"Bring a difference. Bring a change. Bring yourself a new name."

________________________________________________________

Skill List:

Kanji (lv0): Aspect of Energy: Electricity, Thermal.

{Skill points: 4}

[Full destructive power limit: Village]

Skills: [1. Infuse/Absorb] [2. Energy travel] [3. Energy trail] [4. Energy bolt] [5. Energy wave]

Inventory: Geographic sphere, mechanical soap, spyware device, tungsten-infused nanotech silver chain, tech tablet (Portal) (Hide, Input, Output, Convert, Compress).

Claire (lv0): Aspect of Creation

Skills: [1. Create (Slots: 5)]

Inventory: Black cloak, crossbow, crossbow bolt (modified with rotatenium), ammo pouch, Fanfics, mechanical soap.

David (lv0): Aspect of Form

{Skill points: 2}

[Range limit: Self]

Skills: [1. Expand (x2)] [2. Spikefacation] [3. Delay (1-10s)] [4. Shieldfacation] [5. Trigger] [6. Transform pattern Wave] [7. Net Transform]

Inventory: Iron bat, AK -47, mechanical soap.

Amelia (lv0): Aspect of Reality

{Skill points: 2}

[Attack type: illusion] [Attack range: x3 field of view]

Skills: [1. Third-person vision] [2. Blurring Mirage] [3. Double] [4. Connect] [5. Vision Swap] [6. Disguise] [7. Flash Mirage]

Inventory: Frying Pan, knife, mechanical soap.

Sarah (lv0): Aspect of Fiction

[Skill access: 1 skill for each item] [Conjured item 1]

Inventory: Mechanical soap, Nezha’s leopard bag (Nezha’s ring).

Noah (lv0): Aspect of Emotion

Skills: [Emotion infusion] (Emotional requirement: High)

Inventory: Gilded axe, mechanical soap.

Diana (lv0): Aspect of Law

{Laws unlocked: Law of Friction} {Limit: Only manipulate small values}

Inventory: Mechanical soap.

Adrian (lv0): Aspect of Knowledge.

{Connected Minds} {Info Extraction} [Limit: half of basic info}]

Inventory: Mechanical soap. rope.

________________________________________________________

Present-day Africa.

A thriving and beautiful collection of nations once considered as a divided and developing continent.

Now, it stands among the very top of the world, no longer separated and now unified as a single country and under the single capital of Bamako. The nation has developed technologically on par with both America and Russia, standing as one of the most powerful countries. It can also be said to be the world's most powerful country.

How is it possible for such an astonishing change? Sheer luck? Sheer effort?... Or perhaps both.

It was 35 years from this day that hope was born. And it was 35 years ago that a dream of a young man who's barely 18 years of age, nearly died that day.

A great dream of a proud African nation. No longer belittled by others and instead stand face to face, eye to eye.

The young man didn't want it out of animosity or envy. But in fear of future wars that are bound to come.

In the beginning, he was lost, unsure of where to move or go to reach and achieve his tenacious dream.

However, one morning, fate decided not to abandon him. Looking out of his home to the vast open burning lands of the Saharah. He saw a sign.

It was a man. No, it was something else. Something he couldn't describe.

"...Allah?"

The man thought, his mouth wide open.

He knew he must venture forth and search till his last until he finds the truth. And That was what he exactly did.

Two months. No more supplies. One dead camel. Lost just beyond the outskirt of his home.

Devoid of hope, the man readied to accept an enviable end. His tired back laid against the desert sand...

Suddenly something poked him.

He jumped up on his feet and touched his fresh wound, the man could feel a rush of blood quickly pouring from his body. Enduring the pain, the desperate man hastily scrambled through the hot desert sand with what remaining spec of vision he had left.

A red? No....an orange crystal.

For the first time in 2 months, his face turned a gleeful smile and he tucked the object beneath his torn and loose tunic.

