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CHAPTER 20

6:01 a.m.

I stared at Lily running a towel through her hair as she came out of the shower. I felt like one of those happy couples that was baptizing in love. I think I was on my Trey songz shit.

'Girl, you know your body is desert… everything on this earth, I give it to you.. would you please take your clothes or would you mind.. kiss it til you reminded..'

Cough, hard to keep the song in mind when you wanted to reenact the love song in the moment. Instead, I lay in bed, resting on my elbows while I watched her dress in business casual.

Lily pushed my head aside as she walked past. "You acting like you don't get enough. If you go to sleep, you won't miss me in your dreams."

"You wish I dream about you."

Lily raised an eyebrow, "who other than me could you be dreaming about? Let this mama know so I can get the pistol out the drawer."

That brought a smile to my lips, "my body, our daughter, and most importantly, food."

Lily rolled her eyes as she grabbed a purple bag and walked out the bedroom door. "Sorry to tell you but it will be a boy." Her voice faded as she took the stairs two at a time.

Boy or girl, doesn't matter. What matters is that I am going to be a father! Have my own family! Have something to look forward to. I don't have to be aimless anymore.

Mom, you are going to have a granddaughter. I hope you are watching from up there.

I ignored the burning sensation in my eyes as I got out of bed and put on training gear. It would be hard to sleep without that comfort that I was starting to grow an addiction for.

Yawning, I grabbed a pre-made smoothie. My feet leading me to the gym as I gulp down a weird taste. A kind of blend between kiwi and orange. I hope this wasn't someone's favorite.

There were more than twelve floors with workout equipment. Two large inside tracks and one large underground pool. Yet, as I walked in I noticed that the first six were packed. By the time I hit the eighth floor, I found my clan of dragons in one of the sparring rooms.

Just from what I took a glance at, Jordan was leading the newbies through basic techniques. I felt proud at having such a serious artificial dragon taking charge.

I started with a ten minute run to get my blood pumping before I moved on to the bench. Gotta flex with high weights that cause the bar to bend.

At first, I knocked out six reps on the decline before dropping to the regular bench. However, it was the incline when I started fucking up. This shorty with a bubble ass walked in. I knew she wasn't a shifter because she started stretching in a way that wasn't in any way helpful to warming up those hard to get muscles.

Yet, my eyes were glued to her form as she went through each step. She glanced back at me with grey eyes and mocha complexion but her hair and half her face was covered with fabric. Then she spoke with such a thick accent that I didn't hear her at first. Well, I wasn't really paying attention to sounds with that kind of scene playing back.

Clicking my tongue, I dropped the bar back on the hook and walked to the training room. She had given me an eye workout so I domino have to finish the rest of my workout.

Laughing to myself, I walked in and saw some weird ass shit. People waving swords like they were sticks. Scratching the back of my head, I was left staring at a clown performance.

Only one of those golden dragons had form but her technique was for show. They had no killing vibe in it.

Marching over I snatched a wooden sword out of one of these jokers hands. Kimiko spotted me coming and she faced me with courage. My blade was trying to kiss the ground before it moved at such blinding speeds, Thirsting for her lifeblood.

Kimiko slapped her blade to deflect mine but there was no strength in her strike. She was in a standard stance but it gave her no power. Though she wasn't exerting her dragon strength either.

My blade stopped at her neck and I let out a disappointed sigh.

"Jordan, I got this." I toss the sword back to the guy I stole it from. I reached into thin air and pulled out a sheath sword. "Come at me together."

The golden-eyed leader was the first to move, coming at me with an overhead strike. I slapped his blade aside with my bare hand and smacked him six times at every point that was a flaw. Same shit jade and evie did to me.

Golden-eyed boy hissed and motioned for his guys to circle me. They came with some sloppy forms and I made sure to give each and everyone of them a good spanking.

Seeing grown ass men hop around while sucking in breaths had me close to rolling on the floor laughing.

Yet, these guys have decent comprehensive skills. Definitely the Japanese girl but she was overwhelmed by a girl with acne face. That girl was improving so that she could block a few of my attacks. She was actually putting her strength into her wooden sword and not just the hilt.

