“Come on, Stefan, throw me another!” Meinrad cried enthusiastically inside the training chamber, donning leather armor while wielding a Titanian-manufactured laser gun which had been stolen from a corpse following the failed pogrom in Marius a month prior. Stefan blinked so quickly that he himself could not register it happening, and a rectangular purple barrier appeared before him. A glint of light appeared between Meinrad’s hand and the barrier—the result of the gun being fired so fast that it was hard to gauge when it had been shot. Well, for those with untrained eyes, that is.
A tier eight barrier. Gareth silently observed as the beam of light from Meinrad’s gun seared into the barrier, the power of which was proportional to the amount of Reserve he had channeled into the weapon.
Unlike most of the Black Shield soldiers who had been ordered to destroy Stefan’s barriers to help hone his prowess in creating them, he had an unusual way of doing so. While most of them chose to slice with swords through the middle of the barrier, Meinrad decided to shoot at the edges of the barrier and flick his wrist towards the middle at the last moment. And it had worked, despite being so unorthodox. So far, he was the only soldier who had been consistently able to break through Stefan’s barriers.
But just as impressive, perhaps even more, was Stefan’s level of mastery of barriers relative to his actual experience.
Even on Titan, most recruits of the Heimat Academy take a month to master a tier one barrier, the first of the fifty tiers, Gareth thought as Stefan’s barrier vanished into thin air upon contact with the beam fired from the laser gun. In that same time, he’s mastered nearly ten times that amount.
“You need to stop channeling so much Reserve into that gun!” Stefan panted; the creation of the barrier having tired him out. “You’re increasing Reserve faster than I can generate barrier tiers.”
“Tone it down a touch,” Gareth asked of Meinrad, knowing that Stefan had just learnt to create tier nine barriers. “Hit him with your previous level of Reserve first and work your way up when he’s comfortable with it.”
“Just got a little carried away, sorry boss.” Meinrad chuckled sheepishly.
Gareth rolled his eyes, not allowing the boy to entertain him.
As insufferable as he is, this lad too has considerable talent. He figured out the natural vulnerabilities of barriers by himself.
Gareth’s train of thought was suddenly halted by a tap on his shoulder.
“Hey,” Jay said. His voice was much more stony and considerably lower than normal, but not to the point that it would be threatening. “The Anbieter would like a word with ya.”
“I suppose not.” Gareth said in his usual uninterested tone.
“This is an order,” Jay said. “Come with me.”
Although he would usually sigh, roll his eyes or ignore the speaker’s words, he compliantly followed the second in-command to the elevator, from where he was led to the desk of the head of the Black Shield.
“I hear that Stefan’s training is going well. You don’t seem like it, but you’re quite a good teacher.” the Anbieter said in a subtly mocking tone.
“Just tell me what you want to talk to me about.” Gareth said, wishing to get straight to the point.
“Not in the mood to exchange pleasantries, hmm?” the Anbieter laughed. “Very well. I’ve had a question that’s been bothering me for a long time. How much does Stefan know?”
“What do you mean?” Gareth furrowed his brows.
“There are three things that I believe Stefan should know that he doesn’t, things that I know that you have the answers to. What happened to his family, what you are to him… and perhaps most importantly, what you are.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Gareth’s body tensed up, and he instinctively prepared himself to go into a defensive stance.
“There are answers that Stefan isn’t ready to know, he isn’t mature enough to hear them yet. But I promise that he will get those answers. Not that they concern you in the slightest.”
“Well, they do, actually. Tell me, is he aware of any biological properties that Titanians have, considering that he is just as capable as any Titanian warrior of using their armor and weapons to the fullest extent, and that he can produce barriers the majority of them are unable to?”
“Just what does this have to do with those answers?” Gareth asked, barely holding back a snarl in the Black Shield’s communal hall where dozens of soldiers roamed.