Although, his time was finally up. His eyelids began to fail him and his body falls to the ground, his mind lay unconscious as a sandstorm slowly buried his sleeping body.

Time passed... his eyes opened and he took a look around. He was back in town.

A crowd of cheerful claps followed his awakening, he saw the familiar faces of his townsmen who were glad of his safe return. The man cried and stood up, his shouts rang out with happiness.

But they weren't for the cheers or the empathy of the people. But because he succeeded, he got something that can change the very destiny of this nation's future.

To carry this continent to a new era.

The determined man continued his studies and eventually landed a special exception at a great university overseas. He invested his time in science in the hope of learning more about the crystal in private.

What he found shocked him, riddled him with joy, but scared him with an existential dread of knowing its capabilities.

It can produce an endless amount of energy.

The very thing that built up most of modern civilization and what determined the technological progression for civilizations to come.

At least, that was what the man learned when researching the Kardashev scale by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev.

With this knowledge, he could see the future right before his eyes and it further provoked his will to reach it. But to do it, he needed the support of people.

At first, he experimented on how to extract the energy from crystal which took many tries but eventually it worked. He then created a fake self-own electrical company and earned wealth slowly and in secret.

And with wealth came power, enough to make him become a full-fletch politician. In his first speech, he shouted words of a greater African nation, saying a promise that it would be on par with America and it would find a fine line between modernization and tradition.

Many at that time had the same ideal as him. So most people believed him and followed him with all their hearts.

However, some don't believe his claims especially those from Russia and America. So they ignored him, seeing him as a crazy fool, an idiot.

But they ignored him for far too long.

Deep beneath the sands of the Sahara, the man started his move.

For the next few decades, he ordered the construction of a modern underground city in secret using prototype terraforming drills and building drones imported from Britain. All of which back then required an absurd amount of energy. Fortunately, those problems were covered by his crystal which he kept a secret to this day by building solar panels as a cover for the crystal's existence.

After the construction of the city, he invented a force field that forms a dome covering the entire city. He also ordered the construction of eight giant mechanical legs under the city.

30 years of progressing later. The city rose just on the outskirts of Mali and headed towards Bamako.

From on top of the walking metal vessel, a prideful man cried out.

"I am Adda Abara!! TODAY MARKS THE DAY, I CLAIMED BAMAKO AS THE TRUE CAPITAL OF THE NEW UNITED CONTINENT OF AFRICA!!!"

The walking city plants itself near the outskirts of old Bamako and was declared the new Bamako.

And that ultimately concluded the end of his story.

The epilogue showed the country's involvement with World War 3 for which Africa was the main force that protected Japan. After the war, the two-nation became very close, and even signed a permanent treaty called "The Treaty of Two Suns."

For now, another's fate is about to begin. A young man stands out on a landing pad near the top of the tallest tower in the city.

?? "Ok...aha. Ok. I see you. Whew! Glad that the meeting's over!

The young man looks at his fancy gold watch.

?? "Time to go pick up my friends."

______________________________________________________

A group of warriors finds themselves laying in the middle of The Sahara. One by one, they begin to wake up.

Dave "Shit that's fucking hot! Are we in Africa, bros?!"

|His chat spams the Africa flag|

Dave treads and takes a look at his surroundings. Sand. Sand. Sand. Portal! Kanji's portal is open!

Dave "Oh come on man! Not again dude..."

The portal flashes and Kanji steps out of it. He's holding something.

Dave "Oh thank god bro! Wai, what the hell?!"

Claire "Kaney!! What is that?"

Adrian "Holy smokes! that's one HUGE syringe!!"

Kanji "Everyone calms down! I'm just gonna inject it into the back of your right wrist really quick."

They all fall back, nervous about his next move. Kanji gives a disappointed stare.

Kanji "Seriously guys! After the things, we saw and did! You're seriously afraid of this."

Diana "Sorry boss. But I'm pretty sure everyone has syrinaphobia."

Sarah Amelia and Noah shake their heads in agreement.

