength, sending her flying backward into a pile of boxes.


    The world was spinning out of focus. Blood oozed from her nose. Her entire body screamed in pain from the impact. If it wasn¡¯t for the pile of boxes catching her fall, she could have been paralyzed.


    But at least she was alive.


    Theo Xeta stared coldly at Vye.


    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with you later,¡± he muttered.


    Theo Xeta approached Bear Mask, who regained consciousness but still lay immobilized on the ground. With one swift motion, he pulled the mask off his face.


    Behind the mask lay the face of a thirty-something-year-old man, weathered and beaten but still determined.


    ¡°Please, I have a family. I have a three-year-old boy.¡± The man pleaded.


    ¡°You should have considered that before you came after me.¡± Xeta raised his pistol to the man¡¯s temple.


    ¡°Wait, wait! The boy¡¯s Fraxian. He is adopted.¡±


    Theo Xeta hesitated. Gun still pointed, he looked at a display on his arm.


    ¡°You are telling the truth. But why did you adopt him?¡±


    ¡°My wife is infertile.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m asking.¡±


    Bear Mask sighed and looked away.


    ¡°We all atone for our sins in different ways.¡±


    Theo Xeta nodded slowly, a look of understanding in his eyes.


    ¡°We all do,¡± he muttered.


    He lowered the pistol back into the holster. Instead, he slowly unsheathed the knife he used earlier against Skull Mask. Except this time, a fiery glow of orange light surrounded the blade.


    ¡°If I let you go,¡± said Xeta. ¡°Will you come for me again?¡±


    This time, Bear Mask did not avert his gaze. He stared right into Xeta¡¯s eyes, not with anger, but with a sorrowful helplessness.


    ¡°If I don¡¯t serve the nation, the nation will take everything from me.¡±


    A tint of sorrow also crept up Xeta¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Xeta. ¡°I understand.¡±


    He slowly rolled Bear Mask¡¯s to the side. Bear Mask did not resist.


    A clean slash from the blade. No blood. No punctured organs. The blade made a clean cauterized cut across his L2 vertebrae. His legs instantly went limp. He would be paralyzed in his lower body for life, but at least he was still alive.


    Theo Xeta lifted Bear Mask above his head effortlessly. He approached the window. Under it was a pile of trash bags, more than enough to break the fall.


    ¡°Stay with your family from now on,¡±


    Xeta gazed at the full moon far away, who looked back nonchalantly at the violence unfolding in this room and a thousand others. Xeta¡¯s eyes were filled with reminiscence, or was it regret? But once he turned his face away from the ghastly moonlight, the look had disappeared.


    ¡°No Fraxian child deserves to grow up without a father,¡± he whispered.


    With a light nudge, Bear Mask fell onto the pile of trash bags with a soft thud. Theo Xeta stared out for a few more seconds.


    Then he turned and approached Vye.

 Chapter 015 - The Assassination III

    One foot in front of another, Theo Xeta approached Vye with an intentional slowness.


    The three-second fight knocked all the wind out of Vye. Her nose had finally stopped bleeding, but the cuts and bruises still burned under the blood-soaked shirt. After witnessing Xeta¡¯s superhuman strength and speed, she did not even bother to run.


    Although Xeta spared her life, she was still afraid. After all, he had just paralyzed a man for life with zero hesitation.


    ¡°What is your name?¡± Xeta asked in a surprisingly gentle voice, but Vye was buying none of that.


    At a closer look, Xeta was wearing more than Stormrunning gadgets. Underneath his burnt left sleeve, an intricate array of metal rods extended into his shirt and beyond. It must be an exoskeleton that enhanced his physical capacity.


    Vye was unaware this technology even existed, but it wouldn¡¯t be the first time that the CEO of XetaCorp kept secrets from the public.


    ¡°Cut the bullshit,¡± said Vye. ¡°Whatever you wanna do, just do it fast.¡±


    Xeta looked almost a little hurt by the remarks. He handed her a tiny syringe.


    ¡°It¡¯s ethermine. Painkiller used by Stormrunners on the fronts.¡±


    Vye knew exactly what it was. Ethermine was more than a painkiller. By tweaking a few molecules, ethermine would morph into its highly addictive counterpart, ethermax. Half of her jobs in the underworld involved either ethermine or its upstream supply chain.


    However, Vye was in too much pain to care. She grabbed the syringe and plunged it into her veins. Instantly, the burn and throbbing faded away. After a few tries, she managed to sit up.


    Feeling her fingers return to life, she reached into the boxes behind her, searching for a usable weapon.


    ¡°Careful there,¡± said Xeta, oblivious to her plan. ¡°You took a pretty hard hit.¡±


    Vye pulled away a little.


    ¡°Don¡¯t put on that friendly act,¡± Vye said. ¡°You are fooling nobody.¡±


    Xeta was a little taken aback.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Fraxian, just like you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a Fraxian billionaire. First a billionaire, then a Fraxian.¡±


    ¡°And what is wrong with that? XetaCorps is the pride of the Fraxians.¡±


    Vye sneered, forgetting she was speaking to one of the most powerful individuals in the nation.


    Her hands continued searching. Finally, her fingers wrapped around a spherical orb the size of an orange. This could be her chance.


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of Fraxian pride? Can pride fill an empty stomach or pay rent? Step out of your mansion. Go take a walk along the Mill Row. Ask the kids in those tents if they feel any Fraxian pride.¡±


    At Vye¡¯s words, Theo Xeta fell into silent contemplation. His eyes glanced outside the window, at the same full moon Vye had spoken to.


    Pouncing on the chance, Vye picked up the orb and threw it toward Theo Xeta¡¯s head at full force.


    Catching the movement from the corner of his eyes, Xeta instantly dodged. However, the orb did not fly in a straight path. In fact, it decelerated rapidly until it floated in midair.


    Suddenly, the orb began spinning, and an orange glow emanated from its core. Soon, the orange light intensified, thickening and swirling into a white flare that engulfed the entire room. From the heart of this halo, a new world materialized into existence.


    Vye could see the forlorn cabins and hear the howling winds. But there was so much more. Her thermal sense could perceive the heat of this world, like the cold gusts that sent a shiver down her spine, or the dying heat from near-extinguished oil lamps behind the beaten walls.


    It was a bizarre feeling. She was in two worlds at once. She could still sense the heated air pumping out of Thermo Pipes in Theo Xeta¡¯s room, but she could also perceive every tiny detail in this broken new world. However, as she commanded her body to run, nothing moved.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Curiosity soon overcame her fear. Vye began navigating the new world. She realized she didn¡¯t have to walk; all she needed was to have her Fraxian thermal sense carry her.


    It must have been mid-winter. A family was huddling in a small hut, with frigid winds and icy water leaking into the room from the hole in the roof. A pot of bland stew, filled with only potatoes, sat on top of a small fire, the liquid barely reaching a simmer. Not a word was spoken.


    Beside the soup was a small mound of baked dough, a pitiful attempt at making a cake without butter or eggs. Two thin candles stood slanted on top. It was someone¡¯s birthday.


    Vye sensed one thing in the room that was particularly warm, and it didn¡¯t take her long to find it. A toddler sat on a young boy¡¯s lap, her forehead burning fierily with the last bit of life force. The toddler¡¯s skin was hot to the touch, but no sweat beads could be found. Tears began to well up in Vye¡¯s eyes. Somehow, Vye just knew that this warmth would soon burn itself out, leaving behind a cold, lifeless body for the next night¡¯s blizzard.


    A gust appeared, and the room flickered. The two birthday candles burnt out, leaving the room just a little darker and colder.


    As quickly as it appeared, the world around Vye dematerialized, throwing her senses back to the warm room in Theo Xeta¡¯s mansion. She searched around, as if trying to scoop up the residual slivers of the reverie, but not a hint of them remained.


    Vye returned to reality. However, the frigid winds and the dying candles were forever etched in her memory. She was too overwhelmed with shock and sorrow to move.


    In front of her, Theo Xeta grabbed tightly onto the orb. Its orange light faded away. From the mixture of anger and shock on his face, Vye was sure that he had seen the same images that she had. She was also sure that whatever patience and mercy he had were now completely gone.


    Theo Xeta glared at her, not speaking a word.


    ¡°What¡­ What the hell was that?¡± said Vye.


    Xeta ignored her. He carefully placed the orb into another drawer with a gentleness starkly contrasting his anger. Then he shut the drawer and turned the key. A click echoed in the silence.


    ¡°Was that real? Those images?¡± Vye pressed on.


    ¡°Yes. Very real.¡±


    ¡°The little girl who¡­ Who was she?¡±


    ¡°None of your business.¡±


    So this was something that had actually happened. Vye¡¯s mind raced, piecing the puzzles together.


    Xeta ripped out a torn piece of curtain from the floor, twisting it into a makeshift rope. He pulled on its ends, testing its strength. Then he walked toward Vye.


    Suddenly, Vye understood. It wasn¡¯t any images. It was a memory.


    Although Vye wished to empathize with the situation, Xeta¡¯s anger allowed no room for dialogue. Watching him approach with the makeshift ropes, Vye shook herself free from the residue of emotions. She focused on the present, on the plan to escape.


    ¡°That little boy, that was you, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    Xeta stopped dead in his tracks. Vye pressed on.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what happened. I was wrong about you.¡±


    Xeta fell into contemplation. This timing was no coincidence. From Xeta¡¯s earlier interactions, Vye had noticed how he often became lost in thought when certain subjects came up. She used it to her advantage.


    Seizing this moment of hesitation, Vye fired his grappling hook in Xeta¡¯s direction.


    Xeta tilted his head and easily dodged the hook, but Vye was never aiming for him. The grappling hook flew through the open door behind him and latched onto the corridor.


    Vye launched herself toward the hallway. A tinge of guilt hit her. She truly meant every word she said, and if she had a choice, she would not have manipulated Xeta¡¯s vulnerable moment. But desperate times called for desperate means.


    The blast of shotgun soon followed. Vye kept moving, not daring to look back. Alternating between the pair of grappling hooks, she maneuvered through the labyrinth of walls and rooms.


    The Stormrunning gear was not designed to be used indoors. The modified gear she was wearing increased agility at the cost of lower stability, but it also became twice as dangerous to use. At such velocity, one wrong turn meant a lethal crash against the wall.