“Well, I’m sure that you, the infamous Angel Slayer who cut down more than a thousand Titanians, are aware that Titanian reproductive abilities extend beyond their own species? That partly answers the latter two questions. I mean, think of it, I’m sure he has some idea now. How does a seemingly Terran man have the capacity to best multiple Titanian soldiers with only a few scratches and bruises while his enemies are turned into mincemeat?”
“Ah,” Gareth said, his straight-set lips suddenly curving into a smirk. “So you are aware of the Angel Slayer is more than just his title, then. When you told me that I reeked of Titan, you weren’t referring to its scent on me. You referred to the scent of my being, of my flesh and blood itself. Aren’t you smart? So smart that you never take that mask off in fear of what might happen to you if all your soldiers find out who you are, isn’t that so, Mr. Anbieter?”
“So you know what I am,” the Black Shield head snorted. “Flattering. I’m surprised that someone of your, shall we say, makeup has the capability to detect the presence of a Titanian. Although it shouldn’t be, considering that nearly all Titanians are fodder to you.”
“I wasn’t interested before, but now, I sure as hell am,” Gareth said, putting his hands on the edge of the Anbieter’s desk and leaning over them. “What stake do you have in guaranteeing Stefan’s safety?”
“I was given the task to do so by a late acquaintance of mine, someone you might know a little better than I do.”
“And that would be?”
“Follow me. No one else needs to hear his name.”
“This isn’t being very transparent of you.” Gareth said, following the Anbieter into a room not far from his office.
“My transparency extends to those whose business it concerns.” he said.
“That’s one way of interpreting it.” Gareth commented as he shut the door behind him.
“Are you sure you’re ready to hear the name?” the Anbieter asked. “I hope you’re more prepared for that than what you perceive Stefan to be prepared for.”
“Just say it.” Gareth said.
“General Gunnar Karesti. That’s the one who assigned me the task of searching for and protecting Stefan.”
Gareth’s head drooped, his gazed becoming glued to the floor in front of him. He hadn’t heard that name in a decade, and suddenly he had found out that the person who had confronted him about his lack of answers had dealings with that man.
“The Titanian general…? What business does he have with you?” Gareth muttered in astonishment.
“We had little in common, all he guaranteed was his support for my cause if I procured Stefan. I’m still holding up my end of the deal. And it is wiser to use the word had, since he passed away nine years ago.”
“An assassination, I presume,” Gareth said. “He had little in common with the top brass except for status… are you a mole for the Titanian government?”
The Anbieter’s hands flew up in surrender, knowing that if he had tried fighting Gareth, it would certainly come down to a loss on his end.
“I’m not, I promise. I truly, genuinely would like to see a free Yeupis, and I will see that it happens.” he said with resolve in his voice.
“I don’t know why an invader freak like you would want this world to be freed, but I won’t judge. Since you’re being reasonable, I only have one request.”
“Go ahead.”
“Take that thing off of your face. Since we have more in common than we’d like to admit, it’s only fair, isn’t it?”
“As you wish.” the Anbieter said in an agreeable tone. He slipped his fingers under the top edge of his mask and swiftly pulled it off. What it had hidden for the past month from Gareth and his party, and for years from nearly the entirety of the Black Shield was a painstakingly constructed exhibition of radiance, grace, power, as if delicately created by a master sculptor over a thin but pronounced face. Although he was less muscular or intimidating compared to most Titanians, he still exuded the formidable ethereality that made them seem like things of fantasy to Terrans. However, unlike them, he kept his blond hair short cropped in the style of humans.
Gareth’s hand trembled as he silently fought off the feeling to kill the man, even though he meant no harm to him. It was simply muscle memory—see a Titanian face, kill its owner. It was simple as that. That was how he’d been able to vanquish so many over the 36 years of his life.
“I’d recommend keeping that on around Stefan, actually.” Gareth said without stating his true reactions.
“Well, that’s been my plan all along.” the Anbieter stated.
“Good. You won’t know how quickly it’ll take for your head to fly off of your shoulders.” Gareth said, turning around. He opened the door swiftly and shut it just as fast, giving him the dignity of hiding his identity from nearby soldiers.