Begin Arc II

Chapter 24

Alex woke up with the sun shining on his face. He looked to his left and right and felt the soft breathing of Bella and Eve. They had only spent a few nights in their own rooms since they had been in this house but it was a welcomed intrusion.

I can’t believe that I’ve been in this town for a little over a month already. It seems like only yesterday when I was fighting just to survive. Every day I had to hunt for food and take showers under a waterfall. I can barely believe that at one point in time I was being helped into this place by Skye and Raven. What a difference a little bit of time makes.

Alex stood up from his bed, where Bella and Eve were still fast asleep. The satin sheets were barely covering their naked bodies. It was an amazing scene to see these two gorgeous women engage in sexual acts that would make porn stars jealous the night before.

It’s crazy to think that the first time we had sex I injected them with nanites because I thought they might betray me. Well I guess I was a little bit more paranoid about that back then.

Alex no longer needed to put on and take off clothes. All he needed to do was think about it and his nanites would morph into whatever he wanted to wear. Alice had doubled the nanites he had each day for the last 30 days and the number was now staggering. There were nearly as many nanites inside him as cells in his body. His healing ability is now on a whole other level. During his training with Amirah, the training center instructor, her strikes with the cane healed in seconds not hours. Even when she inadvertently broke Alex's forearm when he tried to block one of her strikes, it healed in less than an hour.

About 2 weeks ago Alice had the nanites absorb his recently purchased iron armor then she had them take on its structural properties. Once that was done all he had to do was think the command and they would move into place. The nanites kept his body’s temperature comfortable and kept him safe from low-level incoming attacks. Alex currently had two pieces that he had come up with. One was his battle gear which was a nanotech armor that had an underlayer and an upper layer. Between the two layers was a nanotech liquid for absorbing damage and dispersing it throughout the armor rather than allowing the damage to penetrate that one point. Also the armor could now repair itself if damaged given time.

The other piece which he wore in his day-to-day activities was this black form-fitting bodysuit made completely of nanites. As he walked to the door, Alex summoned his nanite bodysuit and a black liquid started to flow from beneath his skin. It quickly covered his whole body and solidified forming his daily wear of black compression clothing. Alex quietly closed the door so that he didn’t disturb the two vixens still fast asleep in his bed.

Alex hadn’t increased his level in the last month because he hadn't been out hunting. This did not stop his power from growing though. He had simply been training to increase his ability to use the new skills and abilities he had learned. Alex realized that hunting wasn’t the only way to increase his skill levels, abilities, and stats. By working with Amirah, he had made several improvements.

Name: Spartan

Level: 19

Class: Nanotechnician

Physique: 18

Mental Ability: 14

Physical coordination: 19

Reaction Speed: 17

Speed: 17

AP: 0

Abilities

A.I. Companion Tier III

Ki Manipulation Tier IV

Beast Taming Tier II

SP: 0

Skills

Nanite manipulation Tier V

After viewing his stats, Alex was proud of his improvements, especially his physical coordination. It improved by leaps and bounds by trying to emulate Amirah’s movements. The beginning was easy. When she really began training him in earnest, her movements were incredibly graceful and required a lot of control with his ki manipulation and body control. The training was extreme and incredibly difficult but the results were clear. Once in the hallway, Alex found Bentley, the older butler, calmly waiting outside his door.

“Good morning sir. How may I be of service?”

“The ladies are still asleep, can you please bring them breakfast in bed and I’ll stop by the kitchen and grab something from the chef on my way out.”

“As you wish sir”, said Bentley with a short bow.

Alex walked down the stairs and to the kitchen. His home was still the same. Nothing had changed over the last 30 days. For Alex, there was no point in making grand changes to his home. To him, It was perfect just the way it was. When he entered the kitchen Alex saw the chef, Angelo, in the kitchen moving around his pots and pans.

“Good morning sir. Would you like something to eat?”, asked Chef Angelo.

“Absolutely! Could you make me one of those rabbit meat sandwiches you made the other day?”

