City of Nikosia

In the middle of Heritage Square Plaza lies a magnificent building reminiscent of the Ancient Greek wonder, the Parthenon. Its many stone pillars are decoratively adorned with ribbons, bows, and flowers. The lively attitude of the employees can be seen in their faces as they move in and out of the building as if they are getting ready for a big party. That is what the atmosphere is like at the most promising place in Nikosia right now, the Heritage Vintage Auction House.

Not too far away, two men are seen casually walking through the halls of that very same building.

“Mr. Markz, as you can see, there is no better place than our own Heritage House to auction off your precious and unique charm,” Andrei Zosia, a distinguished older gentleman with a twinkle in his eye, declared.

Andrei was the main person for Heritage; no one was above him. He answered straight to the alliance, which put him in his current leadership spot.

“I've always been open to sharing the stage with other reputable auction houses, but for items of such world-altering significance as your charm, the main Auction House of the Heritage Company is a natural choice,” Andrei stated, his voice tinged with a quiet confidence that spoke volumes of his position.

Roy nodded in agreement, a testament to the countless times he had been lavished with the comforts of the Heritage House and the alliance's patronage, a luxury that seemed to stretch on for eternity.

He had forgotten how often they offered to cover his living expenses and even assign him an estate and peerage to have him report straight to them on other findings of such significant importance.

“I understand, Mr. Zosia, and I will make sure that if any other charm or significant finding is brought to me, you and the alliance will be the first to know,” said Roy with an uncertain twinkle in his eye.

“Good, Good,” said Andrei as he continued to walk with Roy through the halls of the auction house. They laughed and jested back and forth as if they had been best friends since childhood.

Outside the Auction house, across from it, lay the old city neighborhood of Nikosia. Inside the neighborhood were many tiny three-story houses all bunched up together; they were so close that if someone wanted, they could run across the roofs of all the homes without stopping for miles.

Inside one of these little houses, two gentlemen sat in the living room, discussing a plan they had spent many hours and resources putting together.

“I’m telling you, Alexei, it's better to back out now. The way I see things, we will likely end up running into Prime,” said a very apprehensive Theo.

“Calm down, and let's rethink this before we scratch the plan without even giving it a second thought,” said Alexie as he tried to get Theo to relax.

“Yes, it might be true that Prime is coming, but me personally, I think the guy is just a stunt or gimmick by the alliance,” he said as he put his hand on Theo’s shoulder.

“Come on, have you ever seen any of the other elites use any of the skills he has shown? No, and you know why that is? Because they don’t exist; it's all smoke and mirrors, as they say,” he said as he patted Theo's shoulder before walking towards the window.

“Just look out there, Theo,” said Alexei as he stared at the auction house from the window he was standing in.

“It’s a thing of beauty, but you know what is even more beautiful. That I haven’t seen a single elite alpha in the area so far,” he said.

Theo got up from his seat and walked to the window adjacent to where Alexei was standing. Outside at the auction house, the preparations were in full swing, and the hustle of the people reminded Alexei and Theo of a bunch of ants trying to get ready for winter.

“Not seeing any Alphas doesn’t mean they aren’t around. It just means they are well hidden,” said Theo in a wary tone.

“Yeah, but we’ve dealt with this before, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about,” replied Alexei.

“We don’t,” asked Theo with a surprised face.

“What if Prime shows up? I know you say he is just a gimmick, but I have my reservations over that, “he mindfully said.

Theo was hypersensitive to omens and changes in luck. He could sense when something wasn’t right, or their luck was changing.

He felt their luck changing from that morning and attributed it to the news about Prime coming to Cypree.

Seeing Theo still worried, Alexei pondered in silence what to do.

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Alexei had always considered Theo’s opinion and assumptions before and, on many occasions, even acted upon what Theo would tell him. Still, the allure of the big payout for this job was something he couldn’t ignore. He knew that there was a possibility that Prime was as badass as advertised, but the percentage was tiny, and even so. What were the odds he would be at the auction house that day?

“I know what you are trying to say, Theo, but it is not an option for us to go back now; we have already invested a lot of time and money on this job, and going back would be very detrimental for us,” said Alexei.

“Even if Prime shows up, the odds of him running into us are nearly zero, as he will be in the city guarding for any possible assaults.”

“This is also why we have Kona and Finn to distract anyone close to us. As long as we get the job done in 5 minutes or less, I don’t think that even the famous Prime can do anything to us,” he finished saying in a cocky tone.

Theo's expression didn’t change much after hearing Alexei. Although he knew what Alexei said made a lot of sense, the glint of uncertainty still existed in his eyes.

“Hmm... I hope you're right, boss,” he said cautiously.

Back at King’s International Air Base.