Like a good leader, I face her seriously while handing the rest their asses, the moment she ducks or rolls out of my attack range.

She was like a goddamn Asian even though she was one of those black eyes blonde kids. I mean, the Asian in wuxia novels without a heavy plot armor to support them. Her comprehensive ability was off the charts. She went from swinging her blade like her father to holding off more than five blows per ten seconds.

In comparison, the next best, Kimiko, had only lasted three seconds before she was given new aches. The rest wasn't even worth comparing. Yeah, they improved but it was nothing great.

I knocked all of them back and held up my fist. "Take five and figure out what you were doing wrong. Just to make it clear, swinging a baseball bat requires you to squat. Punching requires you to squat. Why wouldn't the sword form require you to position your body?"

Tinashe was looking at me with a sword in hand. I walked over with a smirk. The moment I stepped close, she attacked and I could see where someone taught her. Her movements were a little too robotic which is exactly how I started out as.

I matched her weaker strength. I made sure to exploit her attention to performing correct form. Lining up every exposed inch of her skin with smacks. However, I was proud of her for sticking through to the end of our thirty minutes session. She even improved a bit but not enough.

"One thing you need to focus on is fluid movement. Jade put emphasis on having one movement leading to the next. Plus you are losing strength at your wrist. Which is just directing your blade but not pushing the force into the attack." I tapped her knees. "Keep them bent and don't allow yourself to lock out. That was where most of my strikes came from. The gap of instability after each clash because you are locking out to execute one move."

Tinashe nodded as she rubbed her thighs. "Hand to hand?"

I raised an eyebrow before walking away. She was okay but too slow. I turned around to find Edward with a sword in hand.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"I need a better opponent and Jade is busy. So you want to spar?" Edward unsheathed his blade and walked to empty space.

I shrugged, having a better opponent wasn't a bad idea. I was just about to look for jade myself.

We spar for a good hour. Without using skills, it was slower to take him down but not completely difficult. However, the last half we did use skills and I was surprised by how good he was but his blows fell into cotton. Yet he had several good range attacks that confused me.

If I hadn't formed a sword intent domain, he would have beaten me for sure. Seven blurry clones came at me from different angles. Each strike looked fake but all was real.

I might not have the agility of a wolf but my reaction speed wasn't slow either. It and the feeling of the sword cutting through the air kept me from losing a match.

"I thought I could get you with that last attack. A lot of books I read said that such attacks were hard to block unless you had great perception." Edward said as he wiped the sweat off his face.

"I mastered sword intent and established a domain around me for about ten yards. Even with my eyes closed, I can see everything, feel everything." I said as I tugged off my sweat soak shirt.

"How?"

"To be fair, I don't know. I was just fighting against a couple of prey and found out that my sword beams were penetrating harder than usual. But maybe it is because I practice by trying to slice leaves?"

"Control of your strength through slicing leaves?" Edward looked as confused as I felt.

I bet he was going to go try it now. Haha, the poor bastard.

I walked out into the morning sun and instantly hated it. However, I have to shower and prepare for the clearing at noon.

***

Explaining what I had in plan for my tech nerds, I introduced them to the setup which expanded a bit. It gave my office a cluttered feeling but having overall ability to monitor teams out in the field was better than just having fuck space.

Alana stood at the door with a strange look on her face. "Should I move my office out when the city starts taking shape outside?"

"You do you." I was busy fiddling with new tech. A kind of computer slash phone in the form of a forearm bracer. It could show a colorful 3D holoscreen which we could interact with. These mages were really trying to show their value and I was pleased with the new intact.

Even the new battle threads were nice. Made me feel like a badass snake eye from G.i. Joe.

"The jet is ready to take off." Kimiko said as she glanced at me before turning back to her multiple monitor desk.

Sighing, I stepped through a grey portal and arrived at the airstrip. The jet in question was more like a helicopter in the fact that it could take off from ground, straight up. Honestly, it looks really badass with its sleek blue body and glistening black rune script across it.

