Chapter 7

The white light dissipated slowly. Kris took a look around. It didn't feel like they'd left. Elizabeth and the others stood as the door opened. Kris stood up as well, but his feet wobbled and he fell to his knees. As he tried to recollect himself, his head began to spin.

"Huh?" he mumbled as he tried again to stand but fell backwards.

"It's the after effect for near-instant travel." Elizabeth placed her hand on his forehead and imbued a bit of source energy into him.

"You'll get used to it," she added with a light smile.

They walked out of the facility and into a Limo. They were escorted by a convoy of military jeeps and drove through downtown Sharm el-sheik to Jabal Mousa, a mountain reserve with history and wildlife. Historically said to be the mountain where Moses received the ten commandments.

Once they got out of the Limo, they were greeted with a heatwave. Kris felt his body shrivel on contact. He was reluctant to leave the Limo but Elizabeth's men dragged him out. They walked towards the steeper and more direct route. A path called Siket Sayidna Musa, to ascend the mountain. The commander and her men released their source energy gently at their feet and began to walk freely on the mountain walls. Kris's mouth was agape as he saw them. He took a deep breath and imagined reaching for the energy he had felt at the base of his stomach. Once he could reach it, he tried connecting his legs to it, basically letting the energy flow from his stomach to the base of his feet. His legs glowed red, and he began walking on the walls.

"Interesting, Yu was right about the potential in this boy." Elizabeth thought to herself with a smirk. After a few steps, Kris's legs started screeching on the walls till he fell back down to the base on his back.

"Shit!" he called out as he rolled to his side.

"But of course, he still has a lot to learn." she chuckled as they continued to ascend the mountain.

Kris tried a second time and went quite a bit further up but still fell on his back. The heat was deafening and the sun showed brightly in the sky. Kris decided to climb normally. As he got to the third quarter of the height, he met Elizabeth and the others waiting. He was out of breath, his eyes begging for water, and his body all dusty and covered in sweat. They all laughed at his facial expression.

"I was wondering if you'd make it." She mocked. Kris furrowed his eyebrows and he stared at the rocky wall behind her.

She turned around and placed her right hand on it. The rocks above them lifted open for about eight by ten meters. They all walked in and a soldier helped Kris inside. As they walked, the lights in front came on, illuminating the path to a large elevator. Soldiers were lined up at both sides in a salute till they got into the elevator. The doors closed shut and the elevator went downwards quickly. Even though it descended with speed, the inside felt as though it wasn't moving, just a little jug before decent. Once it reached the base, the elevator doors opened to reveal magnificent scenery. It was as though they had entered a mini-city. They entered another Limo that drove them to the main Headquarters. They passed through fields of soldiers training, market-like areas, arsenals, arenas, beautiful dome-like and expansive structures(Some of which had labs at the very top.)

"This is intense!" Kris whispered to a soldier in the limo.

"Yeah, I think I cried my first time seeing this beauty."

"What I don't get is...If you have all this, why don't you have a teleportation room here at the HQ?" Kris whined with a judging expression on his face.

"It's called a transfer route, and we do..."

"Then why did we have to go through all that? Why not teleport directly here?" Kris's eyes widened and he looked as though he was ready to bite the man's head off.

"Don't you get it, boy?" Elizabeth snapped. "Your training has already begun."

The car stopped and as he got out, he felt waves of energy hit against him. He stopped dead in his tracks and held his chest.

"You feel that don't you?" Elizabeth smirked. Kris was silent as he could feel his heartbeat racing. Rather than scared, he was excited. He felt a rush of excitement in him which he was trying hard to suppress.

"This is where you will be spending the next few weeks before getting reassigned," she added as she walked into the HQ.

Everyone followed her lead till they got to the hallway of her office where only Kris and she continued to walk. There were two source soldiers by her door. They saluted till both she and Kris entered the office.  She had an expansive table with short flags of the United Nations, Egypt, and the Special ops flag (flag with a peregrine falcon insignia). There was a big office chair and a large window behind it with curtains well folded at the edges. Shortly after they had taken their seats, The door opened and Abubakr walked in.

"Commander!" He spoke as he saluted with his left hand. Fragments of James's memories flowed into Kris as he saw Abubakr. He placed his hand on his forehead and groaned a bit at the slight ache he felt as he saw, in first person, how Abubakr pushed James out of the way and had his right hand sliced off by Edward. 

"You've healed well. That's good." Elizabeth congratulated him.

"Yes Sir!"

"It's rather unfortunate what happened to you. You were a great asset at the Giza division."

Abubakr took a deep breath and looked forward at the commander.

"If I may..." he started and she lifted her eyes in approval for him to continue.

"I would like you to reconsider my retirement from the front lines. I can still fight. My balance may be a bit off but I am very sure I can function optimally in the front..."

"You are still effectively retired from the front lines. You lost your dominant arm not so long ago, you are subjected to a literal handicap and most importantly, you are struggling to keep your source energy stable. Don't give me that crap of being optimal when in reality you are going to be a liability to your comrades. It's the truth, accept it." Elizabeth reprimanded with a straight face.