Kanji "It's called trypanophobia. But it's ok! Just close your eyes guys."

They refuse at first, but a part of them trusts Kanji and so they close their eyes shut. Kanji dash to each one of their wrists and quickly inject the portal chips.

"Ouch!"

They all said in sync. But their faces clearly show that it wasn't that bad.

Amelia "Anyway, what does this do, lad? Wait... No. Bloody. Way!"

She looks at her wrist. A black and white holographic panel pops up. It is similar to the blue skill windows they all have, except there are only empty spaces.

Kanji "Yep. It can be activated by looking at your wrist or by the voice command "Inventory". Also it is neurally linked to your brain so any item you wish to pull out is automatic."

Everyone follows Kanji's instructions and activates their perspective inventory. They then grab all their stuff and proceeds to put it into the panels.

Some of the blank spaces are nowed filled.

AN "No fucking way. Portable inventories!"

Dave "Holy shit! Bros this is broken as fuck man. At this point, we feel like we cheating out here dudes."

|his chat spams PepeCD and EZ|

Kanji "Don't get too excited now. This system only allows up to 50 different items to be stored, unfortunately. The amount of materials needed to increase the size is far beyond what I have."

Dave "That sucks man! So... what we do now?"

Kanji ~sigh~ and sits on the ground, he pulls out his phone and calls someone.

Kanji "Yo, Azan! Sorry, but are you free? If so, could you come and pick us up? We are somewhere in the middle of Saharah. Like literally. Probably closer to the state of Algeria."

He puts it back.

Kanji "Guess we have to wait. For now, let's do what we always do. Battle preparations and skill making. Due to "recent events", we gonna need this more than ever."

Dave "Agree dude! But first, Adbro. Yesterday we discuss how we all met Kanji. Now it's your turn bro."

Diana rolls her eyes and was about to punch dave, but Claire, Noah, and Sarah hold her back.

Kanji "Everyone seriously forgot how we met."

Adrian "Do forgive them Kanji. It was quite a while ago, time sure bog the memory. As for me, I have remembered everything. I met you when I contacted you after your podcast "The Mind and Boredom". Gonna be honest and I'm sorry if this might sound rude. But... that's podcast was pretty bad."

Kanji "Sad, but true. The thing didn't even last one month. Enough of my failures... to save time and end this subject once and for all, I'm just gonna tell you how I met the three remaining members."

Everyone sits down, issuing no objections to his command.

Kanji "Ok, so the truth is that each one of them contacted me to form a kind of connection and claimed it was for their "business". Which I found very sketchy, but I accepted them anyway."

Dave "Wait... how did they know you are a big shot 5head scientist bro?"

Kanji "I guess they somehow knew of my identity but chose to hide it."

Kanji scratches his chin and tries to find the possible way that they could find out. Unable to come up with an answer, he continues.

Kanji "Whatever their intentions were, strangely those three feel more like friends than business partners."

Dave "Well. We just need to ask him, bro. Also weren't they like only teenagers at the time, bro?"

Kanji "Yes, I met all three of them online subsequently. Around ten months after meeting Claire. Wait... scratch that! One of them, I just met one month after meeting Claire."

He looks at Claire, and they both smile.

Sarah "Umm...sorry to interrupt but...."

She walks toward Amelia, Amelia blushes as Sarah begins to poke her boobs.

Amelia "Sa-Sa-Sarah!! What are you doing, lass?!"

Sarah "Just checking if you still have your rose gold armor."

Amelia "You should have just asked! And no, for some reason after the armor was hit, it disappeared."

Kanji "That's odd because the bandages and the soaps Claire gave us didn't disappear. It is okay to assume that combat-related items separated from Claire will vanquish after one use. AN? Any input?"

AN " Oh right! Forgot about that. Sorry guys! Perhaps maybe in later levels, the items won't disappear. I don't know, at this point, I feel like I'm useless."