Remy's team really showed out with the crafting of these four babies. Plenty of cargo space that I could put loads of corpses inside. Room for the support team to provide field cleanup and processing on site. A bunch of other stuff that I find useless but can understand why that kind of thought went through a mage mind. Comfort is a priority for showing off one's wealth.

I looked at my team of fifteen and smiled. They were outfitted in the same black threads. Two cross straps held different assortment of handy items like grenades, flashbangd, emp, and knives. Belt at the waist held clips for the pistol. Weapons strapped to their back, cold weapons that is. Pistol strap to their thigh.

The ones that don't have excellent sword skills had a sci-fi gen 1 beam rifle. Ones that excel at sword form just look like badass ninjas.

I couldn't find any fault at all.

"Load up."

I shot a glance at Edward's team in blue and Jake's team in red. They had similar configuration like mines as they boarded their separate jets. Evelyn, jade, and tori all boarded the same jet. Their teams had fewer enforcers with Evelyn leading with almost thirty. Canines unsurprisingly had the most. Followed by Jake groups who were a mix of small animals and insects.

Tony's group was working in the dino world. They had found a bunch of mines with precious gems and minerals. He will end up as the richest shifter in no time.

I need to find some more qualified people who can become dragon mages. Then I can have the top tier power among this community.

The jet took off and it was so smooth that I almost cried from joy. The seats were definitely comfortable. Aye, this is life.

Sadly, the speed was too great and we touched down on an empty street in Westlake, California. The afternoon air made the place a bit stifling but I could tell we were downtown and a lot of buildings were still up and untouched.

The smell of humans nearby was overwhelming. I turned to my group as the ship went into stealth mode. I tossed up an orb which turned into a drone that would provide HQ with visual feed.

"Okay, first thing first. We don't have the resources to feed outsiders. So if you want to save someone, you will be paying for everything yourself. Keep this in mind when your bleeding heart shows through." I touched my bracers and the map popped up.

As I thought, we were downtown near the promenade. "Jordan and Ashton, you are team leaders. Take five and check this section. The last five will follow me."

Golden-eyed boy took his five and jog off. Jordan mixed his team with two shooters and left.

I had one shooter but that was fine. We marched down the street and hunted down all of the solo prey. Not once coming upon a pack. This was kind of a let down but I could understand that the packs might have moved on.

What I was here for anyway, was the satellite images of elves. The first day was undeniably, waste of time. Yet, upon making it back to the ship, I noticed a few guys with extra baggage. The look in their eyes as if they experienced hell was enough to know where they came from.

I let it go though. There will always be bleeding hearts. It's best if they know the consequences and suffer if they don't.

***

What piss me off the most is that we put time and energy to find these fucking elves but recieved nothing. Though it could be because their magic is just better. Plus there were several decent wildlife parks that could hide not only them but also more dangerous predators.

Plus if you head south, there is a mighty big ass ocean. Too many good hiding places for smart ass mages to build bases. Considering the lack of animal life here and the damage to the city isn't really that great. I might as well head up into the thousand oak and clear out that city. Then swoop into a massive area that is L.A. or visit Malibu and the other coastal towns.

Closing the map, I look out the window at Thousand Oaks mall. Well, more the crowd looking out from the front windows, through cracks in the boards.

A local gang took over the police station and led the majority of the town people to this place. Considering that the prey were all small timers, they successfully defended their small plot of land.

The biker gang is surprisingly good at managing people and resources. Yet, I fear for their brain cells if they think they can negotiate with me.

Sighing, I walked off the plane and ignored the eager looks from the two big boys. They honestly had nothing to trade but women and I had plenty of that at home. I still owed Evie a drive by.

"Everybody load up. We are heading home." I barked and turned around.

"Wait, what about us?" One of the beer gut men yelled.

Ashton pointed down towards the Westlake side. "If you head down that way, you'll hit a city or you can continue onward and seek out fort Irwin. The way is clear."

"Aren't you guys a part of the army? You should help the people."