“Coming right up sir.”

The chef whipped up the sandwich in a flash and laid it out before Alex on a plate beautifully as if he was in a restaurant. Alex devoured the delicious meal.

“Thank you. It was excellent as always Chef.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, sir.”

Alex left the kitchen and made his way out of the house. The sun was shining as he walked outside. Alex knew that would receive the same prompt that he received at the beginning of every week prior to this one.

Congratulations! Your settlement has lasted another week. Your citizens are happy and healthy. They wish to expand the city. You may select one of the following options for free. Each additional option will cost you 1,000 coins.

City expansion

Residential expansion

Commercial Expansion

Military Expansion

This will increase your current population by 10%. By increasing the population your businesses will have more customers which will generate more revenue for your town. You will need workers to run businesses.

Current population 62 people.

New population will be 68 people

This will allow a new business to open in your town.

Current buildings:

Blacksmith shop Tier II

Tailor shop Tier II

Leatherworks shop Tier II

Alchemy Shop Tier II

General goods store Tier I

Inn tier I

You may select from one of the following:

Cake shop tier I

Game processing center tier I

Barbecue restaurant tier I

This will allow your military to expand by creating a new part of your military complex.

Current military complex contains

Armory tier I

Archery Range Tier I

Training Center tier II

Palisades

You may select one of the following:

Ki training center Tier I

Mana training center Tier I

Guard towers

Alex looked through the choices carefully.

The residential expansion looks pretty straight forwards. I do need to continue increasing the population so that is a given. The commercial upgrades I don’t necessarily need but some of the people might like the cake shop and I don’t really know what a Game processing center is so I need to look into that. The military upgrades I will definitely take all of them.

Alex concentrated on the food processing center so that he could get more information on it.

Game Processing Center Tier I

A center that allows hunters to sell their wild game. The staff in the center will then process the game into usable items including meat, furs, leather, and other items. Chance of processing more valuable items increases with each tier. Current chance is 20%

That sounds pretty useful. We can get the animals we hunt back here and then those that hunt can make money as well. I think I can spring for that. Alright, it is decided. I need 3,000 coins for the military upgrades, 2,000 for the commercial upgrades, and the residential upgrade should be free.

I checked off all of the upgrades then I saw a new screen.

Your purchase has been completed. 5,000 coins have been deducted from your inventory.

All expansions will be complete in 7 hours and 29 minutes.

Alex smiled at the growth of his new settlement and continued walking down the steps. When he got down to the front of his home, he saw that the two young men that took care of his garden were already watering plants and removing weeds. They both said good morning and Alex said the same. Once he exited the grounds of his home Alex began seeing the homes of the people who lived in his settlement. They were all NPC’s but he did try to remember the names of those who he interacted with. Alex walked through and saw the upgraded streets were now done. There were dirt paths moving through the entire settlement now. The closer he got to the commercial section of town the livelier things got.

Alex was about 50 meters from the village square where all of the commercial businesses were and he could hear all of the people moving about. Alex could hear it all different people buying different things and the business owners trying to haggle with customers so that they could make the most money on each sale. Alex continued smiling as he walked through the area until he got to the front. There, Alex could see the sole purpose of his visit which was to have an update on any intruders or visitors that were dealt with at the gate. When he arrived the leader of the soldiers at the gate came to attention and saluted their leader.

“Good morning Sir Spartan. Overnight we dealt with an increasing number of zombies. They were no match for our archers who fired at them from behind the palisades. There were no casualties.”

“Good, that is very good Captain Reynolds. Were there any people seeking refuge?”, Alex asked.

“Yes sir, six people came in yesterday. There were four men and 2 women. Three of the men were badly wounded and the rest just looked to be in need of some food and rest. I had the men taken to the medical center where the doctor put them in the rejuvenation pods.”

“Excellent work soldier. Where is the rest of that group?”

“As per your instructions I told the innkeeper to give the free room and board for the night and that you would speak with them today.”

