Inside her private room, at the abandoned warehouse that serves as Fate’s HQ, Luka was sitting around a table reading some documents.
There were several documents in front of her, that held a lot of information.
Every info on the documents made Luka frown.
“…This is very very bad.”
“What's wrong, Lulu?”
There was a man sitting in a chair near Luka. He looked like he was in his early twenties, was average built, dark skinned, had brown short hair, and green eyes.
“Robin, look at this.”
A piece of document sunk into a shadow and appeared in front of the man, Robin.
He took it up and flipped through it.
“…Is this the info on that Gamiko kid?”
“Yes.”
“This kid is a Dragna!”
Robin couldn’t help shouting when he read the document.
“That's right. The name Gamiko only belongs to three persons and their all named Dragna. You can see from the pictures that they all look alike, so they're definitely related.”
“Wait, Demon Dragon Nero and Celestial Emperor Nova? These two are both [Tyrants]!”
“Nero and Nova real names were Gamiko Dragna. The boy I met a few days ago was most likely Nero’s grandson.”
“I see why you were upset, this kid has one hell of backing behind him.”
“That's not all.”
Luka made more documents appear in front Robin.
“He's the grandnephew of Marco Saevio and grandson of Markus Saevio.”
Luka kept flipping through more documents, as she started calling names.
“Devil’s Joker, Rihan. Vanishing Dragon, Gamion. Record Of Origin, Gian. These three monsters are Nero’s sons, which means they're also his uncles.”
Robin’s face paled when he heard those names.
“One of them alone is enough to destroy a country. In fact, I think each of them already did.”
Robin looked at Luka with concern.
“What are you going do Luka? There’s no way we can clash with those guys.”
Luka remained quiet for a while before saying-
“We'll have to get rid of Gamiko before he matures.”
“What?”
“I can tell after meeting him, he's very dangerous. The fact that he's a Proxy like myself solidifies this. If he's left alone, he might become my biggest obstacle when I seriously aim for the throne. That's what my instinct tells me.”
“…I get where you're coming from, but how are you going to kill someone with so many God-like people behind him?”
“That's not necessarily true.”
Luka took up a folder and threw it to Robin herself. He caught it and started looking through it.
“Gamiko and three others teamed up and killed Darius Flameheart over a year ago.”
Robin's eyes widen when he looked through the folder.
“It says here that all four of them were heavily injured. Gamiko even lost an arm.”
“Man, our spies are impressive as ever. They were actually able to find what really happened that night.”
Robin was genuinely impressed by the information in his hands.
“You're missing the point here. If Gamiko really had the support of his clan, why did he have to risk his life to kill Darius. For people like Nero and Nova, Darius isn't even a fly. Killing him would be easier than breathing. So why did Gamiko had to fight so desperately to kill him?”
“You have a point.”
“I think just like me, Gamiko isn't an official member of his clan. In other words, a stray.”
Luka grind her teeth when she said that. She shortly continued.
“Which means that we don't have to worry about Nero and the Dragna clan, and attack him directly.”
“I see. Heh, it's reasons like this that your our leader Luka.”
Robin said with a smile.
“So when should we make our move?”
“Wait. I want to meet again before I make my decision.”
“Huh? Why?”
“….I just feel like I have to meet him.”
Robin couldn’t comprehend the expression on Luka's face when she spoke those words.
Commercial District.
Several days after reuniting with his family again, Miko and the trio were out shopping for groceries, at Miko’s expense.
Of course none of the four of them had a job, they all had “legitimate” ways to get money.
“What do you guys want to eat tonight?”
Asked Miko.
“I want chicken stir-fry!”
Said Hina.
“I think homemade hamburgers would be better.”
Said Sora.
“I want pizza!”
Said Ace.
“……..”
Miko looked the greedy trio and said-
“You know, you could at least request meals that are easy make. My hands are small after all.”
In past life, Logan lived by himself for majority of his life; because of that he had to learn how to cook if he didn't want to live on fast food. Just like everything else he had real interest in learning, he quickly and effective mastered the art of cooking from a young age.
He wasn't as good as a 5 star chef, but he was close.
When the trio realized his skills, he was put in charge of all the meals.
Stolen story; please report.
“What are you talking about? Didn't you master [Skeletal Reconstruction] for this purpose?”
Said Hina.
“That better be a joke. If not, I'll hang you by your tongue and make sure you'll never be able to eat again.”
“H-Hahaha, I was just joking! Don't take it to heart!”
Hina said nervously.
Seeing her nervous behavior, Miko couldn't help but to sigh.
