Siva

Volume 3 The Frozen Blue Heart

Chapter 1

Broken

The generals, guests officers, and the host city’s very own military officers were frowning at each other in the Operations Conference Room. The senior and junior officers were flabbergasted by the reports that kept coming from their logistic panels. The fog of war was yet to subside from the battlefield in Buendia Valley and the after effects of the war is still felt by the higher ranked. Even the NPC noblemen living in Xargoal-6 is in disarray because their own shops have been replaced by the street vendors, the users, from the war.

The purpose of the conference was to discuss how they were going to hunt down Rogue but due to their main chess player missing these past two days, even the guest media representatives, Kathleen Brew and company, was beginning to feel displeased as well.

“He’s so unpredictable…” Sighed the standing Guild Master of the Sylphs, Reynolds. “To actually ditch our appeal to join this cause. After all the money and fame in the line, I don’t really understand how he could threw it all and vanish without any traces.”

“I think its understandable.” Said the TGG’s Guild Master, Elsass, “Remember how he just appeared like that and then trashed all those people like they were an ant? I could only imagine what caused him to actually go all out like that against them.”

Even though the line stung a deep wound in his pride, Elsass was still understanding. He had received reports from the Air Infantry Units that was tied by a woman that they were warned by this Destroyer. But it was already too late when he received the report because in his screen was already the burning image of Mooran and him and Rogue facing off a threatening stance. He knew at that moment that he had done something wrong so he immediately ordered the cease fire.

He regretted the fact that he had something to do with that sudden attack and offered support on the recovery of the Sylphs. As a man, he was pushed by his guilt and his pride to go after and correct the mistakes he had committed.

No, there’s something else that’s been bothering me…

On the side benches, seated in a cross legged manner, was FlowerLord who had Amanda clinging on tightly on her right arm.

She could feel that she was trembling. It wasn’t due to the air-conditioning but rather it may be because of her natural tendency to be a softy. She knew that her friend was already at the verge of crying. The trembling hands are the signs of it and the tightening grip was one of its prompts.

Unable to take it ay longer, FlowerLord stood up and took Amanda with her.

Seeing that also made Kathleen follow them and upon escaping the scene of the tight aired conference room, Amanda finally broke into sobs that made FlowreLord embrace her. The sight also broke Kathleen’s heart as the short sobs pierced through her chest like lightning that triggered her fighter side.

“This is unbelievable!” Kathleen exclaimed. “To think he was so selfish!”

But then Amanda spoke, “No. He’s not like that.”

“What are you talking about? Kathleen is right!” On that remark, FlowerLord held both Amanda’s shoulders and her angry expression made Amanda purse her lips in an attempt to brace herself. “How could he just do it like that. Abandoning everyone like that!”

“No. He’s not that kind of person!”

Kathleen couldn’t help but feel amazed. Even though she went so far as to lie about their group being media representatives from her company, she never expected that The Destroyer would be this selfish.

She was angry herself right at this moment for him just ditching everything like that but to see Amanda, who, according to FlowerLord had endured the loneliness of having her first love gone with the wind, defend him like that, she just can’t help but feel really amazed.

“Remember how he saved his brother!” Amanda told her friend. “He is not the kind of person who will do things without a reason!”

“But Mandy…”

“No Alice! Remember what Doctor Faust told us…”

At those words, FlowerLord’s eyes widened and her lips trembled as if there were words melting on her tongue. And at this, Kathleen did not miss the chance to ask a curious question.

“May I…?”

Amanda and FlowerLord looked at her but FlowerLord was the first to take it all back.

“I’m sorry, Miss Kathleen, it seems that I’ve been very inconsiderate of you. This is something that is much too personal. We…” She glanced at Amanda who then took a step forward grabbing Kathleen’s hands.

“Thank you for doing this favor.” She said with a sweet smile and teary eyes. “You have done enough for me. I sincerely thank you for everything, Miss Kathleen.”

“B-But…”

“You should go back now.” FlowerLord told her. “Isn’t this conference a part of your job? You should report all the proceedings of this hunt to the audience right?”

The two left Kathleen in a loss for words as they both turned their back on her. But it wasn’t even a few steps away when Kathleen called out.

“Wait!” The two turned and she hurried, “Where are you going to search for him?”

FlowerLord shrugged her shoulders answering, “We’ll start at some place that that witch will be showing up next.”

“That witch?” Kathleen frowned.

“The Necromancer…” FlowerLord told her and this had made Kathleen’s brows follow her narrowing eyes. “Do you know where she is?”

