************************************Authors note******************************************

Hay guys, So ppl have been giving me some feedback, mostly in the way Post the story here. So i have since made edits to the posts. edits include, changing color of text to make it easier to read, better spacing (I was actually unaware it was bunching my crap together as it was so I spaced it out... again easier to read) and i made a change to some of the last Chapter with Dr. Snow. How he said that Alina must have been starving... well he should have known better that muscle atrophying is completely natural when someone doesn't move for long periods of time. It was a logic hole that a friend actually pointed out and something i didn't really want in the story. So just wanted to make the people who read this aware of my changes and hope they help.

Cheers

****************************************************************************************

“Well you heard him. With that we can begin training. We’ll just have to figure out what he meant by that later Drake.” Jeff said.

They then left the hospital to begin their hellish training. And it was hellish training. Every day, day in, day out would start with physical training. Routine stretching started each morning followed by a fifty mile run that had to be completed in under two hours. As a punishment, for every minute over they took added one hundred reps to each set of the following workout. Normally it would be one thousand push-ups on each arm followed by one thousand crunches and frog leaps. Every few days Jeff would change up the exercises to insure that their bodies would never get accustomed to any particular exercise.

After that a light breakfast, and right back into training. Martial arts was next on the platter, and it was crazy. Jeff had an eye for the smallest of details and when he would see one of them step off by even half an inch he would stop them and correct them. He hammered the basics and small details until the two had them perfected. This training usually would last until four in the evening, but the timing would change based on how well the two grasped the new concept.

The final training of the day would be weight lifting. Drake really stood out here. Thanks to his dense muscles and bones, Drake was out-lifting everyone. Which really made Jeff wonder why he struggled just as Alina did every day during physical training. And if he was really as heavy as Dr. Snow said, then how was he able to toss him around like a rag doll during martial arts training. But when it came to lifting weights, something that can be measured properly and doesn't change, he can unleash unnatural strength. However, when he would hit a punching bag or a fighting dummy his power would be only slightly higher than usual. Jeff couldn't figure it out and his brother wasn't telling him anything either.

Six months later the two got to pick their weapon of choice to fight with. Jeff walked them over to an armory that had just about every kind of close quarter weapon imaginable. Long distance weapons, like guns, would be trained with later along with their stealth training.

“Your weapon is an extension of you. Pick wisely.” Jeff explained.

Alina had gravitated towards a long distance combat style, one where she would strike quickly using the full length of her limbs, and then quickly jump back to avoid any damage. After looking around the huge armory for a bit she finally found what she was looking for, a pair of Katars. The blades were a glossy black, while the handle seemed to be a type of ivory. However, Alina wasn’t too sure what they were made of. But these weren’t any ordinary Katars; one of them had been opened already and it was a five blade Katar. Curious, she grabbed the closed one and pulled the trigger in the handle. From the main blade, four others sprang out with enough force to cause Alina to recoil. Two of the blades ran perpendicular to the main blade, while the other two went off to a forty-five degree angle to the main blade.

“That’s a powerful release” Alina thought to herself.

“These are perfect!” She exclaimed excitedly.

Excited she pulled the trigger again, and the blades retracted back into the main blade. For Alina these blades were perfect; they were light, allowing her to move freely as she needed. Plus they went along great with her style of fighting. The only down side is that they have almost no defensive ability. Maybe with the blades extended she would be able to stop other swords and such, but with them retracted there isn’t very much she would be able to do to block. Then again, her style focused more on agility and avoiding damage over blocking it like Drakes style.

Drake on the other hand was very close quarter and destruction focused. He would close the gap and unleash hell from inside of his opponents’ range of attack using everything he had available to cause damage. But he preferred using his knees, elbows and head-butts. He was looking for a kind of short sword or gauntlet that he could swing freely from close in but still do massive damage. What he found instead was a set of twin swords. He wasn’t sure as to why he was drawn towards them since they’re not quite the short sword or gauntlet he was looking for, but they were beautiful. The first one had a standard katana hilt. It had a black base with a brass and silver grip attached and a gold grip ferrule in between the two colors. The guard had red support beams with a black inner lining, a brass outer layer and was in the shape of four spades. The second one also has a standard katana hilt, with a silver grip covering the top half of the hilt and a brass fabric covering the bottom half. Its guard had a black ring with red support beams connecting the guard to the grip. When he grabbed the first one he realized it was extremely heavy, but he loved the way the weight felt and how well it was balanced. He dragged it out of the scabbard to see a black katana blade attached to the hilt and tried swinging it around. But its weight made it hard to just lift let alone swing it, none the less he loved it. So he grabbed the second one and it was just as heavy, but it was shaped differently.