Claire "Oh, AN! Don't say that! You helped us more than enough. You are NOT useless."

Diana "True, you are a valuable member of our group! But shit, giving everyone permanent armor would have been very useful."

Claire "Yeah I agree."

Kanji claps his hands and everyone lines up.

Kanji "Everyone! Except for Sarah Diana and Noah! Use up all your skill points. And Claire, you can create some utility items or tools. And Adrian tells us about your powers."

Adrian nods and begins to relay what happened on his side of the story during yesterday's conflict.

Kanji "I see telepathy between just all of us is quite useful. We don't need to send messages through AN anymore as long as we stick together. However, the part where we have to talk to relay a message back can be a bit tedious."

Diana "Wow, Adrian. Glad to see you're still a wimp, look at your body posture. This power suits you perfectly. AHAHAHA."

Dave "Yo! Gorilla! Leave my bro alone, man."

Claire "Yeah! That was quite mean."

Adrian "It's ok guys. We are just being ourselves. I didn't mind it that much actually. I think we should start though."

Kanji "You all heard him. Now, go off!"

Kanji moves away from the group. He is excited at the thought of creating some new skills. He concentrates and imagines a blade of his empty right hand.

Massive bursts of energy appear, they gather and create an electric blade in his right hand.

Kanji [6. Energy blade]

He then put up his other hand and envisions a force field.

More bursts of electrical energy appear again, but they quickly spin and rotate around him.

Kanji [7. Energy shield]

Kanji then notices a problem. His blade is now gone! He stands up and thinks about what to do, and an idea pops up.

He conjures up more bursts of energy. This time, however, He pulls it into his chest and forces it to spread. One travels to his right hand and one travels to his left hand.

His shield and blade are now active.

Kanji [8. Energy dual conduit]

He falls from exhaustion. Seeing a small cut on his arm that he got from experimenting earlier in his portal, another idea arises. The word "regeneration" comes to mind. Instead of just restoring energy, he wishes for wounds to also heal.

He touches the burning sands and begins absorbing the heat. He can feel drops of energy entering his body, his mind focuses on his cut. It heals.

Kanji [9. Healing Energy]

Diana, Noah, and Sarah clap with increasing rhythm after seeing his performance.

Diana "Good job boss! Those were some flashy moves."

Kanji "Thank you. But shouldn't you guys like practice your powers."

Sarah "Me and Noah already did that while you were in the portal earlier. Let's just say my aim is a lot better."

Noah "And my defense is.... tougher." "Holy shit! She was trying to hurt me with that ring! Good thing my fear blocked them. I still love her though."

Kanji "I see, so what about you Diana."

Diana "Boss, honestly. I'm fucking lost. The hell is friction?"

Kanji "The easiest way to explain it is that it is the resistance that one object or surface meets when moving over another. One example would be dragging behind a bag full of metal junk which is slow and heavy. If there is no friction, the bag would just slide along the ground."

Diana "Ah!...I didn't get the first part. But the second, I sorta get! So I either increase this "friction" to slow the enemy or decrease this "friction" to speed up the enemy. I wonder if I can use the second idea to speed up comrades as well."

Kanji "Why don't you try it out? We are going to group up with the others anyway. But you should instead increase the friction as it would be quite useful here, walking on sand can be rather tedious."

Diana "Yes! Boss!"

She stomps the ground and a wave of law travels through their feet, the sand they were standing on feels easier to traverse.

The group then walks toward Claire who has some tools on her.

Cl "Oh, perfect! You guys are here! One for you. One for you. One for you. One for you. And one for me!"

She handed Diana a pickaxe, Kanji night vision goggles, Sarah a shovel, Noah a sharpening stone, and gave herself a spyglass.

Sarah "I understand why the others got what they got. But.... why did I get a shovel?"

Claire "I assume you like burying bodies, Sarah."

Sarah "True dat! Sister! Thank you for the gift."