    However, Vye was a veteran of the modified gear. In just a few glances, she calculated her path to the nearest window. Each movement was a swift decision, every movement mapped within fractions of a second. The rattling steel cables bit into her skin as she pivoted with a dangerously tight radius.


    The shotgun blasts chased her, but the distance grew. Within seconds, she reached the window. She pulled out her pistol and emptied the clip on the glass. The window shattered.


    The rumbling footsteps closed in, but Vye already threw herself out of the window. As she fell backwards into the city, she pulled out her cyro grenade and threw it into Xeta¡¯s house.


    Xeta quickly ducked out of the way, but no explosion came. Had he picked up the grenade, he would find out that Vye did not bother pulling the pin. Vye had no intention of hurting Theo Xeta. She only wished to buy time.


    Once Vye broke into the open air, a wave of relief washed over her. Swinging between houses was far easier than between corridors. Cloaked in the shadows of the city, she flew toward the darkness.


    Suddenly, Vye saw a red laser dot appear on her chest. It was the laser sight of a rifle. No matter how she weaved between buildings, the dot remained fixed on her, mirroring her every move.


    Vye glanced back. Theo Xeta was standing on the edge of his broken windows, a sniper rifle in his arms. The muzzle was pointed right at Vye.


    However, even after many seconds, no shot was fired. Xeta kept the laser dot trained on her, as if taunting that he could end her life any moment, but he made the choice to let her live.


    Vye smiled. That was childish. But wasn¡¯t she the same when she threw all the futile attacks at him?


    Seeing that, Vye raised two fingers to her temple and saluted Theo Xeta. Then she flew into a blind spot and into the darkness beyond.

 Chapter 016 - On The Intersection

    Under the waxing moon, the street stretched into the silver horizon. A chasm between two worlds, Mill Street looked neither luxurious nor destitute. Overhead, exposed Thermo Pipes clung to rusted steel poles, forming a barren geometry of brutish modernity. Dim yellow lamps dotted the edges of the street, casting more shadows than light.


    On the east of Mill Street, tattered tents of different colors and sizes pieced together a pitiful collage of the human condition. This was the notorious Mill Row, so full of despair that crime happened hourly, yet so devoid of value that every gang turned their eyes away. Illuminated by the flames of burning barrels, intoxicated Fraxian and Valerians roamed aimlessly like zombies, their veins shot up with ethermax, the needle holes still oozing with rotten flesh.


    On the west of Mill Street stood the capital¡¯s utter opulence. The wide, paved streets were lined with mansions of granite and gardens of exotic groves. Men and women, dressed as if they stepped off the front pages of magazines, scuffled in and out of sleek black automobiles. At the heart of it all was the capital¡¯s opera house, ornated by the most exquisite lights and garnished by the most elegant melodies. Hundreds of Stormrunners gathered outside, accompanying their newest recruits into this venue of celebration.


    Shon and Zora walked on Mill Street in silence, side by side. The hour was late, and the street was empty. The other Stormrunner recruits were arriving at the opera house in automobiles, but Zora insisted on walking with Shon.


    Finally, Zora broke the silence.


    ¡°Have you decided? It¡¯s been three days.¡±


    Shon hesitated. He took out a card from his pocket, the paper now heavily creased from the constant folding and unfolding.


    It was signed by Theo Xeta.


    We both know the results are unfair. Your courage and kindness will make you a good Stormrunner. Come to the ceremony three days later, and you can get a second chance. - T. Xeta


    Zora snatched the card from Shon. She didn¡¯t bother taking another look, for she could already recite its content by heart.


    ¡°Look at this, Shon. Are you stupid?¡± she said. ¡°Theo Xeta is personally offering you a second chance. Isn¡¯t this the moment you¡¯ve dreamed of?¡±


    Shon hesitated. It was true. This was the moment he had dreamed of all his life. It wasn¡¯t just about gaining Valerian citizenship. For the first time, his family would be free to choose the life they wanted for themselves.


    But that wasn¡¯t it.


    ¡°Are your mom and sister doing fine? Did you speak to them?¡± Zora asked.


    ¡°They evacuated in time.¡± Shon sighed.


    That was the other reason to be a Stormrunner. He would be able to move his family into a nice little house in the capital, away from the storm-ravaged frontier provinces.


    However, he had a few other concerns.


    ¡°Do they know your Exam results?¡± Zora asked.


    ¡°I told them there is a delay in my score, but I didn¡¯t tell them about this.¡± Shon pointed at the card with Theo Xeta¡¯s offer.


    ¡°I hope they took it well.¡±


    ¡°They did, surprisingly. After the storms in Thiab, Lydia just wanted me to stay in the inner cities and take care of Mom. She didn¡¯t want me to risk my life as a Stormrunner anymore.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Zora trailed off. She glanced down at Theo Xeta¡¯s card and handed it back to Shon, leaving the final decision to him.


    Shon was unsure what to do with his sister¡¯s opinion either. Since he was a child, he and watched Lydia carrying the burden of the family, whether it be handling Dad¡¯s funeral affairs or taking on the dangerous factory job. Although there were nights when he saw her weeping alone in the kitchen, the tears always dried up before dawn.


    But this time, over the telephone call, Lydia practically pleaded in tears for Shon to stay home. Shon had never seen his sister break down, and frankly speaking, it left him worried and afraid. Although now a twenty-year-old academy graduate, he felt no more prepared than a decade ago, when the news of Dad¡¯s death broke and Lydia took the mantle of responsibility.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    However, at the same time, he felt almost a little betrayed. Through the long nights of study in his moldy basement and the days of abuse at his underpaid job, through the ice packs on his bruises and gauze wraps on his cuts from training, it was the dream of becoming a Stormrunner that kept him going. How could she ask him to give up now?


    It was never just about money or a comfortable life. Being a Stormrunner was the only way that a Fraxian like him could mean something in the torrent of history.


    It was the only way for his life to become part of something bigger.


    But if that was the case, then why was he hesitant now? Theo Xeta¡¯s invitation was right in his pocket. What was stopping him from heading over to the opera house right now?


    Zora must have seen the turmoil in Shon¡¯s eyes. She gently took Shon¡¯s hand and pushed the card back into his pocket.


    ¡°Follow your heart,¡± she whispered. ¡°I trust your decision.¡±


    Shon tried to shove the thought out of his head. He couldn¡¯t run from this for long, but he must make a decision by midnight.


    ¡°How did your family take the news?¡± Shon asked.


    ¡°They were happy, I guess, but also worried. Dad got me a researcher job in XetaCorp, you know, where I can use the Academy knowledge somewhere safe in the capital.¡±


    That was right. With Zora¡¯s background, she did not have to become a Stormrunner.


    ¡°But you still decided to go to the ceremony.¡±


    ¡°You know me. The labs can¡¯t answer my questions. Only the storms can.¡±


    Perhaps that was why, despite the drastic differences in their backgrounds, they could walk side by side so close.


    So they walked on beneath the scattered glow of the streetlights, into the seemingly endless night, where their eyes could not penetrate. For once, they did not need to care what lay within. Although the road would end not far ahead, they could surrender to their blindness, to the illusion that the canvas of darkness would stretch into infinity.


    At a pocket of darkness in between two lampposts, Zora stopped. The dim light softly brushed against Zora¡¯s silhouette, leaving a drunken luster in her eyes. Beyond her, the noisy world faded into the impenetrable darkness, and she was all that Shon could see.


    Shon looked at her, his focus sharpened by the absence of everything else. He stared at how the night wind flirted with the strands of her hair, teasing them as they fell past her shoulders. He traced her neck, her collarbone, down to the mesmerizing rhythm of her chest rising and falling with each gentle breath.


    He watched the moonlight scattered into a million pieces on the sparkles of her black dress. The cascade of silk embraced every curve and movement of her figure, like clouds caressing the night sky.


    Finally, he looked up into her eyes. In that moment, all the cacophony of life dissolved, the past and future all fading into shadows. In the very present, only these eyes mattered.


    ¡°You know, I never really thanked you for saving my life,¡± Zora smiled. The breeze carried a few strands of her hair across her face.


    A thousand fragments of words flooded within Shon, but he could not muster the eloquence to weave them into a sentence. After a few seconds, all he could manage was a simple reply.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    Zora nodded. Her faint orange eyes met his for a few moments and then flickered away.


    ¡°You wanna know a secret?¡± she said, her voice barely above a whisper. ¡°I am afraid. I am scared to the depth of my core. Not of dying, but leaving behind those I love.¡±


    ¡°Me too. I wonder how they would feel at our funerals, to have spent their entire lives to make us Stormrunners, only for us to die in the storms.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps they would be proud that we died for something bigger.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I¡¯ve ever wanted, yet why do I find myself hesitating?¡±


    ¡°I think that means you have a heart. A good heart.¡±


    Shon smiled. Zora took a tiny step forward.


    ¡°You know what they say,¡± she said. ¡°There¡¯s a reason most Stormrunners only date Stormrunners.¡±


    ¡°And why is that?¡±


    I guess only a Stormrunner will know,¡± Zora smiled faintly.


    Under the night winds, the cloud cleared their way for the stars. Under the serene watch of the constellations, Zora leaned in a little more. The warmth of their bodies slowly closed their gap in between, until her breaths brushed gently against his neck.


    Her eyes, reflecting the soft luminance of the world, danced from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes. Shon felt his heart beat faster. Zora leaned in.


    For a brief moment, their warmth mingled into one, and they shared the same breath.


    Zora tilted her face up, her intentions clear. But moments away before her lips met his, Shon gently turned his head away. It was a mixture of emotions ¡ªdoubt, fear, sorrow, shame ¡ª perhaps a mixture even more complex than what Shon could comprehend.


    But in that moment, none of it mattered. His hands glided onto Zora¡¯s shoulders, pulling her into a tight embrace. He felt her chest press against his, gently lifting with every breath. In the cold night, his warmth enveloped hers.


    Zora stiffened for a fraction of a second, but soon she relaxed. She hugged him back. Under the hazy gaze of the moon, by the muted whispers of the city, they stood frozen in time, frozen in this tight embrace.


    Not a word was spoken. They both understood.


    The spell of frozen time was soon broken by its own inevitable passage. Once again, the streets began bustling, and the city began breathing.


    Shon and Zora approached the end of the Mill Street.