“Thank you, Captain Reynolds. I will go to speak with them now. Is there anything else you wish to report before I go?”

I had learned that these NPCs do not volunteer any information without me asking the right questions.

“Yes sir there is. One of the scouts said during the third watch [overnight group] there was a group moving near the lake with torches.”

What could it be that was moving out there with torches? From what that old mage hobgoblin told me the only things to worry about at this point in time are werewolves, goblins, orcs, and vampires. I don’t think vampires and werewolves need torches to see at night. The goblins that were here are already dead because I wiped out the last of them personally so the only possibility left is orcs. They were moving at night with torches once before. I had better check it out soon.

“Thank you, soldier, my group and I will check it out today. Alright as you were.”

Alex walked off towards the inn.

I have to get the girls together so that we can go check out what that was.

As he walked through the streets, Alex felt on edge because he didn’t know what was out there. He finally reached the inn and walked inside.

“Good day Spartan how are things?”, said one of the waitresses.

“Everything seems to be doing ok. I know it is still a bit early but can you tell me if the people who came here yesterday are down here getting food yet?”, Alex asked.

“Oh yeah that is them over there”, the young lady pointed to a table where people were eating something that resembled porridge.

Alex looked over at the table and he saw two women and a man. The man was not tall and his build was rather portly. He still had quite a bit of muscle but his midsection made him look as if he was 7 to 8 months pregnant. The portly man had a thick mustache that he probably could have twisted into one of those old-time handlebar-type mustaches. He had pale white skin but what bothered Alex was that his eyes were yellow and looked like a cat’s eyes. He also had a very long nearly 2-meter sword on his back. His armor consisted of a makeshift chest piece and some furry bracers and boots.

The women had the same bracers and boots. Each of them carried different weapons. The woman with short hair and an almost middle-eastern, bronze-colored appearance and complexion. She had what appeared to be a short sword tied horizontally on her back. She also covered part of her face with a piece of cloth. The last woman was clearly of Asian descent with long dark hair tied up in a bun and dark eyes. She had a long pole resting at the table next to her. As Alex approached, he noticed that they all seemed tense. He began looking closer at them so that I could ascertain any information about them before he started talking.

Name: Slayer

Sex : Male

Physique: 5

Speed: 2

Reaction Speed: 3

Level: 5

Class: N/A

Mental Ability: 3

Strength: N/A

Weakness: N/A

Energy: Ki

Name: Scarlet

Sex : Female

Physique: 2

Speed: 5

Reaction Speed: 4

Level: 5

Class: N/A

Mental Ability: 2

Strength: N/A

Weakness: N/A

Energy: Chakra

Name: Spider

Sex : Female

Physique: 2

Speed: 2

Reaction Speed: 3

Level: 5

Class: N/A

Mental Ability: 6

Strength: N/A

Weakness: N/A

Energy: Pyschic

Hmmm… so they are all level 5 which means that have some combat experience. How strong are the others that were with them? Are they stronger or weaker? Now, based on the rest of their stats there is one that is a front line type fighter like me, one that is a speed or range type fighter, and one that is a telekinetic or psychic type. They could be useful in my blossoming army. How should I play this though, bossy asshole or warm and cuddly leader? I guess I just go with whatever my gut tells me.

When Alex got close, he saw that the male put his hand on the large 2-handed sword. Before he could say anything the female magician placed her hand on his shoulder and he relaxed.

“Hello, you guys, and welcome to Sparta. I am its founder. Here I am known as Spartan and I mean you no harm. I just came to say hello and meet the new people in the settlement”, Alex said raising his arms so they knew he was coming in peace.

“Thank you for allowing us in. There was an announcement that came out about 3 weeks ago that said there was a human settlement that was formed and it was a quest of ours to find it”, said Scarlet.

“Where are our manners, I am Spider. This is Slayer and this young lady is Scarlet.”

“I heard about the others that were with you. Don’t worry they are being treated in the medical center. I have purchased some rejuvenation pods that will quickly heal any injuries they have.”

