The first thing I felt was the heat of South America beating down on me from above. Well… I guess it was the Primal Kingdom now. Why can’t parallel worlds ever have the same names for places.

“What, do you want all worlds to be called ‘Earth,’ something or some other number? What a dumb naming system. Such low creativity.” Un said, obviously poking fun at the comics I used to read.

I fought the urge to shrug as I replied, Sometimes we need simple concepts for our brains to latch on to. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

The AI grunted, and disappeared inside my panel as Reya approached me. She opened her mouth to say something, but paused, leaning in to get a good look at my face. “Joshua, don’t tell me you didn’t set your nanites to their cooling feature?”

I rolled my eyes, and said, “What gave it away? The fact that I’m sweating from the heat?” As I said so, I mentally ordered Un to direct the nanites, and instantly felt my body cool down.

I breathed a sigh of relief, as even though I could still feel the heat on my clothes, my actual body felt as though it was inside an air-conditioned room.

“How does that work?” I asked Reya, and this time, it was her who looked exasperated.

“If I tried to explain it to you, you wouldn’t understand. Just ask Judgment instead.” I tensed up, before reminding myself that Reya thought there was only one Judgment system.

“Sure.” I shrugged, and began following her towards our ride, a flat, triangular shaped piece of machinery with a cockpit in the middle.

The triangle was thin, meaning the circular cockpit supported the aircraft’s weight on the ground. “Oh, that reminds me,” Reya said as she started to get into the craft, “The nanites work the opposite way as well. If you find yourself in unbearable cold, they can produce heat for you.”

“Somehow, that seems a lot more dangerous.” I muttered as I got into the cockpit, and properly sandwiched between the armor of the two ladies.

“Greetings. It is an honor, Princess Reya, Princess Lucina. To whom do I owe the pleasure of flying you both today?” The pilot’s seat rotated so that he was facing us, and he gave a humble bow.

“Him, actually.” Lucina said, and pointed at my face, poking the right side of my face in the process.

“Hmm?” It was at this point I noticed that the pilot was much older than I thought, and he leaned in to get a good look with his spectacles.

“Ah, the new Paladin of the Metronian Kingdom! Please forgive my rudeness.” He said, and bowed once more. “This humble pilot’s name is-”

“I don’t care.” I cut him off, tired of being in an aircraft the whole day so far, and just wanting to get this next leg of flight over with.

The pilots lips curled up into a small smile, and he said, “Very well then. We shall take off immediately.”

True to his word, the vehicle floated up without so much as a sound, and soon we were dashing through the skies, towards a massive series of red spires in the distance. Lucina put her head on my shoulder, as did Reya.

I held in the urge to push Reya off as I received an incoming message from Lucina. ‘You really should be more careful of who you choose to ignore.’ I turned to look at her, and found her amethyst-colored eyes looking back at me.

What do you mean by that? I sent back in reply, and a small smile crept up on her face. She took my right hand in her left, and leaned back into my shoulder, closing her eyes.

‘That man is Victor Dormiana, a retired veteran who once overwhelmed Metron’s air force with an inferior number of crafts, and less experienced pilots. He was a major threat back in his day, and a royal pain in Metron’s side.’

I looked at the back of the man’s head, noting his retreating hairline and greying locks. Why doesn’t he try to look the part then? With genetic enhancement, he could probably still be active in the military, given how his mind still seems fresh. Also, why did they send him out as a glorified chauffeur?

I thought back to Reya’s sword instructor in the kingdom, and his aging physical appearance as well. Come to think of it, why do there seem to be so many people intent on not using technology to benefit themselves.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

A smile grew on Lucina’s lips, and she sent, ‘Because they’re exactly that: old. They believe that the glory days of humanity have come and gone, and are unwilling to let go of their nostalgia to chase new dreams. They’ve given up on living any other way than the one they know.’

She moved her fingers, and made them interlock with mine. ‘As for why they sent him, think of it as a thinly veiled threat. A message that reads: we used to dominate your military, and it’s going to happen again.’

I thanked her, and closed my own eyes. ‘Oh, and one more thing.’ I nodded, and asked her what it was.

‘Don’t forget to make contact with my brother after we leave the palace. He’ll want to hear from you regarding any changes in the plan that pop up.’