    ¡°You still have four hours to decide,¡± Zora whispered.


    With that, Zora turned west, and Shon turned east.

 Chapter 017 - The Mill Row I

    A saying in the Republic of Valeria went: One had not witnessed true poverty unless they had stepped foot into the Mill Row.


    Shon had never liked that saying much. His life in the capital was far from comfortable, and his earlier life hopping between the frontier provinces ¡ª with his mother and sister ¡ª had been even worse. To claim that this life was not true poverty was mildly infuriating.


    However, standing at the end of Mill Street, Shon felt a sudden curiosity creep up. Without realizing it, he drifted toward the matrix of patched tents, mapping out the terrain of this strange land.


    The mystique of this forsaken territory was soon dispelled. The moment Shon stepped in, all abstract concepts of poverty and economy and gentrification crumbled away, leaving only the raw human condition to batter his senses.


    Figures writhed in their tents, in angles bizarre to the human eye. At a closer look, some shapes were merely the size of toddlers. Painful wails and delirious speech mixed into a dissonant noise, the voices never close enough to be deciphered, but always half an earshot away. The worst was the stench ¡ª the mix of urine, defecation, vomit, and other unknown bodily fluids.


    Shon was wrong. This was worse than anything he had been through.


    Despite everything, Shon let his footsteps carry him deeper into the encampments. He kept his gaze straight and uncovered his nose.


    This was the life that his fellow Fraxians had to live through. He embraced the brutality of it all.


    But wait, it wasn¡¯t just Fraxians. At a closer look, there were tints of blue in some eyes. The Valerians were much smaller in proportion, but by no means small in count.


    Shon sighed. The blade of society struck unequally, but nobody was truly immune.


    In the distance, Shon could make out the silhouette of a woman. She seemed to be different. While the figures surrounding her twisted and staggered, she moved with a smooth, composed elegance.


    In fact, she moved differently from all the inhabitants of Mill Row.


    Shon walked faster toward the woman, curiosity getting the better of him.


    Suddenly, a cold, clammy hand gripping onto his ankle. He jumped, instinctively flinching away. He tried to kick the hand away but braced himself at the last second. Instead, he gently pulled away his leg.


    ¡°Ethermine. Spare some ethermine, please.¡±


    Shon glanced down. A Fraxian, or what remained of one, was lying on the floor. The arm that grabbed him was bony, and so was the rest of his body. He seemed so fragile that a gust of wind could snap him in half. But the worst part was the pus ¡ª putrid, discolored pus seeping out of rotten needle holes on his arm.


    ¡°Ethermine, please, Stormrunner, or ethermax, or whatever you¡¯ve got.¡±


    Shon understood. He was mistaken for a Stormrunner, who could legally carry sedatives like ethermine. This pure fellow somehow shot up tons of this substance into his veins.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a Stormrunner, sorry,¡± Shon tried to leave. He needed to follow that mysterious silhouette. There was no time to waste.


    At Shon¡¯s words, a sudden gist of sobriety hit the Fraxian man.


    ¡°You know, I used to be a Stormrunner.¡±


    Shon glanced back. That man was a Stormrunner? Impossible. No retired Stormrunner would end up as pathetic as he was. Even those who lost eyes and limbs were compensated handsomely by the state, enjoying privileges that surpass those of Valerians.


    ¡°Sir, you need some rest.¡± Shon tried to speak as gently as he could, trying not to shatter this man¡¯s delirious fantasy. He glanced forward. The mysterious woman was still in the distance, though drifting further. Shon did not want to lose her.


    But the man had no intent to finish the conversation. Although lying on the pavement, the man managed to raise his hand into a fist and struck against his chest.


    ¡°Squad Ventura, rear striker Clay reporting for duty! The perimeter of Orion Marketplace is secure! Sir, yes sir!¡±


    Shon froze. He could not be making all this up. Squad Ventura, the rear striker position, and the Stormrunner salute? These were all real and accurate.And the Orion marketplace¡­ No way that he served there.


    Shon turned back to him with a barrage of questions in his head. ¡°Tell me more. Where did you serve? What happened to you? How did you end up like this?¡±


    However, the few seconds of clarity were gone. Once again, the man¡¯s eyes became clouded, and he began twitching in withdrawal.


    ¡°Ethermine, please. Any ethermine to spare?¡±


    Shon glared down, trying to fish out a few more answers with his stare. However, it was of no use. The man¡¯s mind was gone.


    Shon sighed. He glanced up. The silhouette of the woman was drifting further away, so he picked up his pace.


    The woman moved on to the next group. To be more precise, the next group gathered around her. Wherever she went, people followed. More shocking was the fact that all interactions had been peaceful so far. The crimes in Mill Row were notoriously brutal, and the police would not bat an eye unless an upstanding Valerian citizen got attacked by some Fraxian vagabonds. Even as a trained Stormrunner candidate, Shon was still afraid, taking each step with extreme caution and never walking too close to any dark alleyway. However, that woman displayed no fear.


    At that thought, Shon strode with bigger gestures and more noise, trying not to catch the woman by surprise. After all, he did not want to give off the wrong impression.


    The woman turned a corner, and Shon followed. Soon, the woman stopped in front of another batch of tents, once again surrounded by people.


    Shon closed in, and he finally got a closer look. He was shocked.


    ¡°Professor Lilah?¡± he blurted out.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Professor Lilah turned her head. Her gentle blue eyes blinked a few times, and she pulled a pair of glasses out of her pocket. ¡°Shon, what are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I was gonna ask the same about you?¡±


    Shon looked around, and he found his answer. Professor Lilah carried a large tray of food. Around her sat a dozen Fraxians. Although the professor made no effort to conceal her Valerian features, none of the Fraxians displayed any antagonism. In fact, they glanced up with reverence in their eyes, just like the Academy students.


    Professor Lilah turned back and waved them forward. One by one, they lined up and took a sandwich each out of the tray. Nobody fought for the food, and nobody caused any commotion, not even those wheezing with the aftereffects of narcotics.


    By the time they were done, the tray was still half-filled. The leftover was probably saved for the next batch of tents. Although some Fraxians looked like they had been starving for days, nobody took more from the tray.


    Shon¡¯s mouth hung open. No words came out.


    ¡°You must be wondering why I¡¯m doing this,¡± chuckled Professor Lilah.


    Shon looked away, blinking away what he soon realized were tears. ¡°No, I get it. I get it more than you think I do.¡±


    ¡°What happened, Shon? This is the first time I see you here.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± Shon stammered.


    ¡°I heard about what happened during the Exam. I filed an appeal on behalf of the Academy. Regardless, that is a terrible injustice. I¡¯m so sorry.¡±


    Professor Lilah probably heard about how he got disqualified after saving his Valerian teammate¡¯s life. However, she did not know about Theo Xeta¡¯s letter. Shon debated whether he should tell her.


    At this instant, Shon realized how lost he felt. After all the years of struggling alone in the capital, he felt tired.


    He envied Zora, who could always go to her parents to figure things out together. But for Shon, his mother and sister were not only far away, but they could offer no valuable insights. He could not blame them. They were already trying their hardest to give him a chance at a good life. However, did they understand his solitude? Did they understand the apprehension of staring at a fork in the road, not knowing which path to take?


    Perhaps this was his only chance at some solid advice, so he prodded carefully. ¡°Can I ask you something, Professor?¡±


    ¡°Fire away.¡± Professor Lilah continued to stack the trays of food.


    ¡°Would you prefer a safe, mundane, and perhaps even meaningless life? Or a life filled with thrill and danger, along with the possibility to reach places higher than you¡¯d ever imagine?¡±


    Professor Lilah turned around in contemplation.


    ¡°I would not call any life meaningless,¡± she said. ¡°Not even the most mundane ones. No matter how some try to shame others, or how some doubt themselves, everyone plays an important role in serving our republic.¡±


    Shon opened his mouth to protest, but Professor Lilah continued.


    ¡°But I¡¯m sure you meant something else. After all, you are in an academy of Stormrunner candidates.¡±


    Shon nodded his head, silent.


    ¡°I read about the storms in Thiab, and I know your family only narrowly escaped while thousands couldn¡¯t. It is not your fault, Shon, if these tragedies deter you from your original dreams.¡±


    ¡°Not just me, but also¡­ Also my family. After all their sacrifices, they are changing their minds.¡±


    ¡°For a young man like you, doubt can be a blessing.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve taught many generations of Stormrunners,¡± Professor Lilah sighed. ¡°Some of them fancied the idea of being a Stormrunner, obsessed even. Others, they seemed much more hesitant. Wanna guess which type survives longer on the field?¡±


    ¡°Sounds like the latter. But why?¡±


    ¡°Those who jumped in blindly to be a Stormrunner, they never gave it much thought. They were powered by an ideal, a blind optimism. Perhaps they believed they could save everyone from the Storms, or perhaps they pursued honor and a good life. They idealized Stormrunning as a concept without even understanding the truth. They tried to build their life¡¯s meaning upon the foundations of a daydream, erecting a tower carrying all their hope and faith.


    ¡°However, when the reality struck, when their first friend died on the field, or the town they were protecting got destroyed, they would lose it. Only when the tower collapsed did they understand that the foundation was simply a mirage. But that was too late.¡±


    Shon interjected. ¡°But what about the other kind? Are they not also motivated by dreams?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the tricky part. On paper, their motivation was exactly the same. The only difference is, perhaps, they interrogated what it meant to be a Stormrunner. They had fears and doubts, but eventually, they still chose this path, regardless. They had found a bigger meaning.¡±


    ¡°And what is the meaning that they had found?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a question for you to think about for the rest of your life.¡±


    Shon was a little frustrated that there were questions even Professor Lilah could not answer. He thought about it. He had always wanted to be a Stormrunner. But why?Certainly,y lifting his family out of poverty was a big thing. But there was definitely more. Perhaps it was his dead father? Perhaps he was tired of feeling powerless in this society?


    Shon shook his head. The professor was right. That was a question for the rest of his life, not for ten minutes in the Mill Row.


    However, he still had something on his mind. He carefully put together the right words.


    ¡°Professor, if I got the chance to do something great, but it deprives the same opportunity of a fellow Fraxian, is it still the right thing to do?¡±


    Professor Lilah looked up, expecting some elaboration. However, Shon looked away.