Kanji "Have you seen Adrian? Is he with Dave and Amelia?"

Claire " Yeah. Apparently, they needed an audience for their training. Those silly geese!"

They make their way to where Dave and Amelia are training.

Shocked to find that they are dueling.

Amelia's wielding a knife in one hand and a frying pan in the other. She tries to hit Dave, but her attacks were too slow and so Dave dodges. Almost like he is playing with her.

He sees an opportunity and trips her feet, making her fall flat on her face. Dave is ready to say something, but then-

Bang!

Dave "Yo, the fuck was that! Dude not cool! That pan fucking hurts!"

Amelia "Well, you should've been more cautious love."

What she did was a false movement. She distorted his perception by creating a false running movement with her clone leading him into tripping her fake. To add even more realism, she made it as though his action felt real by manipulating the feeling of touch when he kicks the illusion's leg, despite there being nothing there but air.

Amelia [8. False movement] [9. False Touch]

Adrian "Wow, that was quite a performance...I think. All I saw was Dave kicking the air and then staring at the ground while Amelia snuck up behind him." "This could be a funny comedy script."

Dave "She just used her illusions! But now it's my turn!"

She puts up her weapons on guard and becomes blurry.

Dave's bat begins to stretch into a whip which then grows rows of spikes.

Dave [8. Whip transform]

Amelia "Urrr...honey. Pumpkin. What a-are you doing?!"

He remains silent and dashes toward her with blinding speed. With her swift hands, she manages to block the incoming attack.

Something's wrong.

She looks at his whip. It's bending around her weapons! She tries to move back and release her weapons but it's late. The whip switches into a net and wraps around her body.

Dave [9. Bend around]

Amelia "Ok! Ok! We can call it fair play."

Dave "Since when are you like this. A lot more feisty than usual."

Amelia "Who knows? Maybe experiencing near-death changes a person. Now tell me. Am I closer to Amber now?"

Dave pulls his bat closer, the two are in kissing distancing.

Dave "Still a bit far. But good progress."

They are ready to go in for a kiss, but they quickly realize that the others are watching.

Dave releases his bat off her, and they stare toward them.

Dave "Yo! You all like that shit."

Kanji "Those are some interesting abilities, you came up with. That last part was also quite "interesting". Just a warning though, don't go too far. We wouldn't want to babysit a kid in the middle of our journey."

Dave "Yeah. Sorry, our bad, bro! Anyway, bro where's your chain?"

Diana "That's right! Where is your chain, boss?! We haven't seen it since yesterday."

Kanji "Sorry to tell everyone this. But It is currently going through a kind of modification. I didn't expect it to take this long, however-

?? "Hello, my friends!"

The group scatters and looks around for the appearing voice, but they saw nothing.

?? "I'm up here!"

They all look up and are surprised to see a supersized military helicopter flying far above them.

A ladder drops down in front of them.

Kanji "Well, this sure brings back some interesting memories. Personally."

One by one, the warriors climb up the ladder and enter the vehicle. There they see a strapping young man in a tuxedo, wearing polished fancy shoes and holding a metal suitcase.

Sarah "Is that you Azan?!"

Azan "Correct. Nice to finally greet everyone in person."

Diana "Still as a businessman like as always, huh."

The helicopter begins to move westward to Bamako. A conversation stirs among the group.

Dave "Ok, I'll be real now. Azan, bro. How the fuck did you know Kanji is a big shot?!"

Azan "Right to the point I see, David. I learned about him in my dreams. Three images to be exact. One about us lying on the floor unconscious in a throne room. One showed a giant salamander-looking creature, its appearance was blurry. And lastly, one that directly showed all information about Kanji. This was long before I met him and from that time I knew I had to contact and befriend him."

Kanji "Now it all makes sense! The wielder's dreams. We haven't discus-

Azan "Hold! Before that, let's make an even trade. Now you answer my question! I thought that you were just gathering everyone for vacation. My guess was wrong, seeing everyone here is... armed. I believe that there is a bigger story."