“No. But…I think I saw someone like her earlier.”

FlowerLord immediately closed their distance. “Where? Where did you see her?”

“E-Earlier…in the Monster Trading Center. She’s…”

And it was then that she remembered. The masked man who sold two freight containers to the monster trader.

His clothes were the same with The Destroyer she had been watching all these time in her secret videos. And it was enough to convince her now that the man called by many as “The Volume Hunter” was actually the same one she saw earlier this day.

It wasn’t just the fact that he was a fan, like those others who dress and imitate The Destroyer, he was actually the one, The Destroyer himself.

The lead she had was that woman.

“Where is that place?” Asked Amanda who still had the pair of adorable sad eyes. “Please Tell me.”

“I don’t know I just saw her and someone that looked like The Destroyer together.”

“Where are they headed?”

Kathleen was just able to stop herself from uttering that the two looked like they were close to each other. But then there was also something in Amanda’s eyes which tells her that it would just break her heart more.

And so she said, “They were going to the Northeastern side of the city.

FlowerLord then grabbed Amanda’s arm. “Let’s go. I’m gonna smack that bastard’s face when I see him next time.”

Amanda wasn’t able to do something as she was pushed by her friend. And as though she felt that there was a big pinch in her chest, the moment the two stopped and leaned back, Kathleen’s lips made an ear wide smile.

“Miss Kathleen, are you going with us or not?”

She didn’t answer on that question. She just ran and did what her heart told her. Because no matter the angle it may seem to be resting, she was still a player of Terroa.

And Terroa is still all about adventure of many kinds.

With this, Amanda was also thinking, Where are you right now?

***

There were two cities before they reached the Kingdom of Thrall. And while traveling for the passed few hours, they have finally reached the border of the Persian Empire and Thrall Kingdom at which there was only the Glean Mountain Range left.

After they crossed this mountain with little difficulty from the Sky Wyverns, A-ranked monsters, because of the more than 100 undead soldiers that the Witch had, a solemn Siva could be seen staring outside the window of the Miranda’s recreational area.

By now, they have just departed from Walled City of Nebraska for supplies.

“So here you are.” The green dressed woman with very attractive curves greeted Siva, “Why do you look so sad? Something bothering you?”

Siva looked at her and pulled his eyes off almost immediately as soon as he saw her dress.

As usual, she was still wearing clothes to tease his man side but through out these days they have been traveling together, he was already Lvl. 2 in getting used to it.

“Yes.” He replied and continued to stare outside.

“Oh? Then what is it?”

“Your dress. Could you be a bit more…formal?”

“Formal?” Rafaela teased and a flash of light came in Siva’s peripheral vision. “What about this?”

And the moment Siva turned his eyes, he felt instant regret on what he saw. No. It wasn’t actually regret but really the feeling of betrayal. He felt like he had just betrayed someone as he covered his nose in case the animation engine on the game’s system detected his sudden increase in heartbeat and do this emoticon of him having a nosebleed.

He immediately turned his eyes away.

I knew it was a trap! Why did I trust her?

“What? You don’t like me in my underwear? You said to wear something formal. This is just formalities between lovers, right?”

“Don’t spout nonsense!”

Siva was tempted every time he heard footsteps coming closer in his direction. Since he was sitting in a wide sill in the window, he knew that he had nowhere else to retreat but bare his pride to withstand the next moment.

And as if to save him from harm, a faint alarm sound echoed in his ears.

Though the ringing wasn’t heard by Rafaela, his eyes’ reaction was still enough to put her on alert.

“Someone calling you?” She asked to guess.

“No. Just a recorded message.”

“It must be important.”

“No it’s from the house.” Then he looked at her, forgot in a moment that she was in her almost transparent bra and panties. “But I think it’s actually important. I-I have to take this.”

“Just go.” Rafaela dressed back with a frown. “Hmp.”

Turning around and leaving the room, Siva followed the fleeting back of the gorgeously seductive woman as he pressed a button on the hologram panel that appeared in his vision. And the moment he did, Graham The Driver’s face popped out in his vision.

[Doctors are coming. Wake up.]

Was the only message that he had received. And with that, he sent a short message to the Ship Crew Bulletin for the Ship Commander and logged off.

***

When Rex woke up, it was already morning. He put the Neurolink Device on the bed and stood up, looking at the wall clock, he just realized that it was almost time for his daily exercise.

He immediately went downstairs and saw the old woman, The Housekeeper, almost done with her chores.

“Good Morning.” He greeted.

The old woman, although at the first months have been very cold to him, have been slowly replying to his every other day greetings.