    The Stormrunning Examination was sacred. Every person, whether Valerian or Fraxian, only got one shot. Three hundred candidates, half Fraxian and half Valerian, would get selected each year ¡ª no more and no less. In the past, the only way for a candidate beneath the cutoff score to be recruited was for another to forfeit their opportunity. However, Shon was not just beneath the cutoff. He was completely disqualified. Never had a disqualified candidate been given a second chance.


    Come to the ceremony three days later, and you can get a second chance.


    A second chance. Whatever Theo Xeta proposed was a breach of multiple Valerian laws. Worst of all, this meant denying the opportunity from another Fraxian. Shon pictured what they would look like and how they had lived. Did they already walk into the inauguration ceremony with the hopes of their family on their backs? Had they also fought and dreamed their whole life for a Stormrunner position? Were they on the verge of winning their family Valerian citizenships and the promise of a better life, only to have it all stolen away by Shon¡¯s selfish decision?


    The immense guilt washed over him again. He looked back at Professor Lilah, who was still patiently waiting for an elaboration.


    Shon bit his lips and shook his head. There was no way he could explain this. He would not only displease Theo Xeta, but he would also put himself in enormous danger.


    Professor Lilah saw the look in Shon¡¯s eyes and understood. It was a look that she had probably witnessed often. She did not press further.


    ¡°Shon,¡± she began speaking, then paused, as if searching for the right words. After a long while, she continued. ¡°There is something I should have taught you guys in my lessons, but for a multitude of reasons, I have kept it to myself.¡±


    Shon looked up. ¡°I would never blame you, professor. You have taught us more than we could ever ask for.¡±


    Professor Lilah¡¯s expression lightened, a brief look of relief in her eyes. ¡°Always remember this. In the days to come, sometimes you will take from others, and sometimes others take from you. And worst of all, sometimes it feels like both sides are suffering, and nobody is winning.¡±


    Shon remembered his encounter on the train right before the Exam. He remembered the poor Fraxian girl who had to make a living off pickpocketing, who had the unfortunate luck to pickpocket a group of manual laborers. Was it her fault for wanting to survive? Was it their fault to hate a thief? Was it Shon¡¯s fault for stepping in? Was it Zora¡¯s fault for protecting Shon?


    It was a cruel world. Nobody could win.


    ¡°It feels heartless to take from someone else.¡± Professor Lilah continued. ¡°And it feels worse if that stems from a conscious decision.


    ¡°But remember. Always remember. It is not your fault. When you are forced to choose between two evils, it is never your fault for picking the lesser one.¡±


    Shon let these words permeate his mind slowly. He tried to put together a response, but as understanding began kicking in, he lost his grasp. He swallowed, then blinked a few times, but he could not hide the moonlight glistening in the corner of his eyes. Only at this moment did he realize that he had been waiting his whole life to hear these words from someone.


    Finally, he let out a long breath. Only three words escaped his mouth. ¡°Thank you, professor.¡±


    A sudden movement got Shon¡¯s attention. Behind the professor, two menacing Valerian men closed in. Unlike the zombies of Mill Row, these men were bulky, angry, and evidently looking for trouble.


    And they were heading right towards Shon.

 Chapter 018 - The Mill Row II

    The two Valerian men came in closer, one in front of the other. Their gaze bounced between Shon, Professor Lilah, and the writhing Fraxians around the tents. Their expressions shifted from curiosity to disgust.


    ¡°Ha ha ha, what do we have here?¡± The broad-shouldered one came in closer.


    A bony Fraxian woman on the pavement grabbed onto his ankles and let out a few choppy, raspy words. ¡°Ethermine, please. Or ethermax?¡±


    The broad-shouldered Valerian stomped on her wrist in disgust. There was a loud crack, but he kept on walking. Seeing that, the skinny Valerian behind him spitted on that Fraxian and let out a slur.


    Finally, they stopped right in front of Shon and Professor Lilah.


    The broad-shouldered man leaned in until his nose almost touched Shon. He sniffed a few times, then wrinkled his nose. ¡°An academy Fragger. Not as stinky as the rest, but a Fragger nonetheless.¡±


    Shon clenched his fist. He took every ounce of willpower to stay still, neither flinching back nor throwing a punch.


    The skinny man followed suit. He eyed Professor Lilah up and down.


    ¡°And we have a Fragger lover here,¡± he snorted.


    Seeing no reaction, the skinny Valerian kicked the tray of sandwiches out of the professor¡¯s hand. Sandwiches scattered the pavement. The starving Fraxians immediately pounced upon the food, picking up pieces of bread and ham off the wet pavement and stuffing them in their mouth.


    The skinny guy stomped on a sandwich, but the broad-shouldered man glared back, and he instantly stopped.


    ¡°Let them feed,¡± the broad-shouldered man laughed, entertained by the mess. ¡°Dogs will be dogs.¡±


    The skinny guy immediately laughed along. ¡°Yes, what a bunch of pathetic dogs.¡±


    Shon stepped forward, about to confront the man, but Professor Lilah pulled him back.


    ¡°What do you want here?¡± asked the professor, staring right into the eyes of the two Valerians.


    The broad-shouldered man closed in with his towering figure. He bent forward until his nose was inches away from Professor Lilah¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m putting these Fraggers back to their place. What do you say?¡±


    Professor Lilah stood still, unflinching. ¡°You have just committed felony battery. I suggest you leave before I take you to court.¡±


    The Valerian man followed her eyes and saw what she was referring to. The woman he stepped on earlier was now writhing on the floor, grabbing onto her arm. Although there was no open wound, a few bones were protruding against the skin.


    ¡°You think anybody gives a damn?¡± he laughed. ¡°Nobody cares about these animals.¡±


    Shon wanted to refute him, but he could not. What the man stated was simply true. Nobody cared about the homeless on the Mill Row, especially not a Fraxian.


    ¡°You¡¯ve made your point already,¡± said Professor Lilah, looking down at the crushed sandwiches. ¡°Why don¡¯t you leave us alone now?¡±


    ¡°Ha! Leave you alone? A Fragger lover like you is no better than these damn Fraggers.¡±


    The professor stayed silent, but her gaze remained fixed on the broad-shouldered man.


    Seeing the lack of reaction, the two Valerian men tried to step in closer. However, as they lifted their foot, Professor Lilah spoke again, this time in an intimidatingly calm and clear voice. ¡°If you lay a finger on me, I will make sure you rot behind bars for the rest of your life.¡±


    The broad-shouldered man hesitated. He looked around. ¡°Bullshit. It¡¯s the Mill Row. It¡¯s our words against yours.¡±


    ¡°You are speaking to a Republic-Ordained Professor of a Stormrunner academy. Are you sure your meager words could carry any weight?¡±


    ¡°You expect us to believe that?¡± taunted the skinny Valerian, but he promptly stopped as the broad-shouldered Valerian raised his finger.


    ¡°And don¡¯t you get any ideas on my student,¡± the professor continued with her calm threats. ¡°He is a selected Stormrunner candidate. You mess with him, you are messing with President Valtora.¡±


    This was the first time Shon saw Professor Lilah lie. However, he quietly played along.


    ¡°They¡¯re lying, right?¡± The skinny man turned to his partner.


    The broad-shouldered Valerian stared back and forth between the two, contemplating whether it was worth starting a fight. Ultimately, he decided not to.


    ¡°Fuck that bitch and her pet Fragger. It¡¯s not worth it,¡± he seethed, holding his head high in front of his follower.


    Fuming, the two Valerians started to retreat. However, another half-conscious Fraxian vagabond limped into their way. Through the gaps of his remaining teeth, a few incoherent words squeezed out.


    This became the last straw for the broad-shouldered Valerian man.


    ¡°Damn you! You fucking Fraggers!¡± he shouted as he punched the beggar across the face. The homeless man collapsed immediately, but the attacks did not stop. The Valerian man stomped on his ribs again and again, cracking a few at a time.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°You fucking insects.¡± Another kick to the head and blood spurted everywhere. ¡°How dare you touch me?¡±


    The skinny Valerian stood on the sidelines, terrified. He weighed his options and decided to stay quiet. He did not stop his partner, but neither did he join in.


    On the other hand, Shon was done with this bullshit. He could not stand watching an innocent man getting beaten to a pulp. Although not formally trained in combat, he was confident he could knock out that Valerian man within a few punches.


    Shon stepped forward, but Professor Lilah blocked him from walking any further.


    ¡°Don¡¯t. This isn¡¯t a fight you can win,¡± she said quietly, reverting to her normal voice.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure I can kick their asses if I want to.¡±


    ¡°You win one fight, and what happens after? Once you devolve into violence, it becomes our word against theirs on who started the fight.¡±


    Shon swallowed, a taste of dry bitterness in his mouth. Logically, he knew his testimony would not stand a chance in court. A Fraxian youth defending another homeless Fraxian from two Valerian men in the Mill Row? Nobody would believe him. This harsh realization sparked a seething, resentful fury with him.


    ¡°Am I supposed to just stand by and do nothing?¡±


    ¡°We call in law enforcement. I will serve as a witness. You can¡¯t solve every problem with your fists, Shon. You use the instruments of law.¡±


    With that said, Professor Lilah took out a small tube from her pocket. She pointed it at the sky and pulled the string. With a shrill whitle, a blue flare shot up into the sky, combusting a hundred feet above where they stood. The bright blue hue masked the entire Mill Row, sending all vagabonds back to their tents.


    At the sight of the blue luminance, the two Valerians instantly stopped. They knew that all law enforcement within five miles had seen that flare. While the police could not care less about the homeless bashing each other¡¯s heads in, they also knew that the homeless did not carry flares. The blue light meant someone outside got in trouble.


    The broad-shouldered man threw his victim onto the ground and took a few steps away. Fortunately, the poor Fraxian was still breathing. The Valerian man grabbed his partner and started retreating into the darkness.


    By the time the cops showed up, they would have long disappeared into the labyrinth of alleyways.


    Before he even realized, Shon began striding toward them. He was sick of it ¡ª their condescension, their bloodlust, their cowardice. He could not let them get away with hurting another innocent Fraxian. Imitating those Valerian students at the exam, he raised his fists by his chin.


    However, before he could go further, Professor Lilah physically inserted herself in front of Shon, not letting him take another stop.