“Thanks for your help but they were just some people we found being attacked not too long ago. We only took them along because Spider over there is a bleeding heart. I wanted to leave them there so that they wouldn’t slow us down”, said Slayer as he continued to eye Alex in a way that let him know he might attack at any moment.

This guy is a survivor but will only help if he knows he will make it out alive. I like him but I will keep a close eye on him.

“How long have you been here?”, asked Spider.

“What do you mean?”, Alex answered coyly.

“You know damn well what she means! Now answer her because I’m getting tired of this conversation”, said Slayer.

“Hmph…”, Alex laughed and walked closer to the man of diminutive stature showing his full size and muscular frame. “First, little man, all three of you combined couldn't kill me if you tried so don’t threaten me. Second, I have survived here for nearly 2 months. Now it’s your turn to answer questions.”

“What do you mean you could kill all of us?! Are you crazy it is three against one!”, said Slayer.

“Listen, you are starting to piss me off so I'm going to make this short and sweet. There are three ways this goes! One, we can talk like civilized people and we can become allies. Second, we can talk and you decide you don’t like me and I don’t like you so we part ways which will require you to leave my settlement. Third, you piss me off and I make you two women into my bitches and I kill you, little man! You choose and choose wisely”, Alex said as he walked closer to the table.

“Fuck off I’m nobody’s bitch!”, screamed Scarlet as she unsheathed her sword.

"If you swing that sword you'll be on your knees handling my sword as soon as you heal up from the beating I put on you", Alex replied with a growl.

Hearing the words come from her mouth, Alex's armor instantly changed into battle mode and his sword and shield appeared in his hands. Before she could move, Alex saw Spider wave her hand Scarlet flew across the room into the wall.

“Sorry for my friend’s hot temper. Scarlet, you should be careful who you make your enemy”, said Spider.

“What are you talking about? He’s nothing special”, Scarlet replied releasing herself from the wall and dusting herself off.

“This man is clearly stronger than us. Look at how his clothing changed into armor and how his shield and sword appeared out of thin air. It would be foolish to fight him. Do your senses not tell you that this man is dangerous?”

Alex let his equipment return to his inventory and his armor’s battle mode went back to normal mode.

“Listen, let us cool our heads and listen to what he has to say”, said Spider.

Alex waved the waitress over so that she could bring them all some drinks. Then he pulled up a chair and sat down with the group.

“I mean you no harm. All I ask is that you listen to my proposal. If you still want to fight afterward then we can do so. Does that sound fair?”

They all nodded in agreement. Just then the blonde young woman walked up with four mugs of mead. They all clicked their glasses together and took a drink. Then Alex began talking.

“I think you all could be good additions to this village. Today I was told that some old enemies may be near again and I will need the support of some more strong people to aid me in defeating them. If you wish to live here my home is big enough for all of you. Here you will not have to search for food each day. There are 3 empty bedrooms in my home. If you agree to remain loyal to me and fight by my side with honor the rooms are yours at no charge”, Alex said.

“What’s the catch”, asked Slayer?

“There is no catch. I don’t want anything from you except loyalty and your skill to help aid me in battle”, Alex replied. "Honestly, I don't need anything. I have a home that is relatively safe. I have money from the town's taxes. The town provides food as well. I am only asking for a mutually beneficial pact to protect each other."

“You seem genuine enough but honestly I’m not into trusting people at face value nor do I want to risk my neck for someone I hardly know. Can I make a counter to your proposal?”, asked Spider.

“Sure, I am not a dictator.”

“I wish to stay here in your town but I do not wish to go out and fight in the wild. I have nearly died more times than I care to remember on my way here. I will find a way to make money on my own by doing some kind of work in this town, however, if something comes to harm this place I will fight to defend the settlement”, said Spider.

“Fair enough, there are several establishments here in this town that offers money in exchange for goods or services. There is also a quest board in the military district where various opportunities for work are located. If you wish to purchase a home they are 500 gold each. I don’t know what happens after you purchase them. You may be able to upgrade them after you take ownership. Just let me know when you are ready.”