The group nod and tell everything to Azan. He feels skeptical after hearing their story, so he wanted proof. At that moment, Kanji unleashes the disguises on everyone's altered body parts.

In his mind, Azan is a bit in disbelief but he keeps his cool.

Azan "Ok, you can hide them back now. This is enough proof. You guys can discuss the dreams thing. I... I need a moment to think about this."

Kanji hides everyone's augmented parts and kicks off a new conversation.

Kanji "Ok guys. While Azan going over his thoughts, we still need to know about everyone's dreams. It could help us a lot."

Dave "Me, Adbro, and Cla' bro have already told everyone our dreams. So it is now for Zakovov, Sas, Amby, and Nobro's turn."

Amelia "I suppose, I should lead first. My dreams are.... my dreams are... I can't remember!"

Dave "Amy. What's wrong bro?! You lost it somehow."

Amelia "I don't know! All I know now is that I used to have a few clear dreams about some event. But something happened. I think it happened when I was unconscious."

Kanji "Was it yesterday or.... no it can't be!"

Dave "Lord Kin. That bastard, He must have done something to Amby to make sure we go through his stupid so-called "desired path"!"

|His chat spams Madge|

Kanji "There is no use complaining about it. He is beyond our power. Let's just move on."

Dave and Amelia feel defeated. They both sit there silently with their thoughts, upset over how powerless they feel. Claire comes over to cheer them up.

Sarah ".... ok. Is it okay for me to tell now or... this isn't a good time?"

Diana "Nah, it's alright! Those two will calm down. You can go ahead, then me, and then Noah."

Noah "She's right." "Sounds good to me."

Sarah "Alright, here I go. My dreams were just one scenario. It's me as a kid going through a book filled with weird alien-like creatures which may have sparked my interest in eldritch things. And yes, I did find the book when I was a kid lol."

Diana "Ok, thank you for that, Sarah. I'm glad you're becoming more talkative unlike Noah here."

Noah "Yo, not cool...this is a choice of lifestyle." "Diana. I wish I could talk more. But I'm stuck being you know... me."

Diana "Annnywaaays. My turn. Two images as well. One shows a weird fucking elephant made out of gas and the other shows a pair of weird gloves or gauntlets? I don't know."

AN "Wait, were the gauntlets or gloves old or ancient?"

Diana "It was blurry as fuck! Like I can tell!"

AN "Hmmm, then it could be any kind of important gauntlets. Just hope it isn't the one in the center of the universe. Otherwise, we would have a lot more trouble."

Noah "..yeah no shit. Welp, my turn now. It is a scenario about all eleven of us.... like swimming near a waterfall. Such useless info." "No, that scenery is actually very sweet and wholesome."

Kanji "Ok, great input you guys! After hearing all of this, I can conclude a couple of things. First, let's talk about the aspect types which are passive and active. I can say that Dave, Diana, Addo, and me are active aspects. For the passive aspects, it would be Claire, Noah, Sarah, and Adrian. Knowing that the last two somehow contacted me first, I can assume that they got my info the same way Addo did. So we can put them as the remaining active aspects making 6 in total. This makes Amelia and the Aspect of Fate, passive aspects."

Sarah "Hold on! Noah's a passive aspect? That doesn't seem right... then again his power needs him to grow emotions which he lacks. BUT that doesn't mean that lacking is a bad thing."

Noah "Thanks." "But ouch tho."

Kanji "There's nothing we can do about it, Sarah. Now that this is done. So Azan are you going to-

Azan "No."

Kanji "I'm sorry. No? No for what?"

Azan "I'm sorry. I'm not coming with you guys."

They were speechless, they couldn't believe what they heard.

Dave "What the fuck ma-

Kanji blocks Dave's rant and confronts Azan.

Kanji "There must be a serious reason. Right?"

Azan " Yes. You see this."

