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Volume 4

Chapter 33: City of Lights

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Rex logged out of the game a few hours ago and was in the middle of his periodic medical check-ups.

"Well, everything seems alright."

"But you look like you are in a deep thought."

Rex looked up to the twins, his mind battling whether he should feel mad or accept their seemingly innocent attempt to lighten up the mood of the day.

"Still, he doesn't shape up."

"Nope, he doesn't."

Flat-eyed, Rex looked over at them, rolling his eyes on the wall that separated his house to the one beside it.

"Yep, it's confirmed. He's not in the mood."

"Oh he's not in the mood alright."

Summoning a window, Rex immediately went to the Terroa Day Today website.

The webpage displayed on the floating holo-panel in front of him was of the current war happening in the Southern Continent of Heartilia.

Reading through the list of articles available, he filtered the items on the category of places.

He wanted to at least, even by the most fraction of a detail, know if there was any news about that secluded place in the North.

Even if the Northern Land is a place where thugs and all sorts of criminals—players who played on the 'red side' of the game society—lived and played their own game's rules, they were still players who had their own version of adventures.

By that reason, there are also times that their adventures are being broadcasted by the media perks.

"Well that's a rather unusual thing for you."

The moment Rex heard that comment, he turned to see Hank peeking at the window.

"How is this unusual?"

Somehow, somewhere in his mind, it seemed that these three, including doctor Martinez who kept on doing just his job alone with his panels, were clueless on what had happened to him two days ago.

And to his seemingly unusual question, Frank got him and peeked on the other side of him.

"Well, this is the first time we seen your stats being a little... agitated."

"Agitated?"

"Yeah." Answered Hank and pressing a button from the console on his side and swiping the window that popped up towards Rex. "See your stats? These are clear signs that you are being agitated. No wonder why, though."

"Yeah." Agreed Frank. "You look like you're preparing to barge in on the Thug Territory."

—another name for the place.

With a sigh, Rex passed the thought through from one brain region to another, not minding the thought as it was useless to think over things like that.

The North, just like the Western Continent of Flowerion and Southern Continent of Heartilia —unlike the open lands of the Central and East, housed many more secrets and undiscovered adventures that players will even go as far as joining the thug club just to be able to have it.

It was the lure of true adventure!

Perhaps, thinking that it may still have something to do with his original mission, Rex thought then that this particular group, though still under Augustus, was not part of his trusted people.

What happened in Fort Magsaysay Hospital may have been just between them.

—so there were still secret between them.

—or perhaps it was just on their level in the hierarchy.

Thinking of the latter, Rex looked up and glanced over between the iron doors to see the parked limo in front of the house. The black sleeve of the driver, that grim faced man who shows little to no emotion whenever they meet, is watching over them in between the spaces.

As their eyes met, the cold indifferent expression of the man greeted him and the pressure his gazes under those black shades was enough to make him avert his eyes.

Rex found himself realizing, what he had thought of as just a passing idea earlier was actually the truth.

That kind of stare from Graham, as if telling him to not say a word, was real. He saw the three looking at each other, looking over at Graham in confusion, and back to Rex with a slight tilting of the head.

"You okay, kiddo?"

"Is Graham still making you intimidated?"

He couldn't think of any word as a reply. The thought of his brother back in the hospital room, and the thought of him being alone and lost in Alexandria, was enough to make him bite his lips to the point that they almost bled.

Rex's fists were balling up into a hammer, he couldn't feel his surroundings. All he could feel is the wrath that was slowly building inside of him.

His mind was finding the source, centring on a single source, finding the root of all his problems.

The first person he thought of was Augustus.

If he hadn't taken up that impossible deal, he wouldn't have been in his current situation. But then again, if he hadn't, then there weren't any assurance that he would have been able to pay to keep his brother's life.

And so he rooted back more.

He can't think of anything else but that freak accident that killed his parents.

***

"Rex?"

"Hey bud..."

"What's going on?"