“So you purchased one of these houses?”, said Slayer.

“No, my house was the first house so I didn’t need to purchase anything. Currently, my home is a tier III home but it was upgraded without my knowledge due to the completion of a large-scale quest.”

“So you are saying we can get different amenities in our homes with coins?”, asked Slayer.

“Yes, with enough coins a lot of things are possible. Here in Sparta, we have shops where you can upgrade your weapons and armor, a place to train your skills and energy abilities, as well as a place to buy or sell any goods you come across in your travels. Spider I know that you are in but Slayer and Scarlet what about you two?”

“I am in”, said Slayer. "Living here is a lot better than living in those wilds out there. Plus being able to level up and get stronger with a group of people is much safer than going at it alone."

“I still really don't trust you. This all seems too good to be true. I was always told that you understand others through fighting. I will let combat settle my decision. If you beat me, I will live in your home and give you my loyalty. If I win, you will purchase a home for me and give me 500 coins. Those are my terms will you agree?”, said Scarlet.

“Are you sure about this? I mean I did warn you that you are no match for him”, said Spider.

“I can agree but can I add something to the pot?", asked Spartan.

"Sure why not", replied Slayer.

Alex looked at her slim physique like a hungry wolf and said, "If.. no, when I win, you will join my team and go hunting with me whenever I choose and you will pay me 500 coins. Can you agree to that?"

"You arrogant son of a bitch! You really think you can take me without seeing me fight? You are that confident in your skills? Whatever! I agree to your terms."

"Alright now that all of the terms are agreed upon can we do this in the training center where we have some more room?”, Alex replied.

“I can agree to that”, said Scarlet.

“Here is the sum of 1000 gold coins for our 2 homes”, said Scarlet as she placed a medium-sized purse on the table.

Alex quickly purchased the two homes in his settlement screen and then led the three of them to the training center. When they reached their destination Alex led Scarlet, Slayer, and Spider inside the sparring area. There were several soldiers practicing with swords on dummies and others were firing arrows at targets off to the side. Alex saw the other two trainers working with the new recruits while his trainer Amirah was keeping a watchful eye over everything.

“Amirah, would you mind if I had a sparring match with this young lady? She wishes to test her combat skill against me”, Alex said.

“Spartan you may do as you wish but, young lady are you sure that this is wise? In the last month my disciple has grown a considerable amount”, said Amirah.

“Of course I’m sure! Why does everyone keep saying it like he is some kind of god or something”, said Scarlet

“No he is a mortal man and you have a fine fighting spirit but based on what I can see you are not his match", said Amirah.

"Is that a fact?", asked Scarlet sarcastically.

"Yes, and it may be a very painful one. When you are ready the two of you may begin in the sparring circle over there”, said Amirah.

Alex walked over to the designated sparring area. It was a large circle with a diameter of around 30 meters. He activated his battle armor completely, allowing the facial cover to form as well. The facial cover was solid black in the back but the space that covered his nose and eyes was translucent like a space-aged motorcycle helmet. Next, he brought out his nanite sword and shield. The new sword was made from a gladius-type sword. The handle was wrapped in black leather while the guard and bottom of the handle were both nanotech reinforced silver. The blade was about 80 cm in length and about 8 cm wide. Once the nanites enhanced it, the blade became sharper and a chain extended from the hilt wrapping around his wrist. It was similar to Amirah’s cloth wrap at the end of her sword. Over the last month, he had only been fighting Amirah and training so he had actually been itching to test out some of his new skills.

“Are you ready?”, Alex asked.

“I think I’ve aged a few years waiting on you”, Scarlet said as she faked a yawn.

“Well, then I guess I’ll have to make the wait worth it”, he said pointing his sword at her.

She pulled her sword and held it with the blade facing towards the ground. Alex began walking toward her. He watched her carefully as he processed all the information Alice, his artificial intelligence, gathered about Scarlet to use with his accelerated probability skill. Suddenly, she made some strange movements with her hands and then placed her off-hand near her mouth. Suddenly, Alex sensed a spike in the energy near her mouth right before a blast of fire shot out.