My heart sank as I realized that I completely forgot about Raiden, and even making sure he was on the plane. Thankfully, it sounded like he was there, and headed to the base with Winter and Akahime. Will do. I messaged Lucina, before switching communications. Un, please explain how the nanites can affect my body temperature.

The AI appeared in the passenger seat next to Victor, and said, “You know how we feel things, right Master? It’s all a transmission of information from the sensor to the brain. What the nanites do is send out an electromagnetic field that interferes with your natural receptors, your skin, for instance, and supplements the signals your brain receives to benefit your conditions.”

I nod, and open my eyes to look over at Reya, who had the nerve to actually fall asleep. Why couldn’t she explain it then? That seemed simple enough.

Un grinned mischievously and said, “Master, I don’t think the princess actually knew. Instead of admitting that, however, she saw the opportunity to dodge the question, and did so.”

I sighed as we touched down on top of the largest spire, and the cockpit opened. “Welcome to ‘The Swords of the System,’ Palace Rojas.” Victor’s seat turned to face us, and he gave us another bow. “I hope you all have a fantastic day, especially our Paladin over here.”

With that, and a wave towards us, he sped off as soon as we had left the aircraft. “So… where to now?” Lucina asked, and Reya pointed towards a hole in the ground.

“There.” She said. “I’ve been in contact with Princess Viina Secela since we left the airport. Her brother is coming to get us now.”

“Indeed, he is.” A baritone voice came from the hole, and a man dressed in a suit walked up some hidden stairs. The man himself was massive, and easily the size of Un, if he had a physical body. He was flanked on either side by two people wearing red capes, and armor underneath.

The man’s dress suit stretched, and threatened to break with every movement. However, despite this, the man was not fat at all. In fact, I’d be surprised if he had any body fat on him in the first place.

His caramel skin hosted calculating green eyes, and his black hair was shaved close to the scalp. A mustache and goatee combo were present on his face, and framed his full, dark lips.

“Barett Secela, at your service.” He bowed, and then walked up to Reya before taking her hand. He knelt and kissed it, before moving on to Lucina to do the same thing.

He did start with Reya first. I wondered if it was in order of seniority, but it seems to be the order of succession. I thought, looking at the crown on Reya’s head.

Finally, Barett moved in front of me. “If you want to kiss my hand, that’s going to be a firm no from me.”

Barett smiled, and one of the guards took a gun from his cloak. He shot a beam at my shoulder, a non lethal shot. I diluted time, and used Un’s ability to reinforce the nanites in my hand. I took the shot, which collapsed inward on itself as it hit my palm.

Lucina looked on with narrowed eyes as Reya gasped. Instead of chastising his guard like I thought he would Barett’s smile grew and he held out his hand. “I’m glad to see that my childhood friend is in such capable hands.”

It was a test? A wave of discontent poured out from my heart, and masked my sense of reason. How many more times would I have to play these games?

I took his hand, and felt a similar use of the Judgment system. Un, is he also using nanites to improve his strength?

The third Judgment AI I had collected appeared over my shoulder, and crossed his arms. “From what I can sense, it is exactly that way, Master.”

Un. Let’s crush him. A bloodthirsty grin appeared on Un’s face as pale blue lines shone from his body.

“As you wish, Master!” I grabbed Barett’s hand, and frowned as he tried to crush mine with his strength.

His smile faltered as he realized my hand wouldn’t move to his will, and soon he was grunting in pain as I began to squeeze down on his.

I encountered a bit of resistance from his bone structure, but after applying more strength, I found that it was pretty easy to get by it.

A cracking sound came from his right hand, and a creaking soon accompanied it. To his credit, he didn’t utter a single sound or cry out, and showed no sign of pain aside from his trembling lip. I pulled on his hand, making him wince and drawing him in close.

“I’m glad she’s in my hands too.” I whispered into his ear in reply to his earlier comment, then let go of his hand.

He fell to one knee, and everyone around us was stunned into silence. “Oh dear, are you ok?” I said, my voice dripping with fake concern.

I looked up at the two guards, both of whom had taken a step forward. “You should get that checked out. In the meantime, you can tell the less rude of your two guards to show us around.”

I looked back down at Barett, and knelt to get to his eye level. “You don’t have a problem with that, do you, Prince Secela?”