Tixus's eyes were as big as saucers as he stared at this crescent-shaped air blade spinning so fast that it looked slow; the blade's speed created a reverse motion effect.

“You had your chance to attack; now it's my turn,” I said with a smirk as I flung the blade towards Tixus.

The blade moved so quickly that it reached Tixus in mere seconds.

“Plasma suit,” screamed Tixus as the blade approached, creating ripples as it cut like a hot knife through butter.

The blade buzzed as it hit the first defensive skill used by Tixus, his plasma aura.

Plasma aura had been a staple of Tixus's skills when in combat; once he used it, he would essentially enhance his speed and strength while at the same time deploying a barrier made of ionized gas to provide himself with a plasma shield.

Until now, none of his opponents could break through it, but that was not the case today. Prime’s wind blade was so oppressive that the aura around Tixus couldn’t last more than a few seconds before it started to break down.

Tixus looked on with great astonishment and trepidation. He felt his life was in danger as the aura shield broke down. The next second, the crescent blade was on him.

But right before it hit Tixus Plasma Armor, the crescent blade exploded, sending him flying back about 10 meters.

Tixus landed hard on the cement floor and rolled a few times before stopping at the feet of the rest of the group.

He was in bad shape but lifted his head as he heard the footsteps approaching. His face showed terror in his eyes. No one had ever hurt him so badly; it was only one measly crescent blade.

“Was that enough proof for you that I don’t need any help on this job,” said Prime in a cold and distant voice.

“Enough!” came a commanding voice from behind them.

“Prime, do you need to treat your fellow teammates this way?” asked Commander Shelong as he approached the group. The rest of the commanders were silently walking behind him.

“I said it before: you are all a team and need to work as one,” said the commander, looking at Tixus with a weird look.

“Boy get your ass off the floor and come here,” roared Commander Dythaxio after seeing his son badly beaten on the floor.

“Dad, I was just trying to….” Tixus started to say as he picked himself up from the floor before being interrupted again.

“Enough, you don’t have to say anything else.”

“Did I not tell you not to disturb Prime once he showed up, no matter what,” said Commander Dythaxio.

“We will deal with him, not you. Now pick yourself up and get going with your team,” he told his son.

Tixus couldn’t argue with his dad, so he could only lick his wounds today and hope for a rematch in the future.

As he walked away, he turned around and glared viciously at Prime a few times.

“Just as advertised,” said Commander Shelong to his fellow commanders as they approached Prime.

“Prime, it’s a pleasure to meet you finally,” said Commander Shelong as he raised his hand to salute him.

Taken aback by the straightforwardness of the commander Shelong, I gawked at the salute.

“Why is he saluting me,” I told myself.

“Commander, it’s also my pleasure, but there is no need for the pleasantries,” I said, trying not to sound like a total ass.

The commander didn’t take it as an offense. Instead, he looked at the rest of the high brass and nodded.

The rest of the brass immediately knew what Commander Shelong was incurring and quickly saluted themselves.

I didn’t know what to do then. I guessed what they were trying to do, but how could I, a 15-year-old, join the military right now? It was not going to happen.

“Gentlemen, if we are done with the greetings, let's move on if we can. Cypree and the auction of the year await us,” I said calmly.

“You're right, Prime. Let's go. Our transport is waiting for us in the hangar,” said Commander Krotos.

The four commanders, I, and the people of Zone 16 loaded one of the Transports, and the rest of the team, plus Brandon, loaded the second Transport.

It wasn’t a long trip to Cypree. During this time, Commander Shelong began explaining the details of the security detail for the auction.

“Prime, you will be our last line of defense in case we get attacked by rogue forces trying to steal the Angle Wings,” he said.

“We will have a three-layer security zone.”

“25 Elite Alphas will guard zone 3, the city's outskirts. They are all in the top 50 of the global ranking," commented the commander.

"Then, we will have four strike teams of five people each patrol the inner-city area, which will be zone 2,” he said as he explained the plan.

“Are they that good? I asked with a bit of suspicion. I had just finished taking out the 46-ranked strike team not long ago, so I had doubts about how good these strike teams could be.

“They are highly skilled and very experienced,” answered Commander Dythaxio.

I just nodded.

“Your ex-team members will be one of the four teams in zone two,” followed up Commander Ramis.

I was surprised for a moment but then my face returned to normal.

“That only leaves you and Damian. You two will be the only ones in zone 3 or the auction site itself,” said Commander Shelong.

I nodded in acceptance of the plan put forth by Commander Shelong.

Everyone involved in security for this auction had one thing in common: they all thought that if there were to be an attack to try to steal the charm, it would come from within the city but rather from outside. That is why they had also bolstered the outside perimeter and zone 2.

As the group finished the conversation, the Island of Cypree came into view at the edge of the horizon.

“It looks like we are here,” said Damian.