Yawning, James kicked the sheets off him and took a moment to savour the chill morning breeze. His skin tingled, and he furrowed his brows as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. It hadn’t been a colder day in months. Hell, the immense heat was why he’d bothered to fix everyone’s air conditioners in the first place. He glanced to the fabric on his window that was meant to keep the heat out.

Maybe I should take it off. And turn the air conditioner off too…

He only stayed in bed for a further minute before he rolled himself out of it and donned his usual outfit. As usual, baked beans were served for breakfast, though this time he had the pleasure of eating it among freshly baked bread. Recently, they had discovered a resilient variant of wheat that grew nearby, and they were all too happy to start cultivating the stuff.

He made a note to thank the baker next time he saw him. He’d gotten one of the first loafs as a thanks for all he’d done for the town.

Rolling his shoulders like he’d seen his elder brother do, James scrubbed his plate and exited the house, turning off the air con along the way. A fresh coat of paint had been applied to the front, although it was a peach colour rather than the prior yellow, and the place didn’t look as dilapidated as it had before.

Briefly, he turned his thoughts to his brother. He wondered what kind of ass he was kicking right now.

With a wide smile, James trekked through the streets, an arm held over his forehead to protect his eyes from the blinding sun above. Ignoring it for the time being, he glanced around with pride. The town was starting to come together.

All the houses in use had received some repairs, at least enough to make them safe and far more liveable. Solar panels adorned most rooftops, silently powering the city. The road was still cracked and faded, but no one really cared all that much, he and Douglas included.

Aside from all that, there were also the improvements that were unseen; repaired appliances, useful inventions, even experimental weaponry. James was the one to thank for all that. He had quickly gained a reputation among the citizens as an intelligent young man, and was pretty well respected.

The population hadn’t increased much in the meantime, only by another few hundred people, though any numbers were welcome. And as they moved into agricultural ventures to sustain themselves, the extra hands would be appreciated in the work force.

Licking his dried lips and lamenting on the bright sun above – it sure looked like it’d be a hot day – James approached the town hall, and pushed the doors open. Immediately, a burst of warmer air slapped against his face and relieved the chill. He had a decent Constitution, but it was still uncomfortable.

Boy am I glad that I fixed those air cons.

A few people were shuffling around, chatting with others or lined up to meet with Douglas in his ‘office’. One of the people James recongised in the line as Shane, and they made eye contact. A swift nod was exchanged. Without caring for the line, James walked past and entered the office directly. People threw looks his way, but didn’t say anything.

Douglas was sat behind his desk, leaned over and scribbling furiously into various documents. He almost didn’t notice James enter, but the door closing was rather loud. He glanced up, “You’re a little late.”

James rubbed at his eyes and sat down on the chair opposite him. It was leather, though the majority of the material had fallen off or was in the process of peeling, “Sorry. I slept in. Stayed up late last night.”

“It’s fine,” the leader of Alice Springs waved his apology off. Quickly though, he refocused and gestured James’ way, “Do you have the item?”

The boy broke out into a grin and brandished a necklace from beneath his shirt. It constituted of a fine silver chain attached to a small violet crystal. It pulsed with power, “I said I stayed up late. Of course I do.”

The crystal flashed with purple energy, and a blocky gun materialized on the desk. As for the purple crystal, they had a particularly powerful monster to thank for that. Spacetime attuned items were still relatively unexplored both in science and practice, but they were priceless as storage spaces.

Douglas glanced at the item and grasped it by its handle. It rattled slightly at his movements, and he gave it a hit with his palm. It rattled again, but stayed firm. It was made of various scrap metals, and was relatively heavy for old world standard, but Douglas wielded it like a feather.

Nodding with approval, he aimed the weapon at the ground and pulled the trigger. A muffled ‘zap’ echoed within the weapon, and a bolt of energized metal streaked out and through floorboard with merely a popping sound. The puncture was painfully clean, and continued on into the soil deep underneath.

James crossed his arms, “We need to get some targets up for stuff like this.”

“One day.” Douglas remark, keeping his eyes on the weapon. James was rather proud of it.

The weapon, or the Rune Gun, as he’d taken to calling it, utilized an entirely new technology than all the other projectile weapons he’d made before. Instead of springs, or even the more dangerous gunpowder variants, it used a form of enchantment to replicate the functions of an ordinary gun.

He’d learned to infused his aura into items and achieve various effects a while ago, as it used a similar principle to the Reinforcement ability one of his Techniques afforded him. As for why it was called a Rune Gun, that was because he carved runes into the metal to contain the enchantments within them.

There were a lot of parts within a gun, and if he just let the enchantments mingle with each other, bad things would happen, at least in theory. All he knew was that it was a good way to blow your arms off. Aside from that, it also prevented his aura from escaping the enchantment and decaying its power.

“How many can you make in a day?” Douglas asked, the gears turning in his head. Goosebumps appeared along the man’s arms, and James shivered, almost instinctively at the sight. Did it just get… I dunno… colder?

Putting the matter of his most likely malfunctioning air conditioner aside, he considered Douglas’ words. It had taken him several hours to make this, which was a final prototype, and that was if you forgot about the days upon days of trial and error and investigation. He could probably make another in half the time now, and maybe even half that when he became more experienced.

He shrugged, “Probably two in a day for n-”

Rapidly, an aura signature approach the office, and the door found itself thrown open. James paused and Douglas stood in his seat as a figure appeared behind it, a small woman with spindly limbs. She was rather quick on her feet, from what they knew. Douglas’ face contorted with concern.