This one had a blood red blade attached to its hilt, but the razor edge on the blade was black. It had a straight sword blade, but its tip was shaped like an arrow head with barbs swinging back towards the blade, putting more weight on the end instead of the hilt. To help lighten it, there is a slit that ran the length of the blade until the arrowhead. The slit was wide enough to fit other swords into, and reduced surface area of the blade. Even with that the weight was still too much and made the blade very difficult to swing, but increased its destructive ability, and again, Drake was in love.

They walked back to the entrance together to meet Jeff who had been waiting. He wasn’t surprised by Alina’s choice in weapons; but when he saw Drake dragging his choice, he was shocked.

“You can carry those?” He asked.

“I wonder how those things got into the beginners armory?” Jeff wondered to himself.

“Yah, hard to even lift but I will get used to it.” Drake answered somewhat out of breath.

“But why are they so heavy?” He asked.

“Well those swords were found that way. However, they are extremely old, older than the human race. They were dated back to the Jurassic era. We have no idea who or what forged them, how they were forged, what they are forged from, or why something would forge such heavy weapons. It makes no sense at all.” Jeff explained

Drake was just amazed by the weapons he had found and he wanted to learn to control them as soon as possible.

“Those things are incredibly heavy Drake. No one so far has been able to hold them properly, let alone able to swing them, even the laws of physics are against you. Are you sure you want to use them?” Jeff pointed out.

“I’m positive!” Drake replied without a second thought.

“Okay fine, it will be a trial. If you can’t use them in a week you will pick new weapons. Now lets’ g-” Jeff started.

“What are mine made out of?” Alina cut him off.

Jeff shot her a dirty look for cutting him off, to which Alina glared back with bone chilling eyes.

“Let me see them.” He said unaffected by her glare.

She handed over her Katars and he examined them. After a minute he handed them back to Alina.

“The blades are a type of refined steel called hypersteel; it is much stronger, and much more durable than even titanium. The process chars the metal black and makes it extremely difficult to work with. However, the process in which the hypersteel is created is also very difficult and produces very little in terms of how much work is put into it. How a set of hypersteel Katars made it into the beginner armory is a mystery since the stuff is so expensive. And we are just giving it to a trainee who happens to find it?” Jeff started.

“And the same can be said about your swords Drake. Those swords are unique, no others like them have been found. Yet we have them sitting in the beginner armory, where we just give any weapon the trainee picks to them.” Jeff continued confused.

“Anyway…” He started back up after a pause for thought.

“The handle is a synthesized metal we call daetinite. Cheaper and easier to make than hypersteel, but it can’t hold an edge; however, it is an excellent shock absorbing metal. It will absorb any impact and disperse it as heat energy. And as for the actual grip, since the daetinite gets pretty hot, it is a heat resistant carbon fiber support, with a soft outer grip for comfort and shock absorption.” Jeff finally finished.

With that, the two were just in shock. They both managed to get some very good weapons from the get-go. But that brought up the question of the beginner armory and just giving out weapons. How else would they get them?

“How would we get better weapons?” Drake asked curious.

“With the money you will earn from missions you get after training. But I doubt you will be needing them, both of you got some very high class weapons at the starting line.” Jeff explained.

“Now anything else?” Jeff asked impatiently.

Neither of them responded. So Jeff signaled for them to follow him. He helped Drake carry one of the swords since even he isn’t capable of carrying both of them, and Drake could barely walk holding both. They then ran over to the training field to get started. Both Alina and Drake were still impressed that a man as big as Jeff was able to keep up with their speed and stamina, especially since he is carrying one of Drakes heavy weapons. They knew he too was like them even though he never admitted nor denied it; what they didn’t know however, was how many tails he has.

When they got to the field, the first thing Jeff had them do was figure out how they wanted to hold their weapons when not in use. Like on their sides or across their back, or for Drake both across his back and hip. Alina chose to hold hers on her shoulders so it was in easy access for her. All she had to do was reach back and put the Katars up and out of their holsters. And Drake wanted to put the black blade running across his lower back, basically his waist, with the hilt on his left side, and his red blade on his back in a standard way with the hilt on his right shoulder. The reason he chose that weird set up had a lot to do with the way he was going to hold his blades. Since his red blade was heavier, he was going to use his stronger left arm, thus why the hilt was on his right shoulder, so he can reach across and pull it up and out of its scabbard. And his black blade was on the back of his waist so he could use a quick draw style, and quickly draw, attack, and re-sheath the sword while staying out of the way of his red blade. Well that was his thought process for his set up, but he still wasn’t even sure if it would work with the super heavy swords.