“You played again the whole night?”

“Not actually playing.” He said. “It’s actually my job to be there. By the way, did someone call?”

“There was. But I did not answer it and after a few ringing it stopped.” Rex thought, the game link set up worked huh. “I prepared your breakfast for you. You’re already late on your daily schedule of waking up in time to cook.”

That was an honest mistake on his part, Rex regretted.

“Thank you Manang Fe.”

“Hmp.”

And the moment that the house keeper had finished her chores, she left without a word and Rex sat down on the table to eat the breakfast. And after five minutes, the vid-phone rang and he answered the call.

[Took you quite some time.]

“What do you want?” Rex continued to eat as he answered him nonchalantly. “I just logged off.”

[The Master wants to talk to you. When are you going to deliver the promised Item?”

“I’m actually on my way there now. It took me quite a lot of effort acquiring this item. Adjusting took time.”

[Just make sure you meet the appointed standards.]

As usual the hardened face and the casual tone and his unnerving demeanor irritated Rex’s senses. But he just ignored this feeling and continued to eat.

“Don’t worry it meets the standards. By the way, is…”

The line was cut as before he could even finish and this really made him more irritated. But instead of having his meal, who was rarely prepared by the home cooking of Manang Fe, ruined by this, he just close his eyes and savored the rich and healthy flavor of his breakfast.

The miracle of salt. He told himself and finished.

He took his daily routine. Daily upper body stretching, some pull ups and sit ups with straight legs, rubber ball grip practice, able leg exercise, one legged balance in shadow boxing, and his personal agonizing favorite, the injured leg’s unsupported bending exercise. These doctors advised him, at least involuntarily, to do these exercises and whether he liked or not, it was all for his bearing —for the better of his broken leg.

And just then, the doctors in street clothing, set by his guardian, arrived for the weekly check up and health monitoring.

“As usual eh?” Said Doctor Frank McCullers. “Why do we always arrive at the right moment when you are in your absolute worst?”

“You mean there is less worse than this worse?” Rex asked with a smile. If there was something else that he had enjoyed since he was locked up in here, it would be the periodic visits of these two doctors. British twins. Lively and very loud, not to mention jolly and had a peculiar sense of humor.

“Yes there is.” Said the orthopedic doctor, Hank. “It’s that time when we caught you flirting with three young chicks wearing loose dresses.”

“And underwears!” The two high-fived. “That face was epic.”

“E-Ehem. C-Correction.” Rex tried to argue. “I wasn’t flirting with them. They were helping me fix my broken leg support and now look,” He motioned for the robotic arm support in his leg. “It’s fixed.”

“Well, I gotta hand it to her. She’s a natural.”

“Well said brother. But the face was still epic.”

The two laughed as they attached modern computerized equipments on Rex. A few sensors on his forehead, on his chest, on his arm, finger pulse sensors, and then to his spine. Rex was now practically like a robot with the number of things attached, plugged, and sucking on his skin.

“Okay, as per usual,” Said Frank. “Breathe in, breathe out, focus, and release.”

Rex did the same practice he’d been doing for the last two months. Breathe in, concentrate on gathering the energy of the body into his lungs and convert it into what these two doctors called ki.

Breathe out. Expend all the ki towards the outer reaches of the body. From the heart to the body, to the arms, legs, feet, fingers, even to the tiniest blood vessels in the eyes.

Focus. Repeat the procedures until feeling the self as if they were in the verge of strength. And losing to that place only he can see.

This practice is called Inner Energy Meditation.

The monks on Tibet, since the ancient times, had been doing this training to improve their physique and the actual physical conditioning of the patient. It was proven that with the mental image of the body being fine, and with the focus of this still unproven ki-energy, into the image wanted by the patient, the body follows into that deep concentration where the cells began to be active in a rate that was unexplained by the medical field. It generally repairs whatever is broken in the body faster than the traditional medicinal healing.

Rex had been doing this thing for the past two months and according to these doctors, he’s been doing great.

For him, it was like dreaming. This therapy cannot be done in his current condition and thus with the help of that equipment on his back that supports his spine, he was able to achieve what the McCullers called the first level of meditation.

Frankly, he was against such unorthodox style at first but when he was shown the results of his exercise last month, even he was enthusiastic on trying it everyday since then. It was all for the sake of healing faster.

This mental training felt like minutes in his mind but whenever he opens his eyes, an hour or three had already passed and it was enough to actually worry him.

But then with the medical results he had been shown, he was shocked to know that he was recovering twice as fast than any regular patients. This itself was proven by a graph that they showed him last month.