    ¡°Stop right there, Shon!¡±


    ¡°No. I can¡¯t let them get away.¡±


    ¡°The law enforcement saw the flare. They will be here shortly.¡±


    ¡°We both know that¡¯s gonna take too long. These men will be gone.¡±


    Professor Lilah refused to bulge. ¡°You have no right to take the law into your own hands. None of us do. That¡¯s not how I taught you.¡±


    ¡°Respectfully, professor, this is not the right time for lessons.¡±


    ¡°This is precisely the right time. Have you learned nothing from my classes? From the Academy? Fraxian auxiliaries are forbidden to make a citizen¡¯s arrest. If you lay hands on them right now, you are just as guilty for assault and battery.¡±


    ¡°So what if it¡¯s illegal? It¡¯s the right thing to do!¡±


    ¡°It may be the right thing at this moment, but what about in the long term?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You are a Stormrunner candidate, a student of the Academy. You are supposed to embody the best of all Fraxians.¡±


    ¡°Fuck that. It isn¡¯t my duty to represent my race.¡±


    ¡°The moment you entered the Academy, it became your duty!¡± Professor Lilah raised her voice.


    Shon was taken aback. He had never seen Professor Lilah yell in anger. Before he could respond, the professor continued. ¡°Do you know how long I have fought alongside fellow activists ¡ª both Fraxian and Valerians ¡ª for Fraxians kids to have the right to higher education? We fought for three decades to open the first academy, and another two to expand the curriculum beyond Stormrunning, to teach arts, history, philosophy, and all those subjects vital for the formation of a person.


    ¡°We fought against the prejudices that Fraxians are some barbaric savages, to prove that with higher education, you will become not only dignified members of our society but also contributors and innovators. And now, Shon, look at yourself. Are you going to prove us wrong, all because you can¡¯t hold back your temper?¡±


    Shon¡¯s eyes fell to the ground, defiance and shame warring within him. However, the professor was right. During all these years at the Academy, he was so fixated on becoming a Stormrunner that he lost sight of the broader issues at hand. Within those sheltered walls, he took his education for granted, even viewing it as a burden, when so many Fraxians out there would give everything for such a privilege.


    ¡°I know this isn¡¯t fair, nor is it easy,¡± Professor Lilah continued. ¡°But whether you like it or not, you are already in the limelight. You will be watched by Valerians and Fraxians alike. Your behavior will define what it means to be a Fraxian.¡±


    Shon inhaled, then exhaled. His mind was racing to process these words. He fought to open his eyes against the rage and denial. Tides of resistance clashed against reason, sending splatters of scorn for society. However, despite all the reluctance, he began to see the inevitability of his responsibility, that his mere existence as an academy Fraxian had warranted the baggage placed upon him.


    Slowly, Shon unclenched his fist. Beside him, the badly beaten Fraxian remained lying on the ground. From his swollen lips and shattered teeth, a weak whimper escaped. At least he was still alive.


    The two Valerian men escaped into the alleyways. Shon kept his gaze on them till their silhouettes faded into the shadow. If eyes could kill, they would have been dead a thousand times.


    Slowly, Shon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the anger and helplessness wash over him. He chased no further.


    He looked at the sky, taking in the eerie silence that ensued the chaos. All the whimpers and cries and cacophony of life had disappeared. After a long moment, he heard some noise at last.


    The two Valerian men reemerged from the darkness. This time, all their cruel arrogance was stripped away.


    As they drew closer, Shon located the reason for their unease. Three dark shadows stood beyond them. Seeing that the cops finally arrived, Shon let out a breath of relief.


    However, something seemed off.


    The two Valerian men continued to retreat closer. Shon could now see their bodies clearly trembling with fear.


    The three dark shadows beyond them simply closed in. There was no siren, no barking orders, no arrest. Shon shivered, a sudden chill creeping up his spine.


    As a sudden gust of wind blew away the clouds, Shon could finally see them clearly under the moonlight.


    They were no cops. They wore no uniforms. Despite the chilly air, their arms were bare. What stood out the most were the gigantic dragon tattoos coiling around each of their arms.


    At a closer look at these men, Shon understood why the air around him became unnaturally cold. All their eyes were glowing orange, the sign of Fraxians manipulating thermal energy in their surroundings.


    The air cooled down even further, but the three of them showed neither fear nor fatigue. This drop in temperature was not some primitive Fraxian fight-or-flight response. This was an intentional projection of power.


    And the only thing on their faces was grim bloodlust.

 Chapter 019 - The Mill Row III

    ¡°Fraxian ethno-extremists,¡± Professor Lilah whispered. ¡°They are a bizarre mix of gang and cult.¡±


    Shon took a closer look at the three men. Besides their elaborate dragon tattoos and fiercely glowing irises, there wasn¡¯t much else remarkable to the eye. However, for a Fraxian, eyes could be deceptive.


    Shon closed his eyes and tapped into his thermal senses. He could sense Professor Lilah, a ball of heat right beside him. Further from them were the two Valerian men, now two burning hotspots. With his Academy training, Shon could tell that their body temperature was increasing by a hundredth of a degree every second, likely from the rapid heartbeats and muscle tension.


    However, as he scanned forward, he hit nothing where the three men stood. He amplified his perception and tried again. This time, he found small temperature perturbations marking the contours of their bodies.


    Shon was shocked. The three Fraxians were not only lowering the ambient temperature, but they also masked their own body heat in plain sight. If a top Academy candidate like Shon could barely detect this, then they would remain thermally invisible to a regular Fraxian.


    They would also be invisible to any thermal detection equipment from the police.


    Shon realized the source of his unease. They would be like ghosts, entering and leaving without leaving a trace of themselves, and judging by their looks, they were up to something sinister.


    Shon opened his eyes and found the three Fraxian men staring at him. He must have released some heat while using his thermal sense. While Shon could conceal his primal fight-or-flight heat perturbations, the heat from using thermal senses ¡ª or any thermal transfer ¡ª was much smaller in magnitude and much harder to control. After all, he was trained to be a Stormrunner, not some stealth assassin.


    The leader of the Fraxian stepped forward.


    ¡°Do not be alarmed, my brother,¡± he spoke as he raised his palms up. ¡°We saw the flare and noticed these two Valerian scums running. Are you involved in any confrontation with them?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± Shon replied curtly, heeding Professor Lilah¡¯s warning of their extremism.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We will not hurt you. You are a Fraxian brother, just like us.¡±


    The leader closed his eyes, and Shon could tell that he was using his thermal sense to scan the perimeters.


    ¡°There is an injured Fraxian over there,¡± he pointed to the ground about a hundred feet away. Shon followed with his thermal sense and found a half-crawling body.


    That was the homeless Fraxian those two Valerian men beat up.


    The leader glanced back at the broad-shouldered Valerian men. He quickly put two-and-two together.


    ¡°It was him, wasn¡¯t he?¡± the leader inquired.


    The broad-shouldered Valerian man was now shivering with fear. ¡°No, there has been a misunderstanding. It wasn¡¯t me.¡±


    However, the leader glanced down. He noticed the bruises on the man¡¯s knuckles and the bloodstains on his boots. He instantly understood.


    The leader¡¯s eyes glowed again. The ambient temperature instantly plummeted by another two degrees, sending fresh wave of chill up everyone¡¯s spines. Despite his shivering, Shon felt an unnamable excitement bubbling within. He awaited the judgment of the Valerians¡¯ crimes.


    The leader turned toward the skinny Valerian. Compared to the broad-shouldered man, the skinny Valerian¡¯s hand was devoid of bruises, and his clothes were neat and composed without bloodstain. After all, despite his menace and sycophancy, he was too afraid to attack an innocent person.


    ¡°Did he also attack him?¡±


    Shon instinctively formed a ¡°no¡± in his mouth, but before he could utter it out, he remembered the encounters with the skinny Valerian. He could recall, word for word, the insults this pathetic man hurled at him and Professor Lilah. But no, it wasn¡¯t just the insults¡­ Regardless, this man did not deserve to be let off.


    ¡°Yes, he also attacked him,¡± Shon replied.


    Professor Lilah gasped behind him. Shon kept his eyes fixed on the Fraxian leader, but he reached behind with his thermal sense. The professor¡¯s heartbeat was accelerating. From what Shon knew of her, Professor Lilah would want to tell the truth, but surely she knew it was safer to stay quiet.


    The Fraxian leader sighed. The ambient temperature spiked twice within a second, each time by a quarter degree. It would be imperceptible to a Valerian, but for a trained Fraxian, this was as loud as a cymbal.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Immediately, the two other Fraxians dashed toward the Valerian men and grabbed them from behind. With arms twisted behind their backs, the two Valerians struggled futilely against the grip. Finally, they gave up. They fearfully awaited what was to come.


    Shon watched, his jaw on the floor. Despite all the years at the Academy, it never even crossed his mind that Fraxians could communicate with each other through thermal manipulation. But besides that, how was such strength and precision even possible? This was like swinging a 200-pound sledgehammer and hitting a needle on its eye.


    But this was far from over. The leader of the gang opened his palms, and a ripple of heat radiated outwards. This time, it was one tenth of a degree.


    Shon realized what he was doing. He was creating a pocket of subzero temperature in his hand. Contrary to popular perception, coldness was not a tangible entity in itself. Coldness merely represented the absence of heat. Therefore, freezing something meant releasing heat into the surroundings.


    This lasted for five seconds.


    At a closer look, Shon saw what he made. It was an icicle, only six inches in length and as thick as a finger at its base.


    Before Shon could comprehend what was happening, it was too late.


    The Fraxian leader swung his hand up in one swift stroke. The cut was so clean that blood followed only half a second later. Both Shon and Professor Lilah screamed.


    A fountain of red erupted from the throat of the broad-shouldered Valerian man. He wanted to cover his wound, but his arm was still restrained behind his back. He screamed in pain, or attempted to, because only broken gasps escaped his lacerated windpipe.


    Without a moment of hesitation, the Fraxian leader swung toward the skinny Valerian man.


    ¡°No!¡± Shon screamed, a burst of heat radiating from him. He wanted to plead, to confess that he had lied about the skinny Valerian¡¯s sins. He only wanted to punish him, not to condemn him to death.


    The Fraxian leader¡¯s hand stopped in midair, the icicle inches away from the Valerian¡¯s neck. He glanced back at Shon, his eyes devoid of any emotion but rage. No, there was something more. There was fatigue, not the physical fatigue from overexerting his powers, but a fatigue of his mind, as if he was tired of seeing the same events play out a thousand times.