Ashton just shook his head and boarded the plane. Without any waste, the plane lifted up and shot out like an arrow.

***

The first thing I did when I got back was enjoy a shower then food. A bit of frolicking with the twins. However, when the girls got back, meaning Tori, Jade and Evelyn. I wasn't surprised that an argument ignited. Nor that I was called forth to go lay down the law. Lily wasn't home anyway so I had time to waste.

Jumping out a portal, I couldn't help but marvel how they used up all left over seats and storage are to bring back some baggage.

Evelyn rushed towards me like a bat out of hell. "Tell your pet that I don't have to pay for other people shit. My team didn't bring anyone back."

I nodded at Alana. "If she didn't bring anyone back then its not her fault."

Evelyn did that woman thing with her lips that was similar to a man's grunt. She left even quicker than she ran towards me with her team.

Tori and jade turned to me like they were prepared to lay down how things would go. Instead, I drew my blade and waited for them to speak.

Alana cough, "I explained to them that each person has a uniform cost per day. Which will come out of their accounts. They feel like the city should accept the burden."

"I guess that they would be insolent. Do you guys want to defend yourselves or accept the payment? We don't do loans. So the ones you can't afford will be dropped off at a random government camp." I smirked as I laid down the law.

Tori opened her mouth but Jade was exceptionally smart and covered it.

"We don't have a problem with that." Jade said quickly.

Tori brushed away her arm. "I have a problem with that. How can we be considered human if we don't even help those in need?"

"With great power comes greater responsibility.. Yada Yada Yada." I quoted spider man grandfather. "Tori, go ahead and pack your bags. You can go with them as well. The government loves heroes like yourself who are so devoted to preserving mankind over your own life."

I motioned for Alana to call over her guards. Who immediately drew on Tori without a word of protest.

Tori looked at them then me but I just stood there hoping she would push my buttons.

"Is this really how you are going to treat me after everything?"

I nodded and turned to Jade. "You should go pick out your product. Because in twenty minutes, the planes will take off." Speaking to Alana last, "bring tori family here. Make sure she doesn't miss her flight to utopia."

Jade took a step forward but froze like a deer in the headlights as a sword beam penetrated the ground in front of her.

"This isn't the way to lead people. This will just raise resentment."

"I don't care about your bitch ass feelings. You want to pull some hero shit, you gotta weigh the prices yourself. The price is you putting out your wealth to feed those burdens. The city is only spending wealth on those who contribute their time to the growth and stability." I ran my hand through my hair. "In easy to understand terms, your decision affects you. My decisions affect the community. To me, the community is first. To you, your lame ass morals come first. I just hope your wife and kids know what you think of them."

Tori had that ugly look on her face like she didn't expect me to act this way. But I already explained that this shit wasn't going to go down. Their pussy wasn't great enough to outweigh the natural concerns I had. Definitely when my unborn child had to come into this world.

Stability and growth is what we need. Not a cluster fuck of burdens that sit around waiting on handouts with zero intentions of getting their hands dirty.

I'm not the government they voted for, those fuckers have the underpaid soldiers who are dying for their beliefs.

***

Lily dropped on the bed the moment she came home. I tried to kiss her but she just turned her head. I started massaging her back, working my way down to her feet. This got a great response out of her, just the wrong one.

"Debugging is such shit work. I have a degree from MIT but I'm doing rookie shit! They have no fucking respect to the hard effort I put in so I wouldn't have to start at this level."

"Oh?"

"They have all this cool ass sbit I could be a part of. Like a new game they are designing. It looks so good based on the previews I saw. Yet, I am working on code for some minor project." Lily grabbed a pillow and turned over. "You can't even say I am working on it as I'm just editing out all the flaws from lines and lines of code. Do you have any idea how stressful that is on the eyes?"

I nodded and moved in for a kiss but only caught a cheek.

"I'm not in the mood." She said while going back downstairs.

I sat on the edge of the bed, feeling like I was already married. Not great without kids and able to make some fireworks but the kids are home, not now.

Fuck it, I'm get a side piece.