CHAPTER 10

Earth: ?

Mytikas Kingdom

Douruihines: Day 20

1

Act II.Part II Main Missions

Objective Completed:

* Successfully trained five hoplites (including Charon, Lancer, and Orion) within the five days

* Reach ten percent Iryoku control

Today wasn't pleasant and was scorching hot first thing in the morning. By the time it was noon, everybody was submerged in the water to hydrate themselves. Damion, Lancer, Orion, Charon, and a few other hoplites gathered in one group and sat on the logs.

"Thank goodness for your water," Lancer said.

"Oh please." Charon dismissed the remarks and gestured his index finger, summoning water. “This heatwave. Mytikas is the last place where I would expect it.”

“It ain’t as bad as back in my world many years ago.”

“How come?”

“Twenty Years ago when I was twelve-”

Everyone looked at him. Charon glanced in front of Damion, looking at his face. “What?! You are not in your early twenties?”

Damion shook his head. “No. What? You telling me a thirty-two-year-old here won’t look like this?”

They all shake their heads, surprising Damion. “Wow. I guess your guys' livelihoods are different. It was not the same on Earth. Life on Mytikas and World of Dourhines must be shorter.” He looks around all the group and the rest of the camp, assuming they all are in their twenties. “Other than me, who is the oldest?” He asked.

All pointed to Queen Isaella and Thaeda. “They are twenty-eight. Same age.”

“Not that far in the gap. Damn, so most of you are young lads.”

“Mhm, I was 23 before I left for Earth. Now, I’m twenty-four, and most men in Mytikas settle by the time they are twenty-five or twenty-six and live till mid-forties and pass.”

Sheesh. Short lifespan. “Anyways, where was I? When I was twelve, a terrifying natural disaster struck Earth, eliminating half of civilization. Change the rest of my childhood forever.”

Lancer took off his helmet to eat his soup, revealing his face for the first time, and was interested in hearing Damion’s childhood story, “What’s changed?” He said after gulping a spoonful of the broth.

Diverse reaction. Some were disturbed while others were astounded. Damion, unfazed by his appearance revealed, continued, “One of the days after that catastrophic event, I was separated from my parents and dragged into an underground team called Unterirdisches Imperium, or the UI. Twenty of us, me included, were all the same age at this time. They put us on experiments and training beyond what anyone morally comprehends.”

“Anyone other than you made it?”

“Ten of us did. Others then died from extreme exhaustion and failure. I felt lucky to make it through cause especially being a feeble young kid. Became an assassin and a hunter within secrecy, hunting down rivals and doing undisclosed activities for a decade.”

“Killing with no mercy…That’s how you handled those traitors days ago.” One of the hoplites expressed and then followed with, “Why did you help us? The actions you take following the betrayal. What is your intent?”

Lancer nudged him to stop. “What’s up with you bringing that up?!”

“Enough.” Damion raises his right palm. “You made a point. Why would a man like myself be helping Mytikas? The answer was about to be explained till I got interrupted. The ten of us eventually all developed our moral codes without the reach of the UI. They don’t want us to be humane but machines and blinded. We didn’t fall into their hands and soon developed the moral code due to one accident we witnessed." He paused momentarily, "That was our last straw. That moral code pushed us to revolt and toppled the UI, and we dispersed and moved onto civilian lives.”

“So that moral code is what decides you to help us?” Lancer questioned and took one last mouthful of the soup.

“Indeed. That accident taught us one lesson. The realization we lack sympathy and empathy for the innocent. It became the core of my morality. Also, the Queen invited me to lunch as a guest, so I have the right to protect her from those traitors by killing them.”

“Is it worth it?”

“Yes. As much potential information as we can get, it’s safer than sorry to eliminate them, or they would send more reinforcements and cause physical chaos. Once Mytikas fight against the Xacrobar, we save the innocent or non loyal to the evil regime and bring them to us, while the traitors will be eliminated.” Damion drinks his Kylix. “That’ll do. Thanks for asking. I mean it.”

“With Pleasure.”

Damion asked one final thing, “What’s your name soldier?”

“Aktis, sir.”

Damion nodded in return, and the group finished their drinks and cooled off. Charon then mentions Lancer's face being the first time everyone has seen his face. In the past few days, especially during the day, when Damion was having lunch with Queen Isaella and Thaeda, he always had his helmet on. They all perceived quickly as the helmet was more to protect his drastic scars since his marks were on his cheekbone and both temples.

