There are two types of people in this world: People who can count; People who think they can count; people who can’t count.

The Ego, who left the group to wander, finally made enough space of his own and began his style of attack. An eerie, high pitched sound, almost hidden above the heavy electric guitar that repeated on the same note.

After a short introduction, Ego unleashed hell. His music turned into extreme metal, with heavy guitar strings, strong beats and repetitive but complex rhythm. He wasn’t lying earlier when he told us he’d be djentle[1]. I could tell that Ego’s having a bad day too.

With every change in the violent beat, erratic phrasing and intermixed patterns, Ego’s influence of mana grew until it dyed the crimson world black, expanding further the more powerful his music became.

[Unique Transcendent] Miscellaneous (Chosen: Music).

Out of all of us, this borderline-anorexic bamboo is perhaps the luckiest Hero of them all.

He directed his mana towards his front, whilst we headed off to a different direction. This was because his attacks were mostly AoE.

[Willpower] Mana Manipulation (Omni-Directional).

Ego’s outrageous mana turned an area around him into his own domain, where he crushed, twisted, lifted, implode and exploded whatever he wished, with his music blasting away like Doom without guns.

Meanwhile, Sunk Cost could be glimpsed teleporting here and there. His arm would, at times, appear in one location, whereas his legs flitted through another. This way, despite his small stature, Sunk Cost’s attack range was limited only by his perception.

Hundreds of portals lay motionless in the sky, each one leading to another with no way for bystanders to know until it was used. Even then, Sunk Cost mastered the habit of changing the destinations of portals randomly every once in a while, to keep his movements unpredictable. Golden mana streaked across the land like the blinking gleam of the heavenly stars, passing judgement unto the unsuspecting victims.

[Transcendent] Teleportation (Portal) was broken enough on its own, but in addition to that, this cheat of a person had a second overpowered ability: [Transcendent] Storage (Ability), which allowed him to store three other external abilities to be released at his will, at a maximum of 70% potency.

His only drawback was the [Limited] Immortality (Regeneration), a penalty that made his full recovery cost, at the minimum, 13 years of time. Though a century paled in comparison to our age, let alone a decade, 13 years of inaction from one of us will still have dire consequences.

Our final member, Dead Weight, was our thick-skinned tank. He luckily received a pair of abilities that complemented one another well. [Transcendent] Mana Imbue (Repulsion) and [Released] Mana Manipulation (Attraction) makes him a true Pain[2] in the ass to fight against. Though the activation condition differs slightly, and the potential of the repulsion far exceeds the attraction, Dead Weight often utilise the two abilities in conjunction with one another in his combat style. One could say he is more repulsive than attractive.

With his overall large frame (for a 13-year-old body), he makes an excellent tank that deflect and even reflect attacks, whilst pulling in foes from their formations. Unfortunately, his abilities also place upon him a higher risk in combat. Upon death, [Constrained] Immortality (Rebirth) will spawn an indestructible egg that hatches between 10 and 13 months. He’s also able to choose where the egg appears, from three different secretive and heavily guarded locations.

The place where the Power was conceived, a cave within the Poque’Kar Mountains and the hidden basement underneath the JanZe headquarters. Now you know.

This was more than a battle. It was a massacre, where flesh and gore floundered in a ferocious frenzy to tear each other apart. The originally crimson world relished in the mist of blood, flushing like a carmine ruby.

Our run today lasted an above-average of 2 hours and 33 minutes.

Our escape was comically lucky. Thankfully, we managed to drop some weight to run faster.

The three of us gathered around our usual poker table, drinking and chatting after an evening of hard work.

I’m drinking milk. Don’t @ me.

We had a casualty this time around – Dead Weight failed to react in time and was devoured by one of the elite monsters. We had to hastily retreat, or else risk a full wipe-out. Sunk cost managed to use one of his abilities [Transcendent] Storage (Ability) to reinstate the barrier.

[So, what now?]

(The usual. He should be back by the third month. It’s still doable.)

[Are you going to join us?]

“… Not this time, I think. I’m going to focus on those newbies.”