“Why do I feel like a mother disciplining her child?”
Hina wanted to say “It's because you look the part”, but she wanted to be able to eat in the future.
It was at this moment, that Miko came to sudden stop, and began looking around.
“What's wrong?”
Miko's sudden change caught Hina's attention.
“….I need to do something. Go ahead and buy the groceries. I'll meet you at the apartment later.”
Miko threw a sack of coins towards Hina and left without waiting for them to respond.
“……..”
Hina stared at the retreating back of Miko, and squinted her eyes and said-
“We're following him.”
After separating from Hina and the others, Miko headed towards the border between the Middle Class District and the Commercial District.
At this border was a blacksmith store called Vulcan Forgery. This was the kingdom's #1 spot for buying weapons.
It wasn't just popular in the kingdom, it was a sister company of the world's largest weapons manufactures, MYTH; so it was naturally well received worldwide.
In front such a store, was a young girl with black hair that had emerald endings; Luka.
“Yo. You called.”
Appearing in front of her was a casually smiling Miko.
“Yes. Thanks for responding.”
A few moments ago when Miko was walking with the others, Luka who was almost a hundred meters away, whispered “I want to talk. Meet at the Vulcan’s”.
Of course, this could only be heard by Miko who possessed super hearing. After confirming with Tiamat that it wasn't an ambush, Miko went ahead.
“Nice dress. I thought you were a tomboy.”
Miko stared at the dress Luka was wearing. It was a simple one piece, with a floral design. However, a simple dress looks striking on someone with Luka's level of beauty.
“I'm not a tomboy. I don't normally were those clothing, unless I intend to make a lot of intensive movements.”
She responded with a smile.
Miko knew the meaning behind her words. She was basically saying that she didn't come to fight.
He laugh a little. This little girl already knew how to talk like an adult. Her words were full of hidden meanings.
“Is that so? But an one piece isn't really that restrictive. If you throw away a bit of your shame, you could do almost any movements in them; even kicks.”
Luka didn't say anything as she knew what Miko was implying.
(Quite dirty minded I see.)
Miko shrugged at Tiamat's words.
“So what did you want to talk about?”
“Nothing special. I just wanted to meet you that's all.”
“What a coincidence. I wanted to meet you as well.”
The two wore mysterious smiles as they spoke with each other.
“Then since we both wanted to meet each other, how about a date with just the two of us?”
Luka's words surprised Miko. He couldn't help but to chuckle a little.
“I don't mind, but just so you know I'm into older women.”
“That's fine by me. I prefer older men as well.”
If one was to listen to their conversation, they wouldn’t believe that it was a conversation between children.
Miko stretched out his hand.
“Then shall we go?”
Luka carefully took his hand.
“Then, I'll take the lead.”
At this moment, the two begun to sink in their own shadows. It took less then two seconds before they completely disappeared.
“Damn it! They’re gone!”
Moments later, Hina, Sora and Ace all ran up to were Luka and Miko just stood. They used Sora's [Silent Night] to follow Miko undetected. However, it seems that they were still found out in the end.
This vexed Hina.
She herself didn't know why she felt so irritated. She knew that Miko wouldn't go with Luka unless he was sure he could take care of himself, but she still didn't like the idea of him and Luka being alone together. She felt unknown animosity towards her, and this confused her.
Not matter how much a genius she was, in the end, she was still but a child.
The place that Luka brought them, was an arcade in the western section of the Commercial District. Since the Commercial District was the largest district in the capital, it would be hard for Hina and the boys to find them, even if they were still in same district.
“Battalion Arcade?”
Miko read the arcade’s name on the front sign.
“It's a military theme arcade. It has a lot of attractions that provides the common civilian with military experience and insight.”
“There was a place like this in the capital?”
A place designed to train ordinary people in the arts of war, all while using games. Miko couldn't help but to praise and curse the person who created this place.
He praised them for providing military insight to the common people. He curse them for doing it as well.
This was a fantasy world with advance technology. It isn't hard to guess that gaming in this world was completely different from gaming in his world. In fact he wouldn't be surprised if you could go inside the games themselves.
Which was why he cursed who came up with the idea to create this place.
“I know what you're thinking. If someone gets addicted to the games in this arcade, they may lose touch with reality and treat real life battles like games; which could lead to their deaths.”
Luka accurately knew what he was thinking.
“They are cases like that. However, this place is popular with the local thugs and criminals. They say it helps them survive in the crime world. So like everything else, this place has its ups and downs.”
Miko didn't really care for the common people, but it still didn't like the idea of people dying stupid deaths over games. But after thinking about it for a bit, he completely stopped caring.