I guess I’ll give her a taste of fear. My nanites make me basically impervious when it comes to fire.

He kept walking straight into the fire. When it hit him there was a large explosion. Everyone watching covered their eyes to shield them from the light.

“I can’t believe he took that head-on. I thought he was smarter than that”, said Spider as she stood next to Amirah.

“My apprentice is such a show-off. He does have flair for the dramatic though”, said Amirah.

“You mean he’s not dead? How could he withstand that type of fire attack if he took it directly?”

“He is far from dead and your friend better not let her guard down. Oh and I don’t know exactly how he does it but fire and ice-type attacks don’t work on him for some reason. He may have recieved some damage from the concussive force of the explosion but he also heals quite fast as well.”

“Look out Scarlet!”, Shouted Spider.

As she shouted Alex exploded from inside the remnants of the fiery blast. He smashed his shield towards Scarlet’s body. He heard a solid crunch as the shield struck and she flew back several meters. Alex followed up his attack by dashing toward Scarlet while she tried to regain her footing. As he got close to her, there was a puff of smoke and Scarlet's body disappeared. The only thing that was left was a piece of wood that was cracked. At that instant, Alex heard something coming from directly behind him. Alex put some ki into his right foot so he could pivot quickly and avoid whatever it was that was coming. As soon as he moved several small shurikens landed on the ground right where he was previously standing.

“Not bad, you were able to get away from my first attack”, Alex said as he returned to his stance.

“Yeah I can’t believe you’re still moving after being hit by my flame attack”, Scarlet responded.

Hmm… she fights using speed and deception. This is good but one more set of attacks from her should be all I need before I take her apart.

Alex rushed in again. She began making more strange signs with her hands. He saw something that resembled electricity forming around her sword as she ran towards him at a high speed.

I can’t let that hit me. I don’t know if it is as powerful as that hobgoblin mage’s lightning attack but I would rather not test to see if it is able to disable my nanite abilities.

Alex enhanced his body to four times his normal abilities. With that increase, he could cover more distance with each step which allowed him to close the distance even faster. Alex let Scarlet swing her sword and using his superior reaction and overall speed Alex dodged each and every strike. One, two, three, four swings of her sword, he now had all the data he needed. Alex jumped back and put his sword and shield back into his inventory and took a basic unarmed fighting stance.

“He’s figured her out”, said Amirah with a smile.

“What do you mean?”, asked Spider.

“My apprentice is very good about learning a person’s patterns and quirks when they fight. Even against me who is far stronger than he is, I have to constantly alter my attack patterns with feints and false tells to throw him off. Now that he has figured out her unrefined fighting ability she won’t be able to do anything. Not using his sword and shield is a merciful way to continue this fight”, said Amirah.

“Are you looking down on me!? Why did you put away your weapons!?”, yelled Scarlet.

“I put them away because I don’t need them anymore. You won't be able to touch me. You can surrender now or I can break you.”

She screamed and then charged toward Alex. Time seemed to slow down as his hypercognition showed him countless possibilities for what she could do. After a split second his mind had gone through over 1,000 simulations of him fighting with her. Alex clenched his fist and readied himself to attack.

When she got close enough, Scarlet thrust her sword towards Alex's head which he dodged by as thin a margin as possible by stepping in closer to her and tilting his head while bending his knees. Once her elbow got to his shoulder, Alex exploded upwards damaging Scarlet's elbow while he readied his right arm for a high kick from her left leg. The kick came as predicted and Alex was able to block it with his armored forearm hitting her shin bruising the bone badly. Alex followed it up with a kick to the shin of her right leg and hip toss onto the ground. Scarlet hit the ground hard but managed to quickly get back to her feet. She attacked furiously but they were all useless. With her near useless arm and injured leg her attacks lacked speed or precision. In addition, her attack options were greatly reduced which further played into Spartan's hands. Each attack just gave him more data allowing his predictions to become more and more precise.