(Have you decided how many? Just the twins, or with that other one you mentioned?)

[Ah, that Samaritan? I don’t think that’s a good idea…]

“I’ll give it a decade and see if I can soak up a good party. Then I can make my decision between the three of them.”

(You’re doing the fodder method again? You’re not suitable for it and you know that. You should just stick to having a single disciple to focus on for a few centuries.)

“Look how well that turned out for you.”

(…)

[That Hazel girl is a waste of time. People like that are easy to break but completely unstable. Are you seriously thinking of pinning your hopes onto her?]

“… I don’t know.”

Silence ensued. This group of four had been established for more than a million years, and so they were intimate with the characteristics of one each other. For the Hypocrite to admit that he doesn’t have an answer was probably the worst answer possible.

[So, to change the subject – Ego, are you going to deal her soon? Richard isn’t going to stand by much longer.]

No pronoun games. Sunk Cost is referring to one of Ego’s disciples, and Richard is the third strongest non-JanZe, battle-oriented Promethium Inquisitor.

(I’ll have to. Say, can I pass Taku onto you a few years early?)

“That creep… alright, but with one condition – delay the execution by two months.”

(Why? She’ll worsen the situation the longer we wait.)

“I wanna show ‘em what it’s like, and what it can become.”

I am an emotional man. My mood fluctuates freely and quickly, so it’s seldom I ever have a chance to showcase my seriousness. This time, though, I wholeheartedly spoke my conviction.

"I need to convince myself that I will do the same if the time comes.”

It’s been a strange week. Amelia thought to herself. We were suddenly pushed into direct combat with a monster, with no instructions or protection. Apparently 5 students died! Then, a classmate nobody knows of turns out to be an experienced fighter, and now he disappears for four days!

The pair of siblings dug into Aaron’s identity, but found nothing, which perplexed them. Though the teachers tried to hide it, the twins still felt the nervousness and abnormality in the way they avoided the questions. The whole school seems to be in on this conspiracy.

“Maybe he’s a beastman disguised as human. He’s taken control of our school to brainwash us into their puppets! He’s here as a spy to take our mana and blackmail us!”

“You and your stupid ideas, sis.”

“Or maybe he’s a dem-“

“No. Shut up.”

“Ruuuuuuuude!”

The two of them were in a carriage heading home after failing, for the third day in a row, to find any traces of their mysterious classmate. By this point, the teachers were afraid to stay after school in fear of receiving hard-to-answer questions about the possibly psychotic problem that was named ‘Aaron’.

After all, even they knew little to nothing.

Urged onwards by the slumbering sunset, painted with a velvet transition from fiery orange to the clouded sapphire, the siblings returned to their estate. The guards bowed slightly as per usual whilst the gallant gates of wrought iron parted. Their family crest, one of many within the Kingdom of Men, proudly imposed itself onto the overthrow ironwork, deeming upon its visitors the status of those within.

Kyle, the head butler, awaited them outside the mansion, nervous to the bones. He was not meant to be there, nor was he a character prone to such expression of emotions. The twins felt confused, then afraid.

“Papa must be angry we’ve been late home!”

“Dad didn’t get angry before, so why now?”

“We’re gonna be in soooo much trouble…”

“Shut up.”

Suddenly, the sunset didn’t feel so relaxing anymore. Once the carriage stopped, the door was opened by the driver, an invitation to the foreboding gloom that awaited them. With her head hung low, Amelia ventured the question:

“We’re in trouble, aren’t we?”

“That, I’m not certain, young miss. You have a visitor of utmost importance.”

“I do? Who?”

“The both of you, young miss and sir. The… gentleman, Lord and Lady expects you at the foyer. Immediately.”

The two glanced at each other, sharing an unspoken question amongst themselves – could that be Aaron?

Kyle briskly led the way past the entranceway, through an enfilade of luxuriously decorated rooms meant for ordinary guests, before knocking soundly to announce our arrival to the foyer. Each action was taken with perfect candour, and one could hear the pride Kyle takes in his identity and mannerism.