“Well, if they want to become delusional and get themselves killed, it's up to them.”
Whether he was strong minded or heartless, it depends on the person's point of view.
In Luka's eyes, he was locking away his sincerity and replacing it with indifference. The ability to easily accomplish this made her even more interested in getting know him.
“Do want to play a few games against me?”
“I don't mind. If your trying to get a grasp of my mental state, habits and personality, games aren't a bad way to go about it.”
Luka couldn't help to smile, when Miko spoke out her intentions.
“Then let's go inside and see who’s the better warlord.”
Miko smiled and unhurriedly enter the arcade.
When he entered the arcade, he couldn't help but be a bit surprised.
Normally, an arcade would be full of children and teens, but this one was different. There were adults everywhere.
Some were rough looking, while others looked like the intellectual type. There was a wide variety of people.
Of course there were children, but they were in the minority.
“Surprised? I told you this place thought people the art of war; there are a lot of games here that doesn't just teach you modern warfare, but also corporate warfare. The game machines have a special mechanism that can expand the players knowledge using subliminal teachings.”
Hearing that, Miko look at the machines. Most of them looked like normal arcade machine, but there were some really hi-tech ones where the players needed to physically enter the machines to play.
He realized that they all had the same brand name and a six sided star with a "G" in the middle, on them.
“Gamestar?”
“The Gamestar corporation is the leading gaming company in the world. Hand consoles, Mobile games, Virtual reality games, RPG, MMORPG, etc. They dominate them all. Not only that, they also created Dimension Drive, a console that sends your body to another dimension to play the game; as well as Dream Scape, a console that allows you to play games in your dreams.”
“…..I see.”
It seemed like gaming in this world reached a level where Miko couldn't even imagine.
He was once again reminded that anything goes in this world.
“They must be really rich.”
“Yes. The Gamestar family are history's greatest gamers, they singlehandedly change the definition of a gaming. They're also heaven-shaking geniuses. It's too bad that they were almost wiped out a few years ago.”
“They almost got wiped out?”
“Yeah. I don't know the details, but I heard that the main family, except for the family head, were brutally massacred by unknown assailants. They shut down for a while after that; but eventually came back on track after nearly 5 years, with a new leader.”
“I see.”
Miko looked around the arcade again.
“So what do you want to compete in?”
“That.”
Luka pointed to a large machine in the back of the arcade. It had eight large capsules that were over 6 ft each, a large monitor in the middle, and a lot of weird looking wires and pipes connected to it.
“What's the hell is that? Are we trying to create Frankenstein?”
“It's a Dream Scape game called ‘Ruler’s Destiny’.”
“Looks like one those machines you step into to swap minds with each other.”
Luka giggled and moved towards the machine.
“Before we play, let me explain how a Dream Scape console works. Once you enter the capsule and press the start button, you'll be hit with non-lethal sleeping gas and slowly fall asleep. After falling asleep, a ready made spell will activate and drag your consciousness inside the game. As you're inside a dream world, you won't be harm no matter what happens inside the game.”
“Oh, sounds complex. What about the game that we're going to play?”
“Ruler’s Destiny is a strategy game, where the player is given control over a thriving country with a powerful army. The objective is to destroy the other players’ country and become the supreme ruler. It's a 8 player game, so one-on-ones are impossible; however, the more players the better right? Of course, alliances are allowed.”
“Are there any limits to how you can destroy your opponents country?”
“None. Assassinations, espionage, sabotage, kidnappings, chemical and biological warfare, everything is allowed. Oh, magic is allowed as well. Of course the magic is preset, meaning that you can only use the magic given to you in the game.”
“This is quite impressive. This game puts all the players on equal standings, so only the truly talented will reign supreme.”
Miko was suddenly eager to play this amazing strategy game.
“Luckily for us they're already 6 players in the capsules. The two of us will make 8.”
Miko looked and saw 6 sleeping faces in the capsules. 3 men, 3 women.
The men varied in age. One was a teen, a young adult, and an old man.
The women were all young adults.
Miko and Luka walked up to the free capsules, and entered 6 silver coins before opening them.
“Well, good luck.”
Luka entered the capsules full of smiles. Miko entered with a serious face.
(Are you really going to play this?)
“Of course, seems fun. What? Do you think that I'm going to lose?”
(Can't say. Well, it looks entertaining.)
Tiamat paused for a bit, and Miko could’ve sworn he heard her smirk.
(Alright, I'm playing with you!)
“Huh? What do you….mean?”
The sleeping gas robbed Miko of his consciousness before he could finish his sentence.