"The kid's lost in his own world."

"He's gone on trans."

While Rex was searching, the doctors became alarmed with his unusual behaviour. As he lay there with the few chords and wires still attached to his skin, his eyes have gone straight, as if he was lost on a thought.

"What is happening?!"

Bursting in on the door, Graham's build came running.

And when he saw Rex on the bench... his eyes first came to contact with the red labels on Martinez's holo panel.

"What in the world..."

"Doctor, explain."

Looking confused, Martinez looked at Graham but was still lost for the right words to say.

"I-I don't know... I don't know what's happening to him right now!"

"What do you mean you don't know? You're supposed to be an expert on this field!"

"I am the expert because the real experts died!"

Graham balled his fists as he was about to punch the hysterical doctor. But then Hank's scream made the two look at their side.

"Heart rate is rising!"

"Rex's having a breakdown!"

"Hey kid! Wake up! Snap out of it!"

"Martinez! Do something!"

"I can't! His mental state is unstable! If he touch him now, who knows what will happen to him!"

"Even so! If he collapses now, then he wouldn't become complete so if I were you, doctor, I would touch that panel before these fists makes contact with your face!"

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Left with no choice, Doctor Martinez expanded his panel and drew the red bars that represented an emotional region on Rex on another window panel.

"I'll attempt a neurological surgery."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Frank.

"If you commit a mistake, you might ultimately change his mental order permanently."

With Hank's response, Martinez looked at Graham as if to check if he was allowed to proceed. When Graham did not gave him any reaction of any sort, it was then that he clicked his tongue as he cursed and knelt down.

"For god's sakes, this is really mad! Hold him down!"

Rex's nose was bleeding and he was having a seizure. Like the time that he first exceeded the limits of what the game could do, his eyes began to go up with only the whites being seen.

Diodes and 'strads' was attached by the twins on his head and his chest. Then he was put on hold by the two's bulky arms.

"After I initiate the shock, make sure you two will be able to stop him. Do those things you always do to keep him calm!"

"Alright."

"Got it."

Settings up the panel in front of him, Martinez set up the procedure to immediate reaction.

"Doctor!" screamed Graham.

Rex's mental stats were going red, his heart rate had just reached 180. His muscles were hard, his strength almost enough to free himself from the twin's hold.

The former arm that had an injury, seemed like it never had one and the leg that had a metal bar as a support was trying to be free from Hank's grasps.

"Come on!" Graham yelled again on the doctor's ear.

"Stop talking to me!"

Martinez's hands were moving fast. Lowering bars and going to another, rising one more, and putting some blue liquid on the IV drip, he kept himself busy manipulating the holo-panel's details.

"Martinez!"

"Don't rush me!"

"Yo doc, he's not gonna make it!"

"Doc, come on!"

"I said don't rush me!"

Martinez reached the last part of the expanded graph, and he then double tapped on it to reveal a series of numbers and graphs.

He swirled his fingers, lowered a few bars, pulled up a few, then tapped to confirm.

Rex's breathing was fast, he was sweating rivers. Rex was trying to set himself free from the shackles of flesh that bound him to the chair.

And then... Martinez swiped the panel off.

"Now!"

He dived towards the switch and pressed the red button and a surge of electricity flowed through the wires and into the strads on Rex's diode tubes. As the electricity flowed into his skin and travelled to his hair, to his skull, to his brain, and to wherever it could go inside, the mild shock the twin felt was proof of the procedures that went in a matter of micro seconds by the doctor's set.

Rex's body stopped moving, but his fists were still as tight a grip as it was.

The four men looked at him, awaiting the results of the hurried emergency shock treatment, all for the sake of stabilizing his shattered mental state.

"Kid?"

"Yo, Rex, ya'yt?"

"Mister Kingsley...."

Rex's hands released and the four looked at him as he began to move and steady himself.

With his eyes still closed, he sat upright, flicking his neck as if to feel for something broken.

Then... he smiled and opened his eyes.