    Before Shon could say another word, the Fraxian leader drove the icicle into the man¡¯s neck, killing him instantly. Perhaps this was mercy.


    Shon took a few steps back, his brain still unable to ¡ª or perhaps refusing to ¡ª process what had just happened. This Fraxian man had just murdered two strangers in cold blood.


    Then, suddenly, the realization hit Shon. He was just as guilty. Had he not lied about the skinny Valerian man¡¯s involvement in the chaos, he would have still been alive.


    His lie had just killed a man.


    Shon felt his gut wrench. His heart began pounding against his chest, faster and faster, until he could feel his entire body quivering with every beat. His vision blurred, and the world began spinning. Instinctively, his hands leaned on his knees to keep him from collapsing.


    He felt Professor Lilah¡¯s hand on his shoulder. Her hand was warm, in fact warmer than usual from her increased heartbeat, but he did not mind. She said nothing. She must also be in shock. Her hand simply rested there. But it was fine. It was enough.


    The Fraxian leader approached him. Shon felt his body temperature get closer. Shon took a step back, and the man stopped.


    ¡°My apologies, brother, I did not mean to frighten you.¡±


    Shon glanced up. The man¡¯s void of a visage was now marked with a tint of gentleness. Shon did not respond. His eyes were fixed on the man¡¯s figure, but more than that, his thermal sense locked onto the other two gang members.


    The Fraxian leader took a step in, and Shon instantly raised his fists on guard. In the back, the two other Fraxians stepped slowly to the sides, forming a circle around Shon and Professor Lilah.


    ¡°Please step aside, brother. Let us deal with the Valerian. We will not hurt you.¡±


    ¡°That Valerian?¡± Shon snarled. ¡°She is a professor of Deercreek Academy, a Fraxian Academy.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a Valerian. Why are you protecting her?¡± The man took another step.


    ¡°She has done more for the Fraxians than your gang ever would.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you see it, brother? She¡¯s a Valerian witness. It¡¯s either her or us.¡± He took another step forward.


    ¡°Perhaps we can strike a deal?¡± Shon said, trying to muster the eloquent tone that Zora would use. ¡°You let us go, and we will not whisper a word to the cops.¡±


    ¡°I trust you, brother, but I do not trust any Valerian.¡±


    ¡°Please, do what is reasonable,¡± Shon pleaded, fumbling around for words. ¡°We will say you were only defending yourselves¡­ No, we won¡¯t even mention you¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Enough! I don¡¯t make any deal with Valerians.¡±


    The three Fraxians now circled in closer, leaving no room for escape. For whatever reason, there was no sign of the cops either. Shon must make his choice now.


    He felt Professor Lilah tugging at his shirt. ¡°Just leave now, Shon. It¡¯s only me they want.¡±


    ¡°No, I can buy us some time,¡± Shon hissed back.


    Planting his feet firmly on the ground, Shon assumed a combat stance and faced the Fraxian leader. He clenched his fists, ready to pounce at any moment.


    The Fraxian leader sighed. His gaze shifted between Shon and Professor Lilah. He shook his head, his expression one of disappointment, like a father dismayed by his child¡¯s foolish mistake. His body emitted another heatwave, this time a single surge at five percent of a degree. Shon assumed this signaled ¡°stand down¡± to his companions.


    The Fraxian leader released his grip on his icicle and held it flat on his palm. As an orange glow emanated from his eyes, the icicle melted away into a stream of water, splashing on the pavement with a staccato of thuds. Drip. Drip. Drip.


    The leader stared at his palm quietly, not moving a single muscle. He let the melted weapon trickle slowly from his fingertips. Drip. Drip. Drip.


    With every drip, tension thickened in the air. Drip. Drip. The drips slowed down, leaving a few seconds of gap between each other. Although the leader¡¯s eyes were fixed on the droplets of water, Shon knew that his thermal sense covered the entire block. Should Shon make any sudden movement, he could bring him down at a blink¡¯s notice.


    Finally, the last drop of water fell from his hand, hitting the ground with a light but clear drip audible to the entire block. The Fraxian leader clenched his fist.


    ¡°Brother. Last chance. Fraxian blood is sacred. Let¡¯s not spill it in vain.¡±

 Chapter 020 - The Mill Row IV

    Shon had had enough. Without uttering another word, he swung his right hand at the Fraxian leader¡¯s face. However, the Fraxian leader swiftly ducked out of the way, and his fist met nothing but thin air. Struggling to regain his balance, Shon swung his left hand at him again. Once again, the Fraxian leader took a small step back, and Shon stumbled forward with his own momentum.


    Suddenly, the air current changed. Shon sensed the sudden blast of cool air before he saw the Fraxian leader whipping out a kick. Either way, he had no time to react. The next thing he knew, the leader¡¯s shin slammed into his stomach like a metal pipe. His vision blurred and then darkened, and a wave of vomit rose in his stomach. Clutching his knees, Shon coughed uncontrollably, fighting every urge to throw up on the spot.


    The Fraxian leader signaled at his followers. Shon felt a pair of brawny arms grab him from behind. He tried to fight back, but that roundhouse kick knocked the last bit of wind out of him.


    With his vision still blurry, Shon could only rely on his thermal senses. As the gang member dragged him away, the Fraxian leader approached Professor Lilah, a new icicle forming in his hand. Professor Lilah did not retreat. She stood her ground and said something to the gang leader, and he refuted it with anger. Then he raised his icicle.


    Suddenly, Shon felt the wind knocked out of him once more, as if somebody had punched him again in the guts. His legs turned to jelly as he collapsed onto his knees.


    Shon reached out with his thermal sense, searching for the three gang members, but he found nothing. He reached out to Professor Lilah but also got nothing. All the body heat and the regular air perturbations from breathing and movement were gone. Suddenly, his thermal awareness became obscured by a mist of extreme cold. The air around Shon grew chillingly frigid, sending a chilly shiver of fear through his body.


    Shon recalled this feeling. It was oddly familiar. He searched through his memories and landed on a flashback of his novice days of Stormrunning training. That day, he accidentally detonated a cryo spear near him, triggering the exact same reaction.


    That was it. A detonated cryo spear would cool down everything by absorbing all the heat in the environment. That subsequently would weaken every Fraxian in the vicinity, especially those tapped into the heat energy in the surroundings.


    If the aftereffects had been so severe for Shon, who was barely using his thermal senses, how much worse would it be for the gang? They not only had more sensitive thermal senses, but they were also using thermal manipulation to conceal their body temperatures.


    Shon opened his eyes. The three Fraxians were wounded. No, wounded wasn¡¯t the right word, for it did not describe the extent of the damage. They were completely debilitated. The cryo spear created a temperature differential so drastic that their delicate thermal manipulation efforts could not withstand the extreme shift. It was like trying to perform a delicate diagnosis with a stethoscope, only to encounter an unexpected, deafening explosion.


    Seizing the opportunity, Shon turned around and threw an overhand punch at his captor. This time, it landed square on his jaw, knocking him out with ease.


    Shon looked around. The other gang member, supposedly in charge of restraining Professor Lilah, also collapsed on the ground. The Fraxian leader, although visibly shaken, somehow managed to recollect his senses. Despite his shaky knees, he stood back up and assumed a combat stance.


    To have taken a blow like that and still remain standing, that required willpower and strength beyond Shon¡¯s imagination.


    ¡°Come out, you Valerian scum,¡± he shouted into the dark. The blast had taken out all the nearby candles and lamps. The moonlight itself was not bright enough to illuminate the Fraxian vision. Without his thermal senses, he was just as blind as Shon.


    ¡°I¡¯m no Valerian,¡± a female voice responded. She sounded young, probably around Shon¡¯s age. Unlike the Fraxian leader, whose countenance was comprised entirely of anger and nonchalant vengeance, the young woman¡¯s voice resonated many veins of sentiment at once, like a collage of colors twisted into a single string.


    ¡°So you¡¯re a Fraxian. Where did you learn to use a cryo grenade, huh? These are the weapons of the oppressors.¡±


    So it was a cryo grenade, not a cryo spear. No wonder the blast felt so strong. A cryo grenade was engineered with one sole purpose: to debilitate Fraxians.


    No response from the darkness. Suddenly, from the depth of the shadows and mist, a figure pounced out with astonishing speed. In half a second, she had halved the distance between her and the Fraxian leader, and the next second, her fist was already going straight to the gang leader¡¯s head. At the very last moment, the leader raised his arm to block the punch. Nonetheless, he was knocked back a few steps.


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    However, the attacks did not stop there. A flurry of punches ensued. Unlike Shon¡¯s amateur strikes, these punches lashed out with both velocity and precision. The Fraxian leader dodged the first few, but despite the missed punches, the woman did not lose any balance. In fact, for every punch that missed, it let her pack more force into the next punch. After a few punches, the gang leader could no longer keep up. He covered his head as showers of punches landed on his face and stomach.


    Finally, the Fraxian leader collapsed. Blood dripped from the cuts on his face onto the pavement. With a bruised arm, he propped himself up on his knees.


    The woman whipped out a pistol from her belt. She pointed the muzzle right at the Fraxian leader¡¯s head.


    ¡°Leave now.¡±


    ¡°You are a traitor to our race,¡± the Fraxian leader seethed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t test my patience,¡± she responded curtly, cocking the gun.


    The Fraxian leader glared up at her. The orange glow in his eyes had now faded to near nothingness. He considered his options, and none seemed to allow him to outrun a bullet.


    Finally, he staggered back onto his feet. He limped to his conscious companion, and together, they carried the third on their shoulder and hobbled away.


    When they were finally out of sight, Shon turned toward the woman. She looked young indeed, perhaps only a year or two older than Shon. A few patches of bruises covered one side of her face, their colors suggesting they were several days old. Beneath these marks, her face was strikingly beautiful, yet her eyes gleamed of a sharp coldness ¡ª not of nonchalant frigidity, but rather a tumultuous blizzard of emotions.


    At this moment, Shon had a thousand questions, but the only words that escaped his lips were, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    The woman stared back, seeming unimpressed at how elementary this question was.


