Captain Houghes raised his arm showing something around his wrist, it looked like a watch except the crystal pyramid in the main section. He tapped the crystal and a window appeared on top of it covering his face, listing his name, surname, age, occupation and other combat information;

Name; Captain Houghes

Age; 29

Occupation; Mercenary

Class; Martial Artist, Elemental Body Enhancer.

Rank; C [III] - B

"All information you've just heard is collected in our database and can be viewed and edited through a IRIS(Illusionary Revealing Image System) like this one." He takes three more Irises out of his pockets and hands them over to me, Anabel and Ell after we put them on we activate them. The window had a search UI with option for a keyboard to appear or voice recognition searching, it also had a menu from which you could open two other different UIs. One held a party system where you could use the built in comm system to communicate between your group and use the in built camera to stream anything to your group, the other was a messaging system to send text, voice or video messages to who ever is in the database. "Alright, next we'll be heading directly to DarkGlade where you'll be taking the ranking test tomorrow. Ranks are what determine what missions you'll be allowed on and the squad as a whole, meaning that if your not qualified then the squad as a whole will not be allowed to join the mission. This system was made to let us grow as a group and make up for each other's weakness while honing our strengths, let me also add that in rare occasions you may be added to a mission under a different squad if that mission requires your profession specifically." he then got up from his seat and gestured for us to follow, we turned off our Irises and followed.

We follow the captain over to the teleporters, a row of thirty of them. We entered one and he selected our destination, the floor swirled under us as the ground opened up into a tunnel. We fell due to gravity but then simply flowed through the tunnel for a couple seconds, the exit closed in on us fast and I closed my eyes to not get nausea as I usually do. When I opened my eyes we stood at the peak of a mountain that looked broken into three with a ravine in the middle, within it were ruins of the fortress. The ruins are well kept but over all untouched by anyone, kept as a reminder of what us races are capable of but mainly as a grave to the grand heroes of the second Void war. The Etyrians passed us the story of how the human William joined the races together as a single force, collecting the ones with the greatest mana signatures to lure in the Void's main numbers and his strategic genius in taking them out. They told us of how he wielded the might of a Dragon and the ferocity of a Lycan as his spirits, how he sacrificed himself to connect the void's realms to every other realm in existence. But in reality... his actions were not all grand, this may just be my personal opinion but due to his actions we may face dangers worse than the void. The void's attention will be spread due to all these new realms now open to it but it also left it open to us and us open to them, we don't know what could possibly lay out there.

We have advanced fast, faster than before and much further than ever but all that will mean nothing if faced by power we do not comprehend. This was proven true the day the Void attacked Earth, we didn't understand and therefore almost faced annihilation. I look up as these thoughts pass through my mind, up at one of the many forces sworn on being the sword to our races while others act as the shield. The fortress is quite the sight to look at, a monstrously large crystal base completely etched in runic inscriptions shining brightly as it reflects Etyria's young sun. Above the crystal base is the fortress itself, hundred thirty storeys of reinforced steel imbued with protection magic and barriers. A tall untouchable rectangle of a building planned by probably the most paranoid being in our society, consisting of almost every defensive system imaginable by both worlds. Hovering over the DarkGlade valley lay the pinnacle of the company's wealth, the EA's HQ Fort Ragnarok.

The captain turns to me,Anabel and Ell who are staring in amazement at the sky fortress"As you have been told upon being recruited, you will now have to sit through the introductory assembly where you will be given other basic information, the introduction of special members and listen to the CEO's speech. I suggest you stick together and stay with Lia, she will guide you to the assembly and afterwards she will show you around the base. Also do not forget tomorrow at nine thirty a.m. you must attend the ranking test, as for the time and place they will be mentioned during the assembly as they were still being debated by the higher ups and I have not ben given the information as of yet." he then turns and walks towards the edge "Good luck recruits." Jerrald and Kale follow him, as the three reach the edge their image starts to shake and dissipate. After they disappeared Lia turns to us "Come on cubs, the assembly will begin in a bit." as she takes steps towards the edge we reluctantly follow. As I walk I can feel the mana around me swirl and bend all around my body, I feel my hair stand as if electricity is flowing through me. I turn to look at the others and see their image shake violently until one by one we disappear, my vision momentarily gone dark only for me to suddenly appear along with the others inside a lobby of sorts full of EA recruits.