Without warning, a woman dressed in a green robe appears.

“What is the matter?” Damion asked.

“I need Damion to come with me. We have unexpected patients.”

“Patients?”

“Yes. The Queen will be coming. Please follow me.”

Damion stood up from the log, not understanding what was going on. Others decided to follow him anyway, as they were curious about what was going on. They walked briefly before entering the medical tent. “Oh, my god. What a travesty is this?” He saw two beds occupied by two critically wounded boys. The woman in the green robe is one of the nurses on the camp specifically tasked with nursing them.

“Severe lacerations on their arms and legs. The one on the left, Sam, has a right black eye and a concussion. While the right, Otreus, faces less magnitude of his injuries but still critical.” The nurse said in an anxious tone. She then turns right at Damion, “I need your help.”

“What help?”

“They need a fragment of your Iryoku.”

Queen Isaella appeared at the tent, “Maia! What’s going on?”

“Please consider this time,” Maia said before disclosing to Queen Isaella. “My Queen. It’s Otreus and Sam.”

Damion and the group went outside and stood right beside the entrance.

“What do we do?” Charon asked.

“I already considered doing it, but I’m just bothered by the potential consequences where the only time I’ve done something with my Iryoku to someone was you, Charon, twice. One for getting you off the trance state and the other where it gave you powers unexpectedly.”

Charon sighs as if it’s a fact. It’s only been five days since the first day of training, and everyone went through getting a sense of Iryoku basics. Yet that is still unique to Damion as he only can teach what he has felt since. “Despite that, we have to eventually know if consistent results show that this did not apply to precisely me but everyone else where we can use Iryoku's capabilities to heal others. I think you should take the risk.”

“It was shocking to see those two,” Lancer said and Orion nodded. “They were smart and disciplined boys we frequently met during Queen Isaella's periodic travels to the agora. Somebody landing a hit on those two is already enough for both of us to decide yes, and you should do it.”

Thaeda was sprinting from somewhere towards the clinical tent. She stops by panting, “Something wrong?”

“You know Otreus and Sam?”

“Yeah.”

“Both are in there. Queen Isaella is probably having a meltdown as Maia attempting to explain to her.”

“No no NO!” Thaeda jolted inside.

“They are very well known, it seems.”

“I’m with you, but the fact shows that they are very close with the Queen, and few of us here should be the deciding factor.”

Damion nodded. “Alright then, I’ll try. Very unfortunate this is how I first met them.” He went inside while others stood outside and waited.

He entered the tent seeing Maia with Queen Isaella weeping at Otreus' bedside. Thaeda sat at a small table in front of Sam’s bed, reading a set of documents, assuming health reports. “Maia!.” She turned to Damion, and he gave her a nod. Her expression turned to delight, and she lifted the resisting Queen Isaella from the bedside.

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Damion went up to the bedside of Otreus. He looked around his sites for wounds and injuries. Hmm, he can’t move or make any sign of awareness. The breathing is still there. He took note of the condition.

“Don’t you touch him!” Queen Isaella’s voice from behind. Damn. That serious. She has to be the mother figure of these two boys. Damion tried to exert the Iryoku into his left palm, trying to mimic the amount and feeling as when he awakened Charon during the audience. “If I get this right,” Damion grunted. The Iryoku manifests into a flame-like appearance, and he rises directly above Otreus.

In a thrust motion, he put all the force into his left and hit with his palm hard on Otreus’s chest representing a punch force. The contact inflicts a loud boom, and a faint aura of Damion’s Iryoku disperses in the tent, hitting Thaeda, Maia, and Queen Isaella. Three slumped to the floor, ignorant of what was happening. Thaeda, holding tightly on the table, lifted herself back up to the seat as the pressure of Damion’s Iryoku exponentially increased.

“You Okay?”

“Watch out!” Damion yelled before another set of his Iryoku spread out, now hitting everyone standing next to the entrance. “Thaeda!! CLOSE IT!” She limped out of her chair, collapsing on her stomach. Clenching her teeth, Thaeda crawled to the tent's entrance. Almost there! She gripped through the ground floor felt like minutes, eventually reaching the tent's entrance. With her last strength, she yanked the flaps to her right, closing them before passing out.

The uncontrollable Iryoku abruptly stopped. Thank god. Finally, I nearly got knocked out myself. He keeps himself internally calm and stable as his inner body reclaims the uncontrolled Iryoku. He panted several times.