“Very standard way to hold your weapons Alina. But what’s that kind of setup Drake? Jeff asked

“Well this way, I can fight with this red sword, and use the black one as a quick draw like weapon and its easy for me to draw both… assuming I can even do a quick draw or wield these swords.” Drake replied

“I’ll admit, that’s a very strange fighting style...Ok then, I want both of you to draw your weapons starting with you Drake.” Jeff said

Drake then reached for his swords, but struggled to draw both blades. He had a hard time just trying lifting them out of the sheath, let alone trying to swing them. So he had to two-hand the red blade just to get it out. Once he got it out of the sheath, he dropped it instantly just from the extreme weight, and energy consumed to draw the thing.

“Well since your swords are so heavy, the first thing we need to work on is your ability to just to draw and hold them. Don’t even worry about swinging them, just work on your strength for now until you can hold them indefinitely. But I doubt you will ever get to that point.” Jeff explained to Drake.

“How?” Drake asked wanting to prove him wrong.

“Just draw and hold the stupid things. When you can no longer hold them and drop them, rest for a few minutes, re-sheath, put them back into position and do it again! Soon your body will adjust and cope with the burden, though you probably will never be able to use them. But you should be able to at least draw and hold them. And when you hold them, hold them parallel to the ground.” Jeff told Drake.

Drake just looked at Jeff with confused, but accepting eyes. He picked up his swords, re-sheathed them, drew them and just held them out until he couldn’t anymore and dropped them. After a break he repeated again and again and again; noticing that each time he could do it more fluidly and hold them slightly longer. Soon even lifting them into position and standing back up became easy. When he looked over to Alina to see how she was doing, he was amazed. She was quickly extending, attacking and then retracting her Katars. Jeff would throw up some kind of plate and she would instantly adjust and smash it to pieces. When Jeff took a break, Alina quickly retracted the Katars and put them in their holders. And while she was doing well with her training, she wanted to get back to Drake as soon as possible. So she walked back to Drake as soon as she was done, who had been holding his swords for almost a minute.

“Hey good job, but uuhh, your holding them too low.” She pointed out

Drake snapped back to reality and looked down at his swords as the tips were just hovering above the ground, but none the less he was able to hold them for a while.

“Your genetics allow for rapid recovery of cells, so you build muscle mass and strength at an extremely accelerated rate, but even still I'm amazed. Those swords are heavier than anything you have lifted and you're already adjusting to them." Jeff stared.

"Plus as I have explained before your muscles are vastly different from normal muscles. They store hundreds of times more oxygen, and the fibers are several tens to hundreds of times stronger giving you your vastly increased strength without increasing their weight.” Jeff explained to Alina.

"However you... well you're very different. I have no logical explination to explain how you are doing what you do." Jeff told Drake.

“So keep at it until you can draw them fluidly and hold them for ten minutes, we will be at the target field working on her accuracy.” He finished nonchalantly and then they took off.

But Alina stopped, turned around and came back to Drake.

“I know you can do it.” She said with a smile and gave him a hug.

Drake was honestly confused for her reaction. He didn’t remember doing anything worthy of a hug, yet she just gave him one. After a second or two she let go and ran off after Jeff before Drake could ask anything, so he figured he would ask her later. After another three hours of drawing and holding his swords he was able to hold them longer than that ten minutes Jeff asked of him and he was now able to sheath his blades without taking the sheaths off first. He sheathed his swords and took off running for the target field. On the way he thought about why Alina had given him a hug, he figured it meant nothing, but he wasn’t too sure. He knows they are close and all, since they really only talk to each other. But the random affection confused him.

He had completely lost all track of everything around him as he ran to the field and he ran right into Jeff. Drake crashed into him full force and fell to the ground hard. When he opened his eyes a few seconds later, Jeff was standing over him pissed off.

“Watch the hell yer going dumb ass!” Jeff said pissed

“You… how many tails do you have?” Drake pestered again

Jeff clicked his tongue and turned around to talk to Alina.

“Very good, unlike your stupid friend back there” Jeff said pointing to Drake.

“The hell you talking about old man, I can already hold the swords for over ten minutes!” Drake countered.

Jeff just gave Drake a surprised look as Drake drew his both of his swords fluidly and held them parallel to the ground, and fifteen minutes later he was starting to struggle to hold them.

“Good, now to see if you can swing them. Just lift yer swords and chop down, but try not to let the blades touch the floor.” Jeff said excitedly.

Drake thought it would be a piece of cake, but he had a hard time just lifting the blades over his head, and when he chopped down he couldn’t stop the momentum of the blades and they dug deep into the ground. After several minutes and tries Drake was running out of breath and getting no were fast.

“I’m honestly impressed you can even do that much. No one else before you has been able to do that and not get thrown with the sword. So good job.” Jeff finished sarcastically.

Drake just gave him a cold stare and tried again, and though he felt as though his arms, shoulders and back were about to give out he managed to stop his black blade before it hit the ground, but it is also the better balanced blade and would be easier to stop suddenly.