“What is it, Karen? I swear, if it’s another false alarm…”

This wasn’t the first time this had happened, and even James had to admit, the woman was rather annoying. And that was when you discounted all the false alarms she called over and over and over. One time, she’d seen a bird in the distance and thought it was one of the baby Sky Bandits coming back for revenge. It was a well known fact that they’d all died of starvation, trapped in their nest, months ago.

Meekly, she stuttered, “T-there’s… there’s someone who wishes to talk to you, s-sir…”

The leader of the town raised his brows and shrugged, “Tell him he can wait in line like everyone else.”

Karen averted her eyes and shrunk a little further. James furrowed his brows, “He… he’s level 164…”

A silence fell over the room and the queue behind them went dead quiet. Douglas opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. His jaw moved up and down soundlessly.

James blinked.

**

There was a man standing in the centre of the road, if that’s what you could even call him. He looked humanoid, although his skin was a shade of red among other features. A set of tusks protruded from his lower lip and a pair of horns poked out from his forehead and curved up toward the sky. He was tall, far taller than anyone James had seen in his life, probably seven foot or so. His body rippled with lean muscle, and his slitted, yellow eyes appeared to glow as he gazed at them.

He wore a robe of ivory with golden trims, and at first glance, James could tell that whatever material it was made from, it was stronger than anything found on Earth. Even metals. His hair was untamed and hung down to his waist. It was dark like oil.

Douglas stepped forward, the back of his shirt drenched with sweat and his knees shivering slighty. James had never seen the man so afraid. Though, he supposed it wasn’t an unfitting reaction. He felt at the being’s aura. It was so unfathomable that even with his level 68 aura, he knew his maximum range only sensed a small portion of it.

There was a core to the aura, however, where it was far denser and more concentrated in power; his Ascendancy. Just by reading it, James could tell Karen’s estimate was about right. He was around level 164. The boy shuddered in fear.

“How…” Douglas spoke carefully and slowly, “Can we help you?”

The individual rolled his shoulders and a series of pops resounded over the silent clearing. All the civilians had hurried home or hid in the town hall. He grinned, revealing whitened fangs, “A being I’m tracking has passed through this area. An Error.”

James felt the word tingle something in his mind, an old memory, though it resisted being called up. Douglas crossed his arms and sighed in relief, “I’m sorry, but I have no idea what that is. And I doubt anyone in this town does either.”

They froze as the being reached into one of the pockets of his robe and pulled out a small rectangular device. It was made of a divinely white metal, and had accents that pulsed a deep blue occasionally. James felt some of the man’s aura flow into the device, and the next second, and swirling mass of red and black appeared above it.

A presence appeared along with it.

It was faint, more like an aura trace than anything else, and James’ eyes widened in horror. It felt… remarkably similar to how his brother’s aura felt. Almost identical. The differences were so minuscule, he felt, that Brock’s increase in power could have explained it. He felt a set of eyes tear into him.

“So,” his voice was tough and rugged, and filled with no small amount of amusement, “you recognize its signature?”

A sword materialized in his hands, long and thin, yet sleek and graceful. It was a beautiful blade, “which means you’ve seen the Error. Where did it go? Don’t lie to me, human. Or I’ll end that pathetic life of yours.”

James took a step back, feeling his blood run cold in his veins. His lips quivered, and for the briefest of moments, he considered blurting out a single word; Adelaide. But he remained steadfast. Brock was his brother. He’d… he’d rather die than let his sibling be killed by this… monster. An aura pressed down on him, and he felt blood spurt from his nose.

“Brock Carter. That’s his name,” Douglas’s voice cut through the silence, and a look of relief passed across his face as the aura eased up on James. The boy glared at him murderously, “He went to Adelaide. It’s that way.”

He pointed in the city’s direction.

A lengthy silence fell over them as the man held his gaze with Douglas’s own. Douglas broke eye contact first, but the alien continued to stare it him. Finally, he hummed, almost curiously, “It… has a name? Interesting…”

He nodded toward Douglas, “Well, thank you for your compliance human.”

His body flickered and he appeared before James. The air hissed and his leg blurred forward before either of the two humans even realized what had happened. A boom resounded, and Douglas looked over to the ruins of the town hall, where James’ bloodied body was covered in rubble. His eyes widened.

He looked back to the being, but he was just… gone. The air was noticeably warmer now.

Gulping, Douglas hurried over to James. He was bleeding and his arm seemed to be broken, but he seemed to be fine. Blood dribbled from his mouth, and he was still conscious. He glared at Douglas, “How could you? That was my brother, and you’re leading that monster right to him.”

Douglas wrapped his arms around the boy and lifted him out of the rubble. Screams resounded around them, though he couldn’t sense any fading auras, so no one had died, thankfully. Douglas sighed, “I wasn’t about to let him just… kill you. Still, I’m sorry.”

He turned his gaze to the place where the being had being standing only moments prior, “Plus, he can probably handle himself. You know him.”

James’ shoulders slumped, “I… I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Not after that.

**

Zin Keene cackled with sauchenfraude as he speed through the red desert of this planet. Of course, with his device, he had already known exactly which direction the Error had fled in, but there was a certain novelty to interacting with the natives.

How could he say ‘no’ to terrorizing the pathetic lower beings? They were all only F-Grade. Barely even worth his time. Plus, a little investigation could never hurt. Because of that, he had a rather interesting interaction with them; the new information on the Error. While it was baffling that it hadn’t slaughtered them all mindlessly, it was even more incredible that it was one of the few that possessed enough intelligence for communication.

Let alone the fact that it possessed a name.

Now that, was truly interesting.