The pair of wooden doors were opened from the inside of the room by a different servant, welcoming the pair in. The occupants, who sat in opposite coaches perpendicular to the entry, all turned their sight to the newcomers. Their parents on one side, the guest whom Amelia and Kevin mistakenly took for Aaron on the other.

Although the boy looked to be of similar age to Aaron and themselves, even if they disregarded the facial features, a singular look into his eyes negated the possibility. The pair of ruby irises seem to lull them into a mesmerising dream, making it sluggish to think properly. It took them precious seconds to realise their deteriorating clarity, which by that time they were unable to deduce the problem and resolve it.

Only after Taku looked away, did the twin regain their consciousness. A chill, born from utter helplessness, took over them. They were fully aware of what happened in hindsight, but completely vulnerable during the process.

“Amelia, Kevin, take a sit. This conversation may possibly involve your future.”

“Yes, Father.”

They replied in unison and sat at the coach as indicated by the grey-haired Elon Reiner.

“Sorry to have interrupted you, Mister Taku. Please do continue.”

“Right, where was I? Ah, the offspring! I’m curious as to why the beastman children don’t have the same tail or ears as their parents. Though parts of their faces look alike, like us human parent-son relationships, their animalistic features are more often than not, completely different! It’s like the children are a new character who randomised their appearances. This is…”

Facing the torrent of enthusiastic speech from Taku was no easy task, but being the man of a noble family, Elon still managed to insert himself into the conversation, chatting with the social skill of a trained psychiatrist. This verbal battle sounded insignificant, but both parties were actually sizing each other up by body language, vocabulary and subtle interrogation.

This left the two children to watch the show like an audience member at a tennis court, their heads snapping left and right whilst pretending to be interested. Only small snippets of their conversation made any cohesive sense to the young minds, everything else were fanaticism. No one dared to interrupt Taku, not even when he begins to dive into the topic of beastmen perversions.

His black tight-fitted outfit, along with a long ribbon tied to his head, revealed his status.

Thankfully, the grandfather clock held no fear to strike seven times into the strange atmosphere of the room. By the fifth chime, Taku had already wrapped the ribbon around his head to fully mask his face, just like the rumours foretold.

A JanZe on a mission.

“The First has invited Amelia Reiner and Kelvin Reiner to become JanZe Apprentices, under the direct guidance of The First.”

The mask unravelled as quickly as it was tied, and Taku’s face returned to the bewildered faces of the others.

During the moment of silence, the expressions of each individual morphed into something different. The mother, Helen, worried. The father proud. The sister excited. The brother suspicious. Taku observed the changes with indifference, before laying out his comments.

“Well then, I’ll need your answers within the hour. What do you think?”

“That’s a flattering offer. Our family have always-“

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!”

Helen grasped at the armrests as if they were stress balls. It was against decorum for the lady of the house to interrupt the lord, stranger still with such a ferocious tone. However, the words of a mother transcended rules.

“I will NOT have my children placed into such dangers!”

“Helen, that is beside the point.”

“No you don’t! Don’t you DARE manipulate our children’s lives into mere steps of your schemes and your reputation!”

“You’re overthinking this matter, dear.”

“Overthinking? OVERTHINKING? You placed them into that combat school so you could flaunt and flout at those damned dinner parties! How many times have they come home hurt? How many times w-“

“HELEN REINER.”

Elon Reiner, a successful businessman and the head of a noble house. With a bit of force, his authoritative tone could never be challenged in his land. Neither Amelia nor Kelvin ever experienced true anger from their father, but they understood something. The oppressive way Elon stressed onto their surname suggested an untold story between the two.

“Our guest still sits before us. You will calm yourself before you speak.”

Although she had a strong urge to retort with an ‘or what?’, she couldn’t afford to do so. Helen took several deep breaths to quench her anger, and several more to ease her fears.

Anger didn’t work, so now it was time to plead.

[1] Song suggestion for this is “Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion” by Meshuggah. Please feel free to imagine the scene with other music if the one chosen doesn’t suit you (It most likely won’t).

[2] Character from Naruto.