The lobby was highly advanced with scanners on each corner of the room along with multi-spectrum cameras and mana barrier emitters, the security was so tight that privacy was thrown right out of the window. Except there was no windows, the walls are plastered with monitors listing recruits and their squads. "This is the lobby to the large hall where all major and PR announcements are made, follow me closely and don't get lost in the crowd." Lia gestures for us to follow and we do so, while getting many glances by the surrounding recruits. Humanity is at a very low percentage within Etyrian groups, within the EA we only number around 4% of the company and that is a lot compared to the rest. Everyone is wearing the same uniform save for some having custom ones due to size, but the same color scheme and emblem is kept through out. We wait through the large line of recruits along with their guides trying to get through the four double doors and into the hall but after a couple minutes we finally do, the hall was huge and probably took a whole floor. Hovering above us and around every twenty meters was a monitor with the stage being streamed on it, all around us we could barely see in any direction so we were thankful for the monitors. I looked around to try and gauge the size of the room but i quickly give up as I cannot even see the walls in any direction due to the large amount of Elves, giants and tall beastmen.

Suddenly I hear the doors close behind us and the lights change towards the stage, any voice that was talking before had stopped and the room became dead silent. A single figure walks down the stage and towards the centre, an abyssal demon with the usual reddish skin, short dark black hair with two long black horns bulging out of his forehead and bending backwards to the back of his head. His eyes almost purely black except the single white dot in the middle, he stood there with his own version of the company uniform with two extra emblems. Behind him marched out three squads of mercenaries with the same uniform but two emblems. The first emblem was the normal one on every uniform but the second was purely for a select number of hand picked elites, a wolf above a mound of dirt with blood flowing down and corpses littering the bottom.The third was the CEO's emblem of choice, a sword impaling a crown of bones and skulls.

The CEO pressed a finger to his throat and cast a spell, cleared his throat and began to speak. "I thank you all for joining me today to the EA's annual introduction ceremony. I welcome our new recruits and thank those that guided them safely here today. As many of you may know I am the Chief Executive Officer of the Edge Alpha Mercenaries, King Zeaxar Hellborn. I have multiple topics to brief you on but first I will introduce you to the company's prized Elite squads. Here behind me stand the best of the best and your commanding officers, with our new squad system in place these will be your outfit leaders. As you may know squads now consists of 7 members while platoons consist of a hundred squads, an outfit will consist of four platoons. Currently there are six outfits with an outfit leader and co-leader commanding them. With the start of this new system we will increase in co-ordination and strength along with better balanced numbers between missions. Next I will introduce you to the new ranking system I personally developed, the ranks go as such; E, D,C,B,A,S,SS , Each rank also constitutes of three tiers. The tiers being lower tier, middle tier and higher tier. For example a lower Tier C ([C] I) is lower rank than a Higher Tier C ([C] III) " As he explained images showing the signs that described each rank and tier "The rank and tier will be given to you after the ranking tests that will be done tomorrow, you will receive a system message on your Irises with directions." The monitors zoomed in on his Iris as he showed how to enter the menu and then the map of the Fort "Now finally I wish to give you all a couple words of advice, my associates call it a speech but personally I do not see it as such."

He lowered his arm and the monitors focused on his face "The members of your squad are not just your colleagues, not just co-workers. They are those that will keep you alive on the field, those that will watch your back in combat and aid you in your growth. There will be hard times ahead where you may be stranded from your squad, but do not fret. Because they will find you no matter the cost, as a squad is nothing like a group and nothing like a family. A squad is a well planned and built machine, a single organism. Remember this, those that fail a mission may lose respect and those that fail to save a life will lose their very essence for a while. But those that fail to protect the ones that have sworn to protect them..." he closes his eyes "Have no right to call themselves a warrior, have no right to hold a weapon. Watch their back and they will watch yours." He roars these words as him, the elites and all the guides in the hall move in unison, stand in unison with a single gesture that shows their loyalty. One left fist clenched to the heart and one right fist clenched towards the sky, the company's signature salute. "Fight..Onward!" and with that cheesy yet chilling show of unity he turns and walks away from the stage, the outfit leaders follow him.

"Looks like that's it from them, Ell, Matthew, Anabel, let's go." Lia taps my shoulder as I turn, reciting the information in my head. The crowd is large but we orderly leave the hall and then through the lobby exit as each squad takes different directions through the corridors of this floor, we followed Lia to the left and up the stairs three floors until we reached what looked like a dining hall. "This is the dining area, meals are served at breakfast and dinner only." she seemed to show some slight annoyance at this, Ell also seemed to chime in with her annoyance "No lunch?.." Lia lets out a quiet laugh "They try to keep us on a controlled diet with a strict menu, don't expect anything fancy. Next is sleeping quarters, follow me" we turn around and go up another floor. This floor as the signs said was the male dormitory "Here is the male's one, you can check your inbox on the Iris for your room number and a linked location to the map. While the Female dormitory is the floor above this one, to access the dormitory swipe your Iris over the scanner by the door and you will be teleported inside if you have allowed entry." she points at a stand next to the door. Anabel seems perplexed at this revelation "What's the point of the door then?" but Lia expected such a question as she answered nonchalantly with "Incase of system failure manual controls and access is available to captain titles and above. Now for the training grounds, this way please." we continue to follow her another two floors up and down three corridors until we reach a set of double doors with the number "52" on it.