-1 Bottle of Water

Temporary leg paralysis in effect

He dropped flat on the floor as his legs gave up on him. As he drank the water bottle, the tent opened. “What the fuck was that?” Charon is on his knees flat.

“Remember when I woke you back up at the audience? Well, this one is similar but unexpectedly uncontrolled and immensely powerful.” He glances at Otreus, seeing his laceration starts to close up. “Well, it's working at least.”

“Thank Goodness! My god, what happened!” Charon sees Maia, Queen Isaella, and Thaeda lying unconscious on the floor.

“Iryoku is so strong that it created artificial pressurized gravity. I was able to handle it till the end. My legs are asleep right now.” Damion took another sip of water as he dealt with a dry throat. “They are fine, having a nap. How’s everyone else?”

“Still Up. I’ll leave you be.”

Two Hours later

2

Temporary leg paralysis ended

His legs finally nudged, and as he lifted himself, he felt a grip on his shoulder. Damion turned to the bed seeing Otreus sitting on the edge of the bed like nothing had happened. That was exponentially fast. He recovered in no time and awareness too. “You awake.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Damion. You got hit pretty badly, and I was able to spare your death.”

“Where’s Sam?”

Damion pointed to the other bed, where he was still laid flat. Otreus rushed to his bedside. He felt his pulse. “I feel nothing!”

“What?!”

He grunted up and headed to Sam’s bedside. He feels his wrist, and to his dismay, he doesn’t feel anything either. Damion feels tense when Otreus turns away from Sam, unable to handle his loss, and lets out a sob in his hands. He went to comfort Otreus, “I’m sorry. Who was he to you?”

“He is my younger twin brother. We lost our parents when we were only five, so we always stick together and survive.” Otreus wipes his tears off, “Queen Isaella and we coincidently came to contact at one point, and she treats us like her own, so every certain period we would visit.”

“I’m sorry. I tried to save you and Sam, but unfortunately, the Iryoku or my energy didn’t accept him.” Damion pad on Otreus's shoulder. “What happened? How did you both get injured this severely? Somebody did this to you?”

Otreus was reluctant to answer, and then Queen Isaella woke up from the chair. “What Happened?” She rubs her eyes and sees the bed empty, “Where’s Otreus?!”

“He’s right here,” Damion said, sitting beside Otreus on Sam’s bed.

She ran up to him checking his prior wounds. “Who hit you, and your cuts are gone.”

“Remember that one guy you told Lancer to subdue? Well, he came back and attacked us violently."

Damion was furiously angry when he heard that. He broke that damn rule of my moral code. He internally comprehends and sees Queen Isaella embracing Otreus, stating she will have him and Sam under her custody.

"Sam is dead," Damion said. "I'm sorry. Iroyku rejected him, and no matter how much I tried to redo the whole steps, it was rejected."

Queen Isaella, in denial, observes Sam’s lifeless body as she weeps heavily. "I'm sorry," she muttered, hugging him.

"That guy who beat you two. What is he to Mythikas?"

"I don't understand what you mean?"

"Let me rephrase it. Is the attacker a higher-up or just some messed up guy happening to be in the same area?"

Otreus describes the man's clothing in robes. Prompting Damion to ask for specifics. The only specific thing he can recall is that he is not old and alone.

One last look at Sam before Damion stood up. "My Queen, get up." She hesitantly refused and continued to lie her head next to Sam, weeping. He let her be and squatted in front of Otreus. "You're the only one the Queen has left. Don't let Sam's death be in vain. He always got your back, and you got his. Now you must find the ones who made you both suffer." Damion pointed to Otreus's chest. "Make this the final chapter of your past. Fight it and make your brother proud.”

Thaeda and Maia eventually woke up. Maia specifically was stunned at Otreus’s recovery, but all went heartbroken and joined Queen Isaella in mourning for Sam. Otreus wants to walk outside and is curious more about Damion, so both depart quietly without disturbing the three.

Both wanted a walk, so they went around the perimeter of the front lot, now built like its own Plateia, on former grass.

“You mentioned Iryoku. Why did only me make it out?”

“It’s still a mystery. It was high risk as everyone was trying to figure out a solution to attempt to save both of you. I saw you before you healed up, you were trashed and had a significant head trauma where Maia did as best as she could and wrapped part of your head in bandages.”