The key element in this therapy was imagination.

And he was imagining himself being able to run. He was thinking of those fights in Terroa and every time he imagine that, he could feel a pulse somewhere in his body reacting with the action in his imagination.

Although he wouldn’t be moving his actual body, in his mind, he was very active like there was no end to the energy he could expel.

And after a few minutes in his mind’s sanctuary, he felt a little tingling jolt and woke up, as usual, drenched in sweat as if he just took a bath.

“How is it?” He asked the two as they unplugged the sensors in his body one by one.

“Two hours and twenty four minutes.” Said a frowning hank a little trembling because of something.

“What? Why are you frowning?” Rex asked curiously and Frank was also the same. “Did I do something wrong now?”

“Well,” Hank swiped the air and a graph showed itself in Rex’s vision. “There have been a slight deviation on your usual concentration. What have you been doing when you are inside?”

“Inside?” Rex wiped off the sweat on his face with a towel. “You mean when I was in the meditation?”

“No. Inside the game.” Corrected Frank.

Rex paused for a moment before answering. “I was really busy going after that promised item. I wasn’t in the state to mind other matters.”

The twins could only look at each other as they both cocked their heads like his answer was normal and then shrugged as they both turned back to Rex, patting his shoulder and removed the final plug.

“Well, just don’t push yourself too far.”

“Yeah. Whatever you’re doing, just don’t stop it. More like,” As Hank looked at his brother, they nodded again and grinned a mischievous white smile. “Just continue what you’re doing and be wild.”

The last word made Rex’s brows twitch and he could only smile innocently as the two prepared to pack up.

“Just continue with your activities.” Frank bid a hand of farewell as he opened the gates, revealing Graham’s face with a black shiny car. “And the exercises you are doing earlier. Don’t skip it.”

“And eat more since this therapy expends a lot of energy so your metabolism will need more things to be digested.”

And as the two bade their goodbyes, they walked out of the gates and went inside the car.

“Ah weird, I feel a lot better today.”

Rex stretched and he didn’t realize that he was actually slowly bending his once useless broken leg into a curve.

***

[So?]

“It’s unbelievable.” Said Hank, fixing his blonde air in the car and putting his fake blue eyes contact lens into its case. “I was positive it was a useless leg since the accident. That’s why there was the robotic leg support in there in the first place.”

[But it was healing, right?]

On the man’s question in the holographic panel, the twins with scarlet eyes nodded with tension.

“But sir, this kid, I mean the Neurolink Device he was using, why do you have to put it in DNI quality e-wave? It could kill him in prolonged exposure, sir.”

[You don’t have to worry about that, Mister Hank, as you can see, it was all working according to plan. We are able to put a change into his physique by forcefully agitating his brain cells. And as you can see, it sped up his healing process by 300% in just two months. That is all thanks to that drastic move.]

“Yes sir but to use DNI Therapy to an able man…it’s unheard of. It’s dangerous. The intensity of the e-waves can kill him!”

“Sir, with all due respect, even with the mental state stabilizing effect given by the Inner Energy Meditation, he was still taking two hours to recover his bearing from the meditation. It’s alarming sir. The level of his concentration to a single subject is alarming to the point that we even have to Taze him just to him wake up!”

[But the longer he is exposed, the better, isn’t that why you two are there for him? You’re the experts…]

“But to go this far just to heal his broken leg, sir…”

[Not just his broken leg, Mister Frank. That boy is not a normal boy compared to all your past clients.]

“I can see that.”

[What I mean is what is on his shoulders. That boy is carrying something that could either decide the future of this world and the other side. Do you understand the angle I am coming from?]

The twins could only look at each other as they actually don’t know how to answer that question.

[The terrorists have doctor Pegasus. And from the way the dark group had stayed silent these past few months means that they have somewhat done something on the missing key he hid behind the Janus system.]

Again the silence of the two weighed the severity of the words they already knew.

[And so, in order to stop them from using the game’s own system to cause havoc in the world, someone with a strong will, strong mind, and strong power is needed to put a stop to their plans. Do you understand now?]

“Yes, Father, we understand.”

[Good. And don’t tell Augustus about this yet. Let him still play with him a bit longer. Just record everything in there and give him the data the way he wanted.]

“Yes sir.”

[Oh, and Graham.]

“Sir?”

[Would you do something about the rising attention of his avatar. We don’t want anything that will attract the attention of the enemy.]

“Yes sir. I already have a plan about that sir.”

[Good. And give him a chance to see his brother once.]

“Wilco.”

CLICK.