He points at the standing city below as the helicopter slowly descends toward an open landing pad near the top of the highest tower in the city.

Azan "It is my father's legacy and dream. He is a man I truly admire but one day he may pass away. By going with you, there is a chance that legacy won't live further nor will this entire continent whose legs are carried around by his very life and presence."

Kanji "I see. Well, I did say that going with us is optional and I respect your choice."

Azan "I'm glad you're ok with this, you are a true friend. Now may you all excuse me, I have some matters to attend to. Have fun sightseeing around the city. We can catch up and have fun later. Adios!"

He said as he's exiting the vehicle and onto the landing platform. The others also exit the helicopter but they didn't follow him, instead they sit near the helicopter feeling a bit down.

________________________________________________

Meanwhile. Around the same time.

"HAVE YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU DID?! GENERAL KARLAC!!"

KARNAT "My Liege! I am so sorry. But may I ask what I did? Exactly?"

She facepalms and puts up an id with a picture of a young girl. She looks familiar.

KARNAT "Wait. Isn't she the special major from yesterday?! It was M116 if I recalled."

"YES! AND SHE IS VERY IMPORTANT! LOOK AT HER NAME!"

Karnat hesitates to look at her nameplate, it spells out "Azora Calsion".

KARNAT "Tha-that name is-

"That's she is the cult leader's daughter!!! Her identity is meant to be hidden by putting her with the majors! I thought I told YOU to not let her join the battle!"

Karnat looks to his left and his right. But he sees no one, every soldier already left.

KARNAT "THOSE MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLES! THEY DARE TO NOT TELL ME AND LEFT ME BEHIND! I SWEAR AFTER THIS IS OVER! SOMEONE"S HEAD IS COMING OFF!!!"

KARNAT "I have nothing to say, your majesty. I'm sorry."

"You know "sorry" ain't gonna cut it. So I withdrawing the majors from your forces. AND I'll be expecting you to achieve something good today. Cause If you don't, you're not going like what happens next! Any problem with that?!"

KARNAT "N-No. No, I don't think so." "FUCK. WHAT I'M GONNA DO NOW!"

"Good."

Transmission ends.

Kanji lies helpless on the floor, his mind is searching around for what he should do next.

KARNAT "Damn it! I got a plan set up and everything with those majors! And I can't even send soldiers into that city seeing how secured it is! What now?! What do I do?!"

He opens up a viewing panel and sees the tuxedo-wearing human splitting off from the group. Curious to see what the human is doing, Karnat focuses on him instead.

After a long walk across an endless corridor from the landing platform. Karnat sees him entering a door on the left labeled "Head Office".

Inside, Karnat sees a much older human, and the two humans sit face to face.

Something catches his attention.

________________________________________________

Azan "Hello, father. Do you need me?"

Ada "Have a seat, my son."

Azan sits down and sees his dad handing him tea.

Azan "Seeing you being quite courteous. That means there's something important your want to tell me."

Ada "That's my boy! I'll be quick to the chase! Here, have this and protect it with your life."

The mood of the room changes, Azan sees the object his dad is handing to him. He knows exactly what this is, and the amount of responsibility on his back increase beyond imagining. He feels too nervous to accept it, but using all his courage he manages to pry it off his father's hand.

Azan "I will father!"

Ada "Good. You can leave now and speak of this to no one. Spies are everywhere these days."

________________________________________________

KARNAT "That crystal. My knife. I feel.... strange. I...I...I NEED IT!!!"

Karnat slams down on his watch and teleports behind Azan a short while after he exited the room. Karnat tries to punch him in the back of his head, but Azan dodges it.

Azan "For a spy, You sure are pretty brave..."

He looks at Karnat's outfit.

Azan "...and have a way with cosplaying. Who are you?!"

KARNAT "A spy. A HUMAN SPY. DON'T COMPARE ME TO YOU FILTHY HUMANS! I'M THE THIRD GENERAL OF THE EMPIRE. JUST HAND OVER THAT CRYSTAL!"