"Hi,ya... doc."

His expressions are still the same and also his voice.

Nothing was different from him except that the way he looked at Martinez was rather cold. Not only him but when Rex's eyes looked at Graham, the latter's first reaction was to launch a punch.

Frozen by the deed, the twins who had already made their distance with a step back was also shocked.

"What was that?"

"Did you felt it?"

After hank's prompt, the twins looked at their forearms whose skins were still up like a goose.

Doctor Martinez, as much as he wanted to guess, had no idea of what had just occurred. Most especially when the brute of a man such as Graham punched a boy with Rex's size into oblivion, you could only feel bad for him for receiving such an attack.

And yet, when he looked at Graham's reaction, dazed, and was still unable to grasps the reason why he punched him like that...

"Rex?"

Martinez was the first to recover and forgot the thought of him ever punching Rex.

The slumped boy soundly slept on the fallen bench. He found it hard to believe that in no minute ago, they were all in an emergency situation trying to prevent what could be the trigger to lose such an amazing specimen.

Martinez wetted his throat, along with the disgust to himself of ever thinking of the kid like that.

—Still, what was that?

—It's as if I saw a different person just now...

Unable to grasp the truth, he looked up seeing Graham extending his bulky arm pulling Rex and the bench.

"Why did you punch him?" was Martinez's argument.

But Graham did not spoke instead, it was Frank who helped him that replied.

"You wouldn't believe it, even if we explain it."

"You wouldn't even understand..."

Fed up of the twin's jargons, Martinez punched the metal box beside him. Even if it hurt, even if it felt like hell or he may have broken his bones, he still felt so mad and so angry that nothing matters most than them answering his question.

"I asked a simple question! What happened?!"

When Rex was upright and looked normal except for the bluish red mark on his face, Graham walked off slowly and escaped the house's premises through the door.

Left to answer the question, the twins looked at each other and shrugged.

"Well, I think you already know why he punched him."

"So why did he punch him?"

Hank, looked on by Frank, straightened his clothes and laid his eyes on Rex.

"This kid is awesome." He said without a smile. "Just thinking how he could release that much murderous intent is already fascinating..."

"...all the more when we get to train him too."

"You bet."

When the twins shared a fist knock, Martinez was left with nothing but regret.

Yeah, he was warned he wouldn't understand it.

These martial arts terminologies were all hard to understand for him. Especially the part that it sounded like a joke where a 19-year old kid could make a man such as Graham defend for himself with just a single glance.

****************

When Rex logged in back to Terroa, it was already the night. The doctors were already gone when he came to and he had his face covered with bandage from reasons he wasn't informed.

But he knows how it feels like to be punched. He was sure of it and so he wondered who punched him and why he was punched.

Paying little attention to the care he was receving from the house keeper, Rex went down only to eat his meal and came back to his room for the job.

And when he logged in to where he last remembered he had put his Save Locker, he saw a city dyed by the light of day facing the sea.

Dragona.

It was a city like no other. Looking at the high-rise buildings that looked like Pagodas in the distance, and probably two of the largest infrastructures that Siva had ever seen, the infamous City of Lights —also called the Cannon City, Dragona, was a city that fights off as the third largest city in Terroa currently known.

With its distinctive tourist attraction, the «Big Bang», mounted right at the edge of the cape with a 300 degrees omni-directional body that can turn its large cannon on all possible directions, from where he was standing at the edge of the cliff on a hill in the far northern distance from the city's walls, the City of Light stood like a grand gesture of its infamous name.

From the in-game history that he'd managed to gather before going here, Dragona was the central industrial city of the Northern Lands and the premiere connection between the north and the lower continents.

Located at the southern tip of the Northern Lands, the green forests and healthy lands around the city hides the high level monsters that, in terms of definition of their behaviour, stands above their same-ranking monster counterparts on the lower regions.