    ¡°My name is Vye.¡±


    ¡°And who are they?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon Cult,¡± Vye said, and seeing the confusion on Shon¡¯s face, she added. ¡°The Brotherhood of the Dragon Claw. They are some cultish Fraxian supremacists.¡±


    ¡°And how did you get the cryo grenade?¡±


    ¡°Easy with the questions. Tell me, who are you?¡±


    Shon had to rein in his mind to a full stop before he could respond.


    ¡°I¡¯m Shon, and this is Professor Lilah of the Deercreek Academy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the Professor Lilah? Eleanor Lilah?¡±


    That caught Professor Lilah by surprise. She looked up, a mixture of surprise, suspicion, and fear in her eyes. Shon couldn¡¯t blame her. There had been two attempts to hurt her just the past hour.


    ¡°You know me?¡± the Professor asked.


    ¡°Relax,¡± Vye said, sensing the unease. ¡°I know the work you do here. I respect that.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to -¡±


    ¡°No, no. It¡¯s fine. Thanks a lot, really. I appreciate you saving my life¡­¡± The professor looked around nervously. Even without thermal sense, Shon could tell that her legs were shaking and her heart was racing.


    ¡°You¡¯ll feel better in a few days, hopefully.¡± Vye approached the Professor and, seeing that she did not flinch, put a hand on her on the shoulder. ¡°The first time¡¯s always the hardest, watching someone get killed. It gets better.¡±


    ¡°It never does for me,¡± Professor Lilah muttered.


    Shon turned to the Professor, unable to conceal his bewilderment. He had always known of the Professor¡¯s legacy, but he had never considered the details of these struggles. On closer thought, however, he realized he should not be surprised. Given the Professor¡¯s age, she had lived through several grim epochs of the republic¡¯s history.


    Far away, the police sirens appeared. They drew closer and closer, headed toward the heart of the Mill Row. It had been an eternity since Professor Lilah lit the flare.


    ¡°So, what now?¡± Shon asked, motioning to the flashing red and blue glows from far away.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you guys to it then,¡± Vye said, ready to leave.


    ¡°Hold up,¡± Shon said. ¡°I still have unanswered questions.¡±


    ¡°Try to stop me.¡±


    ¡°I did not mean it that way,¡± Shon said, raising his open palms in conciliation. ¡°I just want to talk, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Vye eyed him up and down for a few seconds, not saying a word.


    ¡°Come on, you can¡¯t just leave me in the dark like this,¡± Shon pressed on, his voice shifting to a plea. ¡°I still don¡¯t know a thing about the Dragon Cult. I don¡¯t know why they wanted to kill Professor Lilah. I don¡¯t know if there are others like them out there. I just¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll consider it,¡± Vye said, then muttering just loud enough for Shon to hear. ¡°How can you academy kids be so obnoxious and self-important, yet so stupid?¡±


    The sirens grew louder, and now the flashing lights were reflecting off the tents all around them. The screeching of tires and the rumbling of engines could be heard in every direction. They were about to be surrounded.


    ¡°You need to get out of here, now!¡± Professor Lilah commanded. ¡°You can¡¯t be seen with the corpses of two Valerians.¡±


    ¡°But what about you?¡± asked Shon.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay. They will need a witness. But don¡¯t worry, you two are never here.¡±


    Shon nodded. He wanted to say something, but nothing came out of his mouth. Vye¡¯s voice broke the silence.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad they didn¡¯t kill you.¡±


    The professor nodded.


    Finally, Shon put his words together, albeit bluntly.


    ¡°Professor, you¡¯ve always taught us to give ourselves fully to our nation, to love our republic. I always assumed you were¡­ speaking from a place of privilege. But after today, do you still believe all that?¡±


    ¡°Of course, Shon. I fight to better our society, precisely because of the love I have for its people. Why would today¡¯s events change any of that?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ In a way, you have it even tougher than us. It¡¯s not just the Valerians who detest you. Some Fraxians also want you dead. How could you still love a nation like that?¡±


    ¡°What is love, if it demands reciprocation? What is commitment, if it falters at the first obstacle?¡±


    Shon nodded, silent. With that, he turned and disappeared into the darkness with Vye.

 Chapter 021 - The Foundational Sciences

    Theo Xeta sat in his chair, pensively watching the burgundy moonlight swirling in his glass. The door creaked open, and his arm twitched, breaking the moonlight into a thousand ripples.


    Theo took a deep breath. It had been a few days already, but he was still recovering. This hadn¡¯t been the first assassination attempt he had thwarted, but it was only a matter of time before his luck ran out.


    ¡°Sorry, Mr. Xeta, I did not mean to scare you.¡±


    Theo glanced back. It was Miles, a jolly Fraxian man in his sixties. On paper, he served as Theo Xeta¡¯s housekeeper, though the decades in the Stormrunner Corps and law enforcement had given him a more diverse skill set.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Miles. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°I feel the same, Mr. Xeta, especially after what happened¡­¡± Miles glanced around, then lowered his voice. ¡°It was damn lucky you let me get off early that night.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you certainly dodged a bullet.¡±


    ¡°Very funny. But now that I¡¯m thinking about it, did you see it coming ahead of time?¡±


    ¡°You think too highly of me,¡± Theo feigned a laugh, patting his housekeeper on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re just a lucky bastard.¡±


    Seeing that, Miles also laughed. He helped himself to some wine, and the two of them clinked glasses. However, his face turned serious again.


    ¡°Next time, Mr. Xeta, I¡¯ll make sure I stay.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t, Miles. You still have a family to go back to.¡±


    Miles sighed and drank the rest of his drink in a single gulp.


    ¡°Regarding the man in your custody ¡ª the assassin with a skull mask ¡ª I have transferred him away.¡±


    ¡°Good, and the other two Valerian assassins?¡±


    ¡°The police are dealing with them. The dead one got cremated. The paralyzed one was arrested, but they went easy on him, saying it was because he was an ex-Stormrunner. Though I reckon it was because of some other powerful people.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s going as expected. How about the fourth assassin? The Fraxian woman? Were you able to find anything?¡±


    ¡°No. The other assassins knew nothing. I also found their fixer, but despite all my persuasion, all he could give me was a fake Valerian name.¡±


    ¡°How about the cryo grenade she threw at me? Any prints?¡±


    ¡°She was wearing gloves. Luckily, one glove got torn off at some point, and I managed to recover half a fingerprint and a small blood sample. However, it did not match any Fraxian records in the XetaGen database.¡±


    ¡°That is unfortunate.¡±


    ¡°You know, we could try to send the records to the police, or even to the VUC ¡ª¡±


    ¡°No. Not the authorities. Not for her.¡±


    A loud buzzer interrupted the conversation.


    Theo Xeta glanced at his clock. It was time. The visitors had arrived. He nodded at Miles, who opened the door.


    Vik Layden, the director of the Valerian Unification Committee, entered the room, followed by two scientists ¡ª a Fraxian woman and a Valerian man.


    At their sight, Miles brought in a few more glasses of wine, alongside a thick dossier. Then he walked out the room, gently bringing the door behind him.


    ¡°How have you been? I heard about the burglary. That was truly terrible,¡± said Vik Layden, putting up a show in front of the two scientists.


    Theo Xeta felt ambivalent about Vik¡¯s role in all of this. On one hand, her warnings had saved his life. On the other hand, all this fiasco was a product of VUC pulling strings.


    ¡°I¡¯ll recover,¡± said Theo, playing along. ¡°Thank you for all that you¡¯ve done, and please pass my thanks to the VUC, too. I¡¯ll be sure to repay them for all their kindness.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Vik continued without missing a beat. ¡°Please use this safe house for as long as you¡¯d like. And those burglars, what¡¯s gonna happen to them?¡±


    ¡°Those three scumbags? I have taken care of them.¡± Theo Xeta glanced around at the other faces and quickly added, ¡°By turning them in to the police, of course.¡±


    There was an intentionally loud yawn, and the Valerian scientist spoke. ¡°Will you guys please cut the chitchat and explain why we¡¯re here.¡±


    Theo turned to the two scientists. He specifically requested their presence for this meeting.


    The Valerian man could no longer conceal his boredom and distaste for the bureaucracy. The Fraxian woman did not show much on her face, but it was easy to tell that her thoughts had already wandered off miles away.


    Theo sighed. They were not people of politics or business. Both of them were the brightest minds in the scientific community, regularly featured on science magazines and conference posters, sometimes even on evening radio shows. Their work formed the bedrock of modern Valeria.


    ¡°Vik, this is Dr. Lucius Stratos, director of the Storm Analytics Institute,¡± said Theo, gesturing to the Valerian. Then, he turned to the Fraxian. ¡°And this is Dr. Ada Flux, tenured professor at the University of New Orion.¡±


    ¡°Vik Layden,¡± said Vik curtly, quickly shaking their hands.


    ¡°As you all know, the Northern Stabilizer in Thiab had been destroyed,¡± Vik continued. ¡°After that, three level 7 storms erupted in neighboring cities. The entire Northern Quadrant is now exposed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard,¡± Dr. Stratos said, blinking his intelligent blue eyes a few times. ¡°I also heard that a storm had hit the Exam facility as well.¡±


    ¡°Yes. A level 5 storm. Right in the heart of the Capital.¡±


    Silence. The capital, deep in the interior, had been the safe haven from storms. Not a single storm had breached the Capital in the last twenty years. Indeed, not even a gust could appear in the capital skies without presidential permission.


    And now, a level 5 storm?


    Although the storm was contained within a few hours, the signification was clear. The Capital was no longer immune to the malice of nature. At this realization, everyone shifted uncomfortably.


    ¡°If the Northern Stabilizer is not repaired, many more calamities will follow. Of course, I¡¯m not an expert in this, but Theo referred you two.¡±


    Dr. Stratos and Dr. Flux looked at each other.


    ¡°That is correct,¡± said Theo, taking a few pages out of his dossier. ¡°The Stabilizer is built on three pillars of foundational science. The three of us are the best experts you can find in these fields.¡±


    ¡°Experts, huh?¡± scoffed Dr. Flux. ¡°Quite the expert of borrowing someone else¡¯s work.¡±


    Ignoring Dr. Flux, Theo proceeded to organize the documents. ¡°The first pillar is storm modeling. Dr. Stratos is the creator of The Stratos Equations, the best storm model we have as of today. This is a summary of his research.¡±


    Vik Layden grabbed a copy of the files and quickly scanned through them. Dr. Flux followed suit. Although experts in their own fields, Dr. Flux and Theo Xeta were by no means polymaths. In fact, scientific knowledge had increased so much in recent decades that no scientist would dare claim mastery across disciplines.


