Warden Chase, before him stood the enigmatic middle aged man he'd met through harsh combat, shirtless, his muscles looked to be carved of the hardest of metals, his battle scars holding the tear of blades and puncture of bullets alike his stare steady and fixed,

"What're you waiting for kid?, Come at me" he declares, Warden takes heed, waisting no time to ignite his Striker technique: Brigade, his empowered fist finding air. Confused Warden crouches low bursting out with a sharp right to Hans' obliques, his confusion becomes clarified after he clearly sees his strike deviate from the path to strike the air beside Hans, he gives space, several meters back assing the flow of 'Force', with his senses in tune he picks the spherical manipulating of 'Force',

(A 'Force' art) Warden ponders,

"What're you doing?, You're not going to win this way" Hans' states, Warden hesitates momentarily before asking belligerently,

"How?" He questions,

"How many techniques have you learnt kid?" Hans questions,

"One, my striker" Warden replies reluctantly,

"I see, you're an idiot" Hans replies,

"What?" Warden replies with a shaping frown,

"My job here is to mold you into something useful for my employer, Kaiser was suppose to train you but i chose to instead, do you know why?" Hans questions, Warden pauses his incoming snarky remark as he gives the inquiry some thought,

"Because where similar?..." He replied indecisively,

"Yes, that is one reason, another is because I don't want you to make the same mistakes i did, you want to get stronger don't you kid?",

"I do",

"Good" Hans smiles, "what's the name if your Force art?",

"Brigade" Warden replies,

"Good name" Hans nods, "what we're doing for now is simple, practice till you die then repeat, as if now, Brigade just became both your Enforcer and Defense techniques" Hans declares, "Do you know why Shifter segregate seemingly similar or overlapping techniques into Strike, Enforcer and Defense?" He questions,

(Why do Shifter with similar techniques designate them for different purposes?) Warden ponders silently, seeing this Hans gives a hidden smile with the bearest of fractions in tilt,

"Don't rack your brain to much kid, i didn't expect you to figure it out anyway",

"Why?" Warden questions with eyes aflame with curiousity,

"The brain" Hans responds, "Life is wired to seek survival above all else, subconsciously the brain protects itself and ultimately by extension, the body, Designating each technique as for a certain purpose influence ms it's execution, behaviour and priorities"

"I see" Warden states as understanding dawns on him, "Brigade" he murmur, "as a Striker technique, as a Defence and Enforcer"

"Exactly" Hans nods his stern face softening slightly, "but that's not all, techniques are like puzzle pieces, having mastery and evolution over one is more important than having to weld several uneven pieces together",

(This is something most young Shifters never know), "you're an idiot" Hans reiterates his previous statement, "the fastest and surest way to the strength you envy, the strength you seek is to double down until you've honed your technique to beyond perfection, Evolution" Hans declares, "now..., What're you waiting for kid?, Come at me!"

Anya with a murderous glare regards the man seated opposite the restaurant table,

"Give me one reason why i shouldn't rip your head off!" She hisses free from scrutiny only because of the restaurant being reserved for them alone,

"It's been a while...Anya" Kevin smiles,

"Eth...",

"Kevin" He interjects, "Ethan's dead",

"So what now, you're happy with your new life playing make belief, the big music star" she sneers, "pathetic",

"Necessary" Kevin states, "I'm simply doing as i've been instructed",

"Bullshit!" Anya replies, "you move only for your own benefit and your sickening obsession with Shifting",

"I need you're help" Kevin replies staring her in the eye, she matches his stare silently before bursting out into a fit of laughter,

"What a fucking joke, i'm not the naive little girl i was 'Ethan'" she quips, "go find yourself another pawn elsewhere" she states rising to her feet,

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"It's for the kid really, he's dieing" Kevin replies,

"And how is that any of my business?" Anya questions,

"He found me didn't he?" Kevin replies,

(This bastard!...) She seethes knowing he knew her pride would never let her leave her indebted, turning around she returns to her seat,

"What exactly do you want?" She questions,

"The heart of JOTUNHEIM"

"YOU MUST BE INSANE!" Anya shouts,

"He won't be strong enough in time" Kevin replies,

"Explain yourself" Anya demands, acceding to her demand he gives her a brief story pertaining to the issue at hand, carefully allowing for the identity of Raven's mother to be known as it comes much to Anya's suprise,

(Truly there's much to gain from helping the kid, plus even if something goes wrong Kevin or if need be Voss could protect me) she ponders silently weighing the pros and the cons, "At least that is if you don't kill the poor boy first, are you fucking insane?, You want to forcefully advance him by integrating Jotunheim with him, if that kid dies you're...no even I'm dead!" She states,

"And if he dies we all die" Kevin replies with a frozen expression, "that boy is afterall the key" unawares to Kevin there was another, and she currently sat tensely in her office pondering furiously on why Duke Wade and Konan had come to see her father, something was going on, and the old man was hell bent on keeping her out of it,

(What the hell is going on?" Aylin questions.

Jamison Hide is seated on a simple chair atop the roof of the Hide HQ skyscraper, opposite him are Konan and Duke who had both come to plead their case,

"Mr Hide" Duke states, "i apologize for the unscheduled visit, i'll be frank, I'm not good with words, I'm not smart, but i do understand one thing, we have a common enemy, MERCHANTS",

Jamison regards the two with a measured expression, his eyes steady, his frame relaxed, he taos silently on his cane as the seconds tick by,

"The enemies i have to battle go far beyond the squabbles of children",

"This squabbles are a product if your actions" Duke replies, Jamison's eyes narrow ever so slightly,

(How disappointing, he's nothing like his fa...),

"But that doesn't matter, i've come for one reason alone, to make sure the bastard burns even if we lose" Duke states,

"Merchants affiliates and HQ" Konan speaks, "majority of his force will be centered in Jhevo at the time" he continues, "Novy Prague will be scanty",

"The rules prevent me or my persons from getting involved" Hide states,

"That's where i coming" Raven declares exiting the scraper's stairs with Aylin and Maya in tow, Jamison regards the three with a frown before nodding for Raven to speak,

"I'm sure you're aware of the intrusion of the foreign emissaries?" He questions, Jamison's silence replies,

"I'll be meeting them to save a friend soon, if they carry out the attack on MERCHANTS you help them, not as a combat force but...",

"You want me to help foreign influence fester?, The factions would have my head" Jamison replies,

"All you have to do is block intrusive influence from receiving their assets and facilities",

(What a greedy one he is, he seeks to eat the cake himself), Jamison ponders, "and what pray tell is in this for me?",

"Their eradication" Konan replies, after-all we're all well aware Dexter holds some damning weakness of yours, if not for so you'd have destroyed them by now".

Jamison ponders silently before speaking up an inquiry,

"What else?" He questions, the group stare silently at him unable to speak,

"Do you really think that'll be enough?",

"Fath...",

"Silence!" Jamison interjects, "this plan hinges on if or not you can get foreign dignitaries who kidnapped your friend and were tasked to dispose of you assist you, do you take me for a fool?" He questions,

"Then how about this" Raven replies pulling out his phone, on the screen a message, he hands it to Jamison who regards the phone disinterestedly before receiving it, a quick glance over the short text leaves him wide eyed, several seconds follow before he sighs in defeat,

"We have an agreement" he declares.

"Wellllll, there issss something else" Aylin replies,

"Which is?" Her father questions,

"I'm going to need you to pull some strings" Raven begins.