“Hey Chau, you ever wonder if this was a gift? Like really… I remember fantasizing about it you know? moving things with my mind, walking on water, and all that. Don’t you think that’s pretty cool?”

Waking up from his bed, David looked around the small room that he is in. A small apartment, by the side of the road in an unassuming neighborhood, a quiet place, a peaceful place.

It’s been 4 years since he woke up from that ice block in the ruins, technically speaking we weren’t dead, but it might as well be.

David was indeed not born in this era called Namuyen, he was born in 2030, 10 years before the awakening. He remembered when his home in Vietnam was sunk underwater from the tsunami, when Africa slammed into Eurasia, turning both the Mediterranean black seas into giant lakes, Japan turned on its side… literally. And that’s just some of the major ones that he knew of.

Another would be when nature was infused with Mana, growing out of control, causing the complete collapse of humanity’s fragile infrastructure. It wasn’t even the animal-turned-monsters in the wild that really did the most damage, not the out-of-control elemental storms nor mega-earthquakes. but the animals and pets that lay within human cities. Feral cats, dogs, rats, horses, cows, and many others, all gaining supernatural powers and abilities, turning their fangs against their self-proclaimed master.

He could only laugh at how he once wished that magic became real, if only he knew how bad the consequences were.

Of course, humanity also gained those benefits, gaining supernatural powers. That is, until now, hundreds of years into the future. Where all that magic has turned inside out and devoured anyone who would dare to do such a thing. Those who dare attempt would now be called mystics, witches, mad men, and hunted down for their insane desires.

He didn’t even know how he was locked in that ice, he remembered going out to battle with his groupies of supers, fighting against a giant polar bear.

Then came a white light, then nothing.

Shaking his head, David decided to go check out the air dock. The damage to the fighter shouldn't be that bad right? It’s just a few bugs after all…

——————————

In the early morning at one of the air docks on the walls, a baffled voice could not help but yell out.

“3 MONTHS?!?!”

“As I’ve said, the fighter is a no-go. That thing shouldn’t even be on the field, it’s just a prototype at the end of the day anyways.”

Said a giant man, his height a towering 2.5 meters, with a giant scar over his left eye leading to the back of his bald head. A rugged full beard covering a wide jawline, his body bulging with muscles. Rough grayish skin resembling that of stone, identifying him as part giant. Who could imagine his name to be Temy, what a ridiculous name for a ridiculously big bastard.

“FUCK, Okay… what's the damage?” asked David as he rubbed his temple, standing in the middle of the air dock, the many workers and engineers giving him strange looks as they continued working. To think the fighter would be so damaged that it would take 3 entire months to be fixed.

“Well… let’s start with the obvious, the laser blaster’s cooling system is completely done for, and yes, I’ve seen the combat log, quite a situation that you’ve got yourself into I’d say.” Laughed the head engineer of the E-wild corporation, clearly having a fun time reading his logs.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“And not to mention the burnt-out thrusters you caused by using such abrupt movements, I would advise you don’t fly in such a suicidal manner in the future. Now, the crux of the matter is the reactor and conduits. You see, the Splinter was never meant to be a combat ship, acting primarily as a scouting and reconnaissance vessel.” The part-giant gave David a knowing look.

“but someone, for some indiscernible reasons, wanted to strap not just one, but TWO laser blaster prototypes onto the darn thing. And firing it recklessly without thinking about the consequences. And thus, drawing too much power from the reactor as a result. Leaving it no time to cool down and vent the corruption build up.

Luckily, that person was able to return mere hours before the reactor reach its limit, managing to avoid a complete meltdown. If that person were to stay back a bit later, well… he would be in a first-class seat to a class 3 witch storm...” The dock master lets out a wild cackle as David stood in disbelief, he was that close to death?

A ring on his watch as he looked down, a message from E-wild Corp saying the payment from the previous mission had been confirmed. Looking up at the imposing man whose outward appearance could strike fear with a glance.

“Thank you, I will take everything you just said to heart,” David solemnly nodded his head, causing the big man to let out another cackle.

David could not help but shake his head, “Well, shit…hey, You have anything I can use for transport in the meantime?”

The old head engineer tilted his head at the question, rubbing his bearded chin for a few minutes.

“Hmm, while we do have vehicles for traversing the wild, do note that we never move alone. To do so would be suicidal, unlike you, none of us wish for an early death.” David could not but have an odd expression as he listen, he doesn’t have a death wish… or at least he doesn’t think so.

“Where were you planning on going anyway? I thought you would be resting now, one mission per month is all you need to keep your particular license with the corps. I still remember the faces of those bastards, seeing you swagger in with your special card.” The head engineer laughed, looking at the young man furtively, there were also those weird rumors that’s been going around.

David, though somewhat tone deaf, could feel in his bones when someone would think of weird things about him, turning his eyes at the old engineer while trying to keep his mouth from clenching. He still remembers those raunchy rumors some of the idiots in the bar had spread about him and Asha.

“It’s a job, commission work. Not like anything that you were thinking about,” David glared at the man, causing him to cough lightly.

“Ahem, right. Well, we can give you either a simple rover or a motorbike…buut if I remember correctly we should also have a hover-cycle somewhere. They’re fast, capable of gliding through difficult terrain, and…”

“They’re also extremely hard to pilot, not to mention the high maintenance would make it impossible in the wilds, you just want to get rid of it don’t you.” David interrupted, staring hard at the giant, if looks could kill this will be it.

The head engineer let out another loud cackle before rubbing his head while looking quite conflicted about the issue, “Yeah, you’re right, that thing is eating up a lot of my time actually. Technically speaking, I am the only one capable of maintaining it. As no one here knows a damn thing about Runic circuitry, and none of these schmucks were willing to learn.”

The old engineer glared in a general direction, scaring some of the dock workers in view, some just simply ran. The rage of this part-giant, though rare, is well-known amongst the workers.