Azan "...I see now. So instead of fighting the awakened wielders, you chose to fight a normal civilian. A cowardly move."

KARNAT "THE FUCK YOU SAY!!!"

He dashes forward and dishes out three punches to his neck, chest, and stomach. But when the punches reach Azan, Karnat feels like he hit a steel wall. So he quickly backs out.

KARNAT "You're a modified human! CIVILIAN MY ASS!"

Azan "That's right! Courtesy of Gwentec biological augmentation technology. This way I won't be just some helpless prince of this country. Now, it's my turn!"

Karnat sees Azan's muscle grows three times the size and so he pulls his knife preparing a counter-attack.

KARNAT Uck- /// Azan Argh-

Azan's punch hit Karnat's stomach, breaking open his exoskeleton and injuring his internal organs. Karnat's knife managed to leave a huge cut across Azan's chest.

The two fighters coil in pain but then stand back up.

One last move. The two ready themselves.

Azan begins to deliver another punch, but Karnat gets the first move as he stabs his right shoulder.

KARNAT "SHIT! IT'S TOO SHALLOW!"

He looks at the punch aiming directly at his face.

With a stroke of luck, he has an idea.

Karnat holds on to his knife and with his strength, he pulls himself up in the air and dodges Azan's punch.

At that moment, Karnat grabs Azan's head and slams it with his own. again. Again. AGAIN. AGAIN. Until both are bleeding.

Azan "I. won't. l-let. y-you. t-take...."

He collapses to the floor, and Karnat smiles at his victory. But that smile quickly vanishes as he hears running footsteps behind him. His mind becomes dizzy, he walks closer and closer to Azan.

He reaches into the guy's pocket and takes the crystal. He looks at Azan one more time.

KARNAT "Just be glad, you're not my target. Human."

With nothing more to do, Karnat presses his watch and his body warps back to his spaceship. Leaving Azan's wounded body to bleed out on the floor.

Several hours pass. Azan lies unconscious on a medical bed, his father waits anxiously beside him.

And just like that, he wakes up.

Ada "Son! You're okay!"

Azan "D-Dad?..."

He couldn't look his father in the eye, knowing that he has failed him. On the first day no less.

Azan "...I'm sorry but I have to go!!"

Azan rushes out of bed and exits the room at full speed. He heads directly toward the landing platform.

Kanji "Guys. Let's give up. He made up his mind."

The group sadly nod their head in agreement and begin climbing back into the helicopter.

But suddenly, they heard shouting echoing from the corridor.

They turn to look back and see Azan, his suit looks a bit scratched. Kanji climb down to see him.

Kanji "Here to say your goodbyes."

Azan "No... I'm in!"

________________________________________________

On his spaceship, Karnat dials a transmission to the Empress.

"WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?! DID YOU FAIL AGAIN?!"

KARNAT "On the contrary my empress! I brought this!"

"THIS... this... this is quite an unexpected catch. Just where did you?... No, I shouldn't bother you more than this. I shouldn't have treated you so badly."

KARNAT "You're too kind your majesty! I'm just a humble servant!"

"No, I'm serious. With this, our victory is already guaranteed even if you screw up anything further. But you don't need to know more about this. Proceed to put the crystal in the transporter capsule."

Karnat puts on a smile and jolly walks to the capsule. He is about to put it in, but... this crystal.

This crystal. He feels a weird connection, his body refuses to let go but his mind and his loyalty force it off his hand.

His smile is gone.

"Good work General Karlac. Have a rest. Oh, and you'll be glad to know that your access to majors is now back and you can even request one if not all of the "Executioners". "

The transmission finishes.

Karnat curls up on the floor. On this day, He doesn't feel any sort of satisfaction with his victory, but he has a feeling of loss like a part of him was stripped away.

He feels betrayed. He feels abandoned. He cries not knowing what to do with himself. Then he falls unconscious.