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    The Stratos equations were quite complex but incredibly effective. It consisted of countless pages of mathematical models designed to break down the storm behavior in terms of kinematics, thermodynamics, moisture, and pressure. Most importantly, the Stratos equations could model the atmospheric attributes in a Markovian fashion, meaning that one could use present information to predict what would unfold in the future. Once the Stabilizer gathered data on present atmospheric conditions, it would use the Stratos Equations to forecast how the weather patterns would morph and evolve.


    ¡°Hold up,¡± Vik Layden frowned at a line of bolded text. ¡°It says the Stratos Equations can only achieve 90% accuracy in prediction? Why aren¡¯t we using the Storm Equations instead? The field data from Stormrunners shows a 99% accuracy rate.¡±


    ¡°The Storm Equations focus solely on kinematics and heat, which is effective only for small-area storm control,¡± explained Dr. Stratos. ¡°Imagine the sandstorm as a beast. Only when the beast goes rogue and violent do we use the Storm Equations. The Stormrunners are like hunters, shooting thermal and cryo spears like arrows to kill the beast.


    ¡°However, when the beast hasn¡¯t gone rogue yet, you don¡¯t want to pick a fight right away. A Stabilizer is a gentle tamer, only nudging a little where necessary. That is why you need a model that considers moisture and pressure. Unless we want to shoot thermal bombs into the sky every day, we need a softer approach, an approach that blows a bit of air here and dries a few clouds there.¡±


    ¡°Also, the Storm Equations are only a discriminative model,¡± Theo Xeta interjected. ¡°While the Stratos Equations are generative.¡±


    Vik¡¯s face looked blank.


    ¡°It means that the Stratos Equations could envision the full scope of a storm.¡± Dr. Stratos spoke with visible pride, smoothly delivering an explanation he had likely given a thousand times before. If he hadn¡¯t been serving such a pivotal role for the Republic, he could have made an excellent college professor. ¡°The Storm Equations, as a discriminative model, could only make a very narrow deduction based on existing information. The Stormrunners supply the model with air flow and temperature data, and the Storm Equations compute the weak points of the storm.


    ¡°On the other hand, the Stratos Equations can make the same deductions, but in addition, they also generate plausible weather patterns without further observation. We are not just responding passively to a situation. We are forecasting and understanding different storm patterns before they even happen.¡±


    ¡°And most importantly,¡± Theo Xeta added. ¡°Unlike the Storms Equations, every single line in the Stratos Equations was mathematically proven. This marks the difference between observing and understanding.¡±


    Vik sat in silence, flipping intermittently through the pages of background information. After a full minute, she asked, ¡°If the Stratos Equations could do so much more, why aren¡¯t the Stormrunners adopting this model?¡±


    ¡°Time complexity,¡± said Dr. Stratos. ¡°Stratos Equation takes much more time to compute. That¡¯s why we need all the ThermoTech logic infrastructure in the Stabilizer, plus the dozens of peripheral computation centers.¡±


    At the mention of the computation centers, Theo shuddered a little. He was catapulted back down memory lane. The Republic had always offered alternative jobs for students who failed the Stormrunning Exam, and back in his younger days, Theo had been assigned to a computation center in the Northern quadrant. There, alongside two hundred other Valerians and Fraxians, he travailed through twelve-hour shifts armed with only pen and paper. Each day was packed with non-stop equation-solving and function optimization. It was, in essence, a mathematic sweatshop.


    Thankfully, Vik¡¯s words pulled him back to the present. ¡°I see. Let¡¯s proceed to the second pillar of the Stabilizer.¡±


    ¡°The second pillar is Dr. Flux¡¯s works, thermal biomechanics.¡± Seeing Dr. Flux huff, Theo added, ¡°Which is a major inspiration to my work.¡±


    ¡°Cut to the chase, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Thermal biomechanics is all about the back-and-forth conversion between thermal energy and mechanical energy,¡± Dr. Flux said, her orange eyes faintly glowing. ¡°Evidently, there is no better candidate for this job than using Fraxian cells.¡±


    Theo proceeded to hand out the files on thermal biomechanic research, which was no thinner than the Stratos Equations packet. Once again, they scanned through the information in silence.


    The first law of thermodynamics stated that energy could neither be created nor destroyed. However, energy could change from one type to another, and some forms of energy were more useful than others. Among these, mechanical energy was the driving force of all atmospheric motion, and thermal energy was the crux of meterological stabilization. In order to perform its duty, the Stabilizer ran on a gigantic reservoir of both types of energies.


    ¡°Why do we need this¡­ thermal biomechanics?¡± asked Vik Layden. ¡°Why can¡¯t we just use steam engine to convert heat to mechanical energy? And why not just burn natural gas for heat?¡±


    ¡°The key to stabilization lies not only in supplying energy, but also balancing the ratio between these two energies. To diffuse a risky weather pattern, we need to be incredibly exact in the amount of mechanical and thermal energy. Too much of either could make matters worse. There is no other machine as exact and as efficient as Fraxian cells. And we are not even including their unique ability to transfer thermal energy from one location to another.¡±


    ¡°But these figures on maximum thermal energy throughput, why are they so high? That¡¯s 20 gigajoules. If I¡¯m not wrong, these are equivalent to¡­ 5 tons of TNT.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. If all goes well, we will consume minimal energy to deploy stabilizing countermeasures. But if a storm grows out of control, we will have enough thermal energy to create meteorological changes by brute force.¡±


    ¡°By brute force?¡±


    ¡°Yes, by blasting an area with so much heat or cryo that it wipes out any temperature differential the storm feeds on. Using the beast analogy earlier, it¡¯s like hunting a beast by burning down the entire forest.¡±


    ¡°Has this approach ever been used?¡±


    ¡°Occasionally, but only in high atmosphere or uninhabited areas of course.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Vik said, contemplating. ¡°Are Fraxian cells always this dangerous? If any Fraxian could turn their cells into a bomb, this could be a matter of national security¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Dr. Flux said. ¡°All these Fraxian cells are chemically doped and exposed to a very controlled set of biochemical signals. You don¡¯t get that in everyday life.¡±


    Vik dwelled on these facts for a little longer, evaluating the pros and cons of this new technology she had just learned about. Although, to be fair, these openly published researches were no secrets.


    After a long while, she turned to Theo Xeta. ¡°I assume you are the third pillar of research.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the last pillar is ThermoTech. It is more of an applied science, but still science nonetheless,¡± said Theo, shooting a look at Dr. Flux as he handed out his own papers. ¡°The Stratos Equations lets us understand the storms. Thermal biomechanics gives us a source of energy. However, we still need an infrastructure to hold everything together. On the smallest unit, we need temperature sensors and information transmitters, and on the larger scale, we need regulation modules and self-balancing systems. All these ¡ª the central nervous system of the Stabilizer ¡ª is achieved through ThermoTech.¡±


    The information of ThermoTech was a little more comprehensible to everyone. After all, with its widespread adoption, everyone had interacted with it somewhere in their lives. The crux of thermotech was stability and precision.


    In terms of stability, bioengineering and chemistry allowed Fraxian cells to bind seamlessly to mechanical systems. The cells were adapted to halt all regular processes, except to specialize in one particular function, whether it be heat detection, heat containment, or heat transmission. With the additional help from thermal biomechanic principles, these Fraxian cells could interact with the mechanical forces all around them, allowing the possibility to power gigantic machines.


    The real marvel of ThermoTech was not just in automobiles and assembly lines; it was in its extraordinary precision. Fraxian cells were engineered to detect and contain heat at a fraction of a percent of a degree. With such precision, a continuous stream of thermal energy could be modified to carry varying amplitudes and frequencies, hence allowing information to be encoded inside. Once information could be embedded, anything could be possible, whether it be radios, thermographs, or even those displays worn by Stormrunners that could form any images in a split second.


    Vik Layden took her time with the ThermoTech files, navigating slowly through the diagrams and figures. Despite all the years of their collaboration, Vik never bothered learning the exact details behind Theo¡¯s work.


    ¡°This all sounds great, but I have one question,¡± Vik Layden said. ¡°Where do you get all these Fraxian cells?¡±


    ¡°We have donation programs throughout the nation. All donations are voluntary and financially compensated.¡±


    ¡°And how many Fraxian cells will we need for the Stabilizer?¡±


    ¡°For something that big, trillions at least, could be quadrillions.¡±


    ¡°How many Fraxians would you need to harvest it from?¡±


    ¡°By regular XetaGen standards, at least eighty thousand.¡±


    Vik paused for a moment as she worked out the numbers in her head.


    ¡°That is too slow, we can¡¯t afford to find eighty thousand donors. Can you do it more efficiently?¡±


    ¡°Theoretically,¡± said Theo as he pulled out his own reports. ¡°This is not backed by enough experimental data, but we can do up to double the amount of harvest.¡±


    ¡°So forty thousand donors, this is the best you can do?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and there is no guarantee that there are no long-term health implications ¡ª¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to care about health implications!¡± Vik raised her voice. ¡°If the stabilizer doesn¡¯t go back up within a month, millions could die. Millions!¡±


    She took a deep breath and calmed herself, reverting to the nonchalant voice. ¡°The VUC can give anything for this. Financial compensation, housing, and even citizenship. What is the very best you can do?¡±


    Theo grabbed a pen and began scribbling next to his charts and graphs. After a while, he spoke, ¡°The best is 3.5x regular yield. This is just enough to leave a heartbeat in whatever poor soul.¡±


    ¡°What is the absolute maximum yield you can harvest from a body? Absolute. Maximum.¡±


    ¡°I just told you, it is ¡ª¡± Theo Xeta stopped short mid-sentence. He just understood what she meant. His body became still, and his eyes darkened. ¡°No, no. You must be kidding me, Vik. I will not allow this.¡±


    ¡°The situation is very urgent ¡ª¡±


    ¡°I said no!¡± Theo Xeta slammed his fist on the table. Seeing the bewilderment and confusion in the scientists¡¯ eyes, he got even more furious.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just spell it out, Vik? Tell them. You want to harvest these poor Fraxians to the point of killing them.¡±