“Well color me impressed. You managed to stop one of the blades; good job!” Jeff said honestly impressed.

But Jeff was wondering how Drake was doing it. He was defying the laws of physics there. Each sword was weighed in around six hundred Kilograms or just over thirteen hundred pounds; a little more than ten times his weight. It should be impossible for him to swing even one without getting thrown around. Yet he was swinging both and keeping steady footing.

“And you can go back to your room now” He said to Alina.

She just shook her head.

“I’ll go with Drake when he is done.” She replied calmly.

Jeff just shrugged and went back to Drake. He knew why Alina refused to leave without Drake; she has severe monophobia, and is terrified of not having Drake around. She can tolerate it as long as she is distracted by something else, but the second she has time to think about it, she will panic.

“You ain’t sleepin’ till you can stop both blades or you give up and pick new weapons” He said annoyed.

Though in all honesty he was more than amazed at Drakes progress; Drake is doing more with those swords than anyone else has been able to as of yet. He is just acting annoyed to motivate Drake to hurry up.

“So you might want to hurry up for your poor partner who won’t leave your side.” He finished in a sarcastic sympathetic tone.

But Drake was trying his best, he couldn’t care less about himself, but he didn’t want to make Alina suffer. He looked at her to try and tell her to go back; in return he saw nothing but determination and encouragement in her eyes. He knew she wouldn’t leave until he left. So he sheathed his swords, and sat down next to her for a small break. He was going to ask what she had to do for training when he realized her tails had two rings on them now.

“Hey you got rings now.” He pointed out to her.

Her eyes grew wide with excitement and she looked back to see, and sure enough there they are.

“I… when?” was all she could get out.

“You got one during physical training, and your second one just came in during training with your Katars. Those things truly complement you, to be able to raise your strength after just training to use them.” Jeff explained.

“I don’t get this ring system now.” Drake said.

“I thought it represented our strength, but her weapon training didn’t focus on strength at all unlike mine.” He complained

“Well your right and wrong there Drake.” Jeff started

“Strength is a very general term we use. It measures physical strength, as well as skill, intelligence, survivability and natural talent.” He explained.

“While yes, Alinas training didn’t do much as far as her physical strength goes, her skills and survivability greatly increased by adding the knowledge of how to properly use a weapon that complements her own way of fighting. Plus she has been working her ass off during physical training to increase her actual strength and hand to hand skill.” Jeff finished.

Now the two understood the ranking system a little better, though they really had no idea how it was measured and then physically represented. None the less, the explanation of how Alina is stronger than he is gave Drake all the motivation he needed to work that much harder. He didn’t slack off during physical training either, which just proves how much harder Alina worked. He started to feel better and not so exhausted, so he stood up to start again. He heard Alina giggle and he looked back at her with a quizzical look. She just shook her head and waved for him to start.

He drew his blades and started chopping them down at the ground. He was able to stop his black sword regularly, though it was still difficult for him, but his red sword with the weighted tip was very difficult. He did notice however, the blade was digging into the ground less and less each time. After trying for another twenty minutes, he took another break. His grip strength was no longer an issue, and his red blade was barely digging into the ground at all. He knew soon he would be able to stop it before it hit the ground.

Drake went back to sit with Alina, who was now laying down on the grass and looking up at the stars.

“They’re so beautiful.” She said as Drake sat next to her

He looked up and couldn’t help but agree.

“Which one is your favorite one?” He asked her.

“Scorpio” She said as she pointed up at the Scorpio constellation.

“What about you?” She asked.

“You took mine” Drake replied.

“But I also like Orion” He added.

Alina chuckled a bit, and just smiled. Drake wanted to hurry up for her sake. He could tell she was tired and wanted to go to bed but wouldn’t leave him.

“Hurry up, I’m tired too!” Jeff said impatiently

“I couldn’t care less Snowball” Drake replied sarcastically

Jeff gave him a dirty look and then started to laugh. Drake realized he had rested long enough and he felt fine to go at it again. This time, instead of swinging both swords down at the same time he thought he would do only one at a time, as one falls he lifts the other one to act as a sort of counter balance. And it worked on the first try; he swung down with the red blade and lifted the black one which helped counter the insane downward force and he stopped it shy of touching the ground.

“Whoa, you actually did it! I still don’t understand how, but good job!” Jeff said with excitement.

“Now let’s just….” He started then yawned.

“Go back to our rooms n’ sleep.” Jeff finished after yawning.

Drake agreed, sheathed his swords and walked over to Alina who had fallen asleep in the brief moment between the break and him stopping both blades. He tried to wake her up, but at best she was super groggy and not very responsive. So he got her to sit up and carried her back to their room.