"This is Houghe's squad training grounds, each squad has a room as such within this floor and twelve more up. The thirteenth and twelfth training floors are a single hall for events such as the ranking tests. " Lia sets her palm on the doors as runes light up, unlocking the doors. She pushes the doors inwards revealing a 25 x 25 meter room with another room within it, a thick mana barrier separated the stands and the actual training ground. "You may use the training grounds when ever you wish as each access is instantly recorded in our database, your every move is already fully recorded in our system. Well except for bathrooms, only mana scanners are setup in there." she raises her arms and stretches "I'll be leaving you here then, if you have any questions use the message function on your Iris and message me. Well or ask now if its important." she turns to us expecting some sort of barrage. I finally break my quiet and ask "May I use this room for my soul binding? The barriers are overkill but it has adequate space for it." I scan the room with my eyes one more time and walk towards the barrier. Lia seems to think it over for a bit but then responds "Sure that's not a problem but are you sure you don't want to be closer to med bay? I hear those bindings are very dangerous." but I simply shrug it off "No need, my success rate was higher than average with the academy BA's. If anything does go wrong I'll be dead before anybody can help me anyways, the pain is just a byproduct and doesn't pose too much a threat to my health also."

Lia nods and walks out of the room, closing the doors behind her. I turn to Ell and Anabel "Now if you two wish to watch I suggest that you both keep your distance, I will only say this once. Do not interfer no matter what happens, any action you take to aid me will be returned with nothing other than your instant death. I hope I've made myself clear." the two girls nod, Ell multiple times and take a seat outside the barrier. I move to stand in the middle of the room, close my eyes and raise both hands to my shoulder height. I pour my mana into the gloves forcing the holding seal to undo, summoning forth the two black pistols. I then focus all the mana within me and the mana leaking out of me to a single point, my mind. I start to chant the spells of spirit summoning "Being of eternal distortion, being of unbalance, being of the forgotten path. Hear me, understand me and respond." I chant this five times until a voice reaches my mind along with great nausea "Wielder of my element, I hear your call and accept your contract." mana surges from around me, I direct it towards one of the pistols and into the purple crystal. That is when the pain starts to strike, agonising pain engulfing my skin, muscles and bones. But I keep standing and continue to the second chant "Being of the eternal flame, being of life's heat, being that devours all but brings existence to most. Hear my call, let me bear your flame and wield your power." I repeat this chant twelve times while at the same time binding the chaos spirit into the crystal. A second voice finally responds followed by a burning sensation flowing within my veins "One with the flames, I hear you. The contract is sealed." as another wave of agony devours my senses, I fall on my knees as my expression stays slightly collected. I let the fire spirit's essence float aimlessly around me until the chaos spirit is bound to its crystal, after that I start to do the same with the fire spirit and the red crystal in the other pistol. These spirits will serve as a bridge between me and the Aethers, while also empowering them.

I finish binding the two spirits into the Aethers, the pain washing off me. Now I move on to the final phase, binding the Aethers to me. I pour my mana into the crystals as the spirits take a hold of it and direct it around the Aethers, the runes on the pistols start to glow as my very soul is ripped apart. Those parts pouring with my mana and into the pistols, being directed by the spirits. The pain I felt before...Is immeasurably smaller than the soul splitting pain I feel now, imagine as if every bone in your body is crushed to splinters and those very splinters burrow through your flesh back and fort, imagine your veins feeling as if they are being pumped full and are about to explode. Adding also the feeling that your brain is being sliced apart and then put back together over and over, while your organs swirl and twirl giving you extreme nausea. That is what having your soul being literally ripped apart feels like, a feeling barely anything can match. But a feeling I had been trained to endure, I start to recall my training in the government's Martial Aether Academy. Weeks spent in solitude while honing my body with physical training, months of pain endurance tests, years of practising my chosen art. The words I was told when I graduated rang through my mind on repeat "As of today you are no longer a soldier, as of today you are no longer human. As of today you are a weapon and as a weapon you will serve until the rust eats away at you completely, until your very soul dissipates from existence." and finally the words I said when I left.

"I may no longer be a soldier, I may no longer have freedom of choice or belief within society. But I will find a reason to live other than being the wall between monsters."

-- Edited by; Birse

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Author: Heyyy...who likes cheesy speeches? :P... thanks for reading xD and remember to rate!