The large cannon are one proof that the monsters of the Northern Lands are more aggressive. It was a weapon built solely to battle S-ranked or even higher ranking monsters that would try to attack the city head on.

News of its use has spread and became famous in the lower regions, becoming the reason why there are those brave tourists who wander off on these parts. There are also the expeditions launched in order to harvest these monsters' high-grade resources. The only problem is, as the North is a place that needs a special set of skills in order for an ordinary player to survive, navigating through its cold climate is yet another story.

That's the reason why Siva came to this place. He had to first get here no matter what if he wanted to reach the central lands towards Alexandria because Dragona, the Industrial Center of the North, is the only place where real quality gears made for cold weather navigation are sold.

But going out of the city is as easy as walking out of your house. Getting inside is another matter.

Like most cities of the Northern Lands, the influence of Dark Guilds and Criminal Organizations in the North had been extended so far as to actually enable powerful guilds such as the «Maurice Martin Clan», the pirates that joined forces with the TGG during the War of the Two Powers, to shape the city's operations according to their criminal needs.

That said, while the lower regions' guilds had their own Intelligence Network, it can't be said that the Criminal Organizations' own Intelligence Network isn't as big as theirs.

In fact, if it can even be compared, the latter's wide range of influence even in the warmer continents proves that the lower regions' Network is inferior, thus giving the opportunity for these Criminal Organizations to grow in the North. Thinking about it now, as Siva's fame is rather taking a hike, it's an understatement to say that his movements haven't been tabbed by specific kinds of people, just like how Six's boss did.

Or perhaps, especially now that he's being pursued by those terrorists, as Cassiopeia said. It was another matter that worries him greatly.

A terrorist organization in the real world wants him to join them. Their purpose was for them to have access on his Invention that Cassiopeia said could also be realized as a real-world weapon of mass destruction.

Thinking about it now, Dragunov's special functions weren't even a hard concept to realize. There are even other more legitimate inventions to be called 'possible' to be realized in the real world as a weapon of mass destruction. The concept behind the «Raijin» is just him using the physics of electromagnetism and using the game's telekinesis to control its path. Aside from that, it was just a normal flashy weapon made to provide his needs on keeping protection towards his blind sides.

"But to be hunted down for that reason..."

Lost on these thoughts, Siva remained standing there, looking at the city's high rising buildings, to the black painted Cyclones, and to the small elements flying off from the city towards multiple directions, going on their own ways and businesses, with a blank expression.

With the shadow of the afternoon sol hiding him on the rocks, he let the cool air drape him on its coldness like washing his worries and replacing it with even greater worries of the things he found out that's on his way.

Behind his skull-mask covered by the darkness of his hood, Siva was biting his lower lip trying to contain the scream of frustration he wanted to release.

The encounter with Samantha and the things she told him about the past he didn't know, and the revelations Cassiopeia said about a group that wants to turn him into a terrorist, were all mixing up, becoming hindrances into his thoughts on coming for his brother's aid.

It was clouding his mind, stopping him from thinking straight on ideas on how to proceed with his mission.

So when the minutes became longer, Siva punched the rock wall and decided to first get what he needed in the city and think about his circumstances later.

Just in time that something in the far-east making dust clouds caught his attention. Squinting his eyes to focus his gaze, as soon as he made up its shape, he released his balled fists as an idea came to him.

He summoned a player panel as he jumped off the cliff and with a flash of light on his feet, a hover board appeared and he slid down the ledge.

As the land was still solid in this region of the North, the hover board functioned normally as it slides through the inclined rock ledges, into the big fall, and to a wide open field. It was just a short while after that he came into a dry patch of land in the middle of the meadow. The path was worn out with tracks of old fashioned wheeled vehicles and the soil was brown, indicating a long time since it has been wet.

He stopped and flipped the board, catching it on the end side as he landed smoothly, watching the east side of where the road came.

"Is that..."

With a whisper, he run, jumping off and riding the board towards the east direction. A few minutes later, he saw a large wheeled truck coming to meet his way.