“He hit me vigorously in the damn head. Christ.”

“Yeh. The process I did was when I tried to mimic the event where I brought one of the hoplites, Charon, back from distress using a flow of energy. Then I thrust my palm real hard on your chest which caused a whole shockwave impact."

Otreus' eyes blinked, "The hell. I didn't even get a faint of it."

"Obviously. You got hit too hard near death, so you can't even recognize anything." Damion then bluntly told him that he won't be living the same life anymore even once all things settled.

"What do you mean?" Otreus stopped.

Damion turned to him, "You ain't a human anymore." He summoned a similar energy shaped as a flame on his palm. "This is what I got you back up to life again. I would only think this would work once but your case has proven the theory otherwise."

Otreus looks all over himself. Earlier, he can’t fathom how significantly he got beaten till the walk after a brief conversation gave a sudden flashback that vividly revealed the moment and the emotions he felt as trying to protect himself and Sam. “I got stomped vigorously. We both got cut by knives and…”

“It’s alright. I don’t think I need to know anymore. The guy beating you and likely a few other parties is already enough on the line. You’re a Seelenkrieger now. You will be training with everyone here and transforming my Iryoku inside of you into yours.”

Into mine. One day, I’ll find you in hell's watch. Ortreus clenches his fist causing faint green sparks to appear around Otreus.

Damion nods in approval as he faintly grins. The boy got the rage inside of him. Good now he has a purpose to strive for. Both seemed to understand each other fairly and headed back to the clinic tent. Only to find themselves dealing with a sudden breeze blowing their faces. The interior is all covered like a dense fog. Damion heads in first while telling Otreus to stick close behind him. He quickly used the one skill point he obtained from a recent level up and chose Widerstand I.

Widerstand I Unlocked

Resistance to Aliments by 50% in effect

Increasing the visibility

His vision became clearer, and he got further inside swiftly through the dense fog. One more step and he had reached the tent pole. Damion still has the flame beneath his palms, unleashing it around the tent’s interior, dispersing all the fog and revealing Thaeda, Queen Isaella, and Maia had fallen asleep again on the floor.

Otreus and Damion went to check on them. Otreus checks the Queen’s pulse while Damion checks both Maia and Thaeda. As Damion checked both, he felt a zap to his fingers and jolted backward. The hell? He got back up, checked both once more, felt a pulse, and found the source inside the two. Thaeda’s charge amplified that he could see the current on her neck and surrounding his finger. He let go of his finger, causing the current to dissipate. For Maia, he felt damp and cold as his fingers came to contact. He observed his fingernails witnessing condensation.

“OW! Woo!” Otreus reacted when a small flame got onto his hand.

“Keep your hand out to me!” Damion said. He used the condensation generated from Maia, merged it with his mini energy ball, and blasted it onto Otreus’s hand. The blast exploded water, splashing all over Otreus, dissipating the flame. “My god.” Otreus reacted.

New Skill Acquired:

Energy Blast-Water

Added to skills menu

Cooldown: none

Requires use of water

“Great. They got exposed to my Iryoku while I was saving your life, and their bodies have not rejected it.” Damion murmured. He and Otreus scoot back a bit away from the three.

Queen Isaella woke up and went to Otreus, only for him to yell, “STAY THERE! Don’t come closer.”

That yell stunned her, and it was loud, causing the tent to tear apart and awaken Maia and Thaeda.

“All of you three, stay there!” Damion said with his sword drawn, slowly standing up with his eyes focused on them.

“Am I in trouble?” Thaeda nervously said.

Damion shakes his head, “No. Otreus and I wanted to make sure you still are yourselves.”

“Yep. That is correct. You have gotten exposed to Damion’s Iryoku when he saved me.” Otreus added while standing up, checking his right arm for any burns. “Just like Damion and Charon, four of us are Seelenkriegers now.”

“On my behalf, all four of you are recruited to Operation KT or Kaígontas Távros under my command. Right now, you are a dangerous group without any sense of control over your newfound powers. Leaving you on your own is fatal to the whole kingdom.” Damion sheaths his sword and provides his hand.

Thaeda grabbed his hand and he lifted her from the floor. “When do we start?”

“Now is better than ever.”

⚠ New Objective Added ⚠:

* Get Maia, Otreus, Thaeda, and Queen Isaella to catch up with the rest of Operation Kaígontas Távros