“Do you see now that you are not my match? We can end this now because you can’t beat me. I don't wish to do any real damage to you but I will if you force my hand”, Alex said as he continued to avoid her sword slashes.

“I’m not done yet!”

She continued furiously attacking but Alex's predictions were so accurate now he no longer needed to block he simply dodged all of her attacks. Every single slash and sword thrust she attempted missed by mere centimeters. The look of frustration was all over her face.

It is time to end this. If she won't accept the obvious then I will keep my word and break her.

Scarlet thrust her sword towards Alex's chest and he turned so that the blade scraped across his armor. As it did, he threw a right backhand punch towards her stomach causing her to spit out blood and bend down. Alex grabbed the back of her head and pulled it towards his rising knee strike. The impact of Alex's knee hitting her nose was epic as blood splattered all over his knee and her face.

Did I just feel an energy surge from Slayer? It doesn’t matter. If he interferes I will do the same to him.

With her head high in the air again, Alex jabbed her in the face followed by a right cross to the jaw. He saw her eyes glaze over right before, he slipped behind her and grabbed her around her waist. Alex ended it with a german suplex on solid ground. He felt all of the air leave her body as she hit the ground hard. Alex quickly got back to his feet and kicked the sword from her hand. Then he got on top of her in full mount position.

Alex grabbed her by her throat and said, “I didn’t want to go this far but you fought so hard I thought I had to show at least a part of my strength. Are you convinced now? Do you concede? Will you honor your end of our deal and join my group?”

“Ackk…y..e…s”, she said as she struggled to breathe.

Achievement completed: One on one

By defeating another player in one on one combat you have completed this achievement

Your reward is 1 skill point and 1 ability point

“I’m glad. Sorry again for hurting you so badly. Sometimes when I am fighting I forget that the objective is not to kill. Now, how about I take you to the medical center to heal your wounds? You should as good as new by tomorrow.”

“That…. Sounds…..good.”

“Slayer and Spider your houses should be ready this evening. You are welcome to stay at the inn until then. You should get a message saying that they are ready.”

“Apprentice you have gotten better.”

“Thank you, it wouldn’t have taken so long if I was trying to kill her.”

“I know. You did well sensing her attacks and her presence. Your training has definitely paid off.”

“Thank you. I need to get her to the medical center”, Alex said as I picked up Scarlet and walked off towards the hospital.

As Alex moved toward the hospital his armor returned to normal mode and he picked up the pace. It only took about a minute to get there with his speed. Upon entering the hospital a nurse came up to check on Scarlet.

“What seems to be the problem?”, asked the nurse who was in her late 40’s wearing a pair of light blue-colored scrubs.

“We were sparring in the training center and I did a lot more damage than I expected to. She needs the rejuvenation pod.”

“Pod four is open please walk her into the room. I will get the pod ready.”

Alex did as the nurse asked and walked through the reception area to the door that was marked Pod IV. When he entered the room there was a spherical-shaped pod that was white on the inside and had a breathing mask hanging from a tube that was coming from the ceiling. It was an oxygen mask that you had to wear while you were in the solution to allow you to breathe. Alex put the mask on her and strapped it on so that it created a seal around her nose and mouth.

“You are going to be alright just rest and I will be back soon. Let the nurses and doctors do their job”, I said to Scarlet.

She nodded weakly as he set her down on the ground and walked back out through the entrance. Once Alex was out he gave the nurse the OK signal and then she remotely closed the hatch. Then a green light enveloped Scarlet’s body for a few seconds. After the light turned off the pod began to fill with fluid. Little by little the tank filled to the top and Scarlet’s body floated in the tank as she slept. Alex turned around and began walking to the door.

“Spartan, next time be a little more careful. She has a broken jaw, a fractured skull, fractured shin, and a dislocated elbow”, said the nurse.

“I’m sorry and I hope there won’t be a next time”, He said as he waved goodbye and exited the room.