"Ouch..." Kris muttered as he looked away from the scene.

Abubakar's eyes were full of frustration as he looked downwards. He clenched his fist.

"Yes sir!"

Elizabeth let out a sigh. "The frontlines aren't the only way to serve. You have a good track record and have also been a good influence amongst your mates and to the recruits," she remarked with her elbows on the desk, fingers interlocked slightly in front of her chin.

Abubakr's eyes widened a bit as he slowly lifted his head to see Elizabeth smiling.

"Being retired from the frontlines doesn't mean we have no use for you."

Abubakr's eyes filled with tears which he was struggling to hold back as Elizabeth continued. "You will join the team in charge of modelling the recruits and you will also be a special tutor to Kris over there."

Abubakr glanced over at Kris who raised his right hand and said Yo!

"He's a special case and would need to catch up with the others who are already halfway through their training. From now on, he's your problem." Elizabeth chimed in while resting her back on the office chair and turning it around to face the big window behind her.

"Yes Sir!" Abubakr saluted and signalled at Kris to follow him. Kris furrowed his eyebrows with a displeased look on his face but followed him regardless. They walked for about ten minutes with Kris calling out to him at intervals which he ignored. This was irritating Kris and after a few more minutes, he stopped and yelled, "Hey! One-armed!"

Abubakr stopped. He gritted his teeth with a death warning smile and turned around slowly to face Kris.

"Hey! What did you call me?" Abubakr beaming as he walked closer to Kris.

"One-armed, because you know..." Kris chuckled as he rolled his eyes.

"I see you have a smart mouth."

Abubakr maintained his expression as he walked towards a door to his left. He placed his hand on the palm scanner and the door opened.

"Get in."

"Not until you tell me what I'd be doing and what's inside that room."

"It's a testing sight. It measures what you can do at this point."

"Was that so hard?" Kris scoffed as he walked into the room. Inside was a bright space about thirty meters in radius. Abubakr followed and walked to the centre leaving Kris at the edge of the room. He closed his eyes and let his source energy flow out. The blue energy raged, spiralled around his body, and rose to about a meter above him. Kris's eyes lit with excitement as he took a few steps back (his eyes followed the rising energy while stepping). The spiralling of the blue energy was graceful, wild yet controlled.

"Impressive isn't it," Abubakr smirked.

"Not bad..." Kris responded with his eyes dropping to Abubakr's.

"Tchh... This is the initiation stage of source energy. Releasing the power from within. The sub-info I got on you suggests that you have a core already. A roundabout method but try and.."

Kris brought out his red source energy which barely engulfed his body but was rising slowly.

"What! Red source?" Abubakr thought to himself in shock as the energy scattered around Kris's feet. It was becoming strenuous and Kris began to crouch to a horse stance.

"Now I am impressed. Even when told how to release the energy, most people struggle to even make it visible for days. To think he can already do it" Abubakr said to himself as placed his hand on his chin.

Kris clenched his teeth and widened his eyes. The strain was visible on his face and sweat started draining from his forehead. He called up even more energy and it began to rise a few centimeters above him.

"Tchh... This reminds me of training with James, I almost hate to do this... Almost" Abubakr smirked.

Light from the roof covered a space for two around Abubakr. A strong pressure fell around the rest of the room knocking Kris's face flat to the ground.

"Don't lose concentration on your source energy. Trust me, once you drop the energy surrounding you, your body will feel as though it's being crushed by a building."

"The fuck!" Kris began to struggle to maintain the energy. The energy dropped around his hands and he felt pain as though it was being crushed. He forcefully raised the energy to cover his hands more.

"All you have to do is walk to this safe zone and you will be fine. if you don't, you will be crushed."

Kris forced himself to a kneeling position. He pushed more energy to resist as he fought to stand. He glared at Abubakr and began taking slow steps towards him. Abubakr smirked and flicked his fingers, suddenly the ground began to move in different patterns. The first shift forced Kris into a complete split. He screamed, his energy dropped, the crushing feeling compounded on him, then he rose the energy back with tears coming out of his eyes. Abubakar laughed out loud.

"Let me tell you something fun. This is actually a room for the intermediate level. Those who understand their energy flow but have yet to release their armor. I was going to take you to the beginner's room... but since you decided to call me one-armed. This is what you get!" Abubakr glared with an evil grin.

Kris rolled to his side. The ground shifting at intervals was throwing him from left to right.

"Give up?"

"Fuck you!" Kris yelled. He staggered to his knees and began to crawl forward.

"Even if he is groveling, he is progressing. But..."

The ground sunk a few meters then rose back up tossing Kris into the air. The pressure forced him quickly to the ground. he bounced, his eyes widened then He lost control of his source energy. The crushing pressure he felt afterwards made his eyes almost rollback. With his willpower, he brought out his source energy to resist it. He was barely conscious at this point and all his bones ached.

"I could help you out... All you have to do is apologise for calling me one-armed and say my name." Abubakr prattled as he looked at Kris condescendingly.

The ground shifted Kris to the right side of Abubakr. Kris turned his body to look at him with pain on his face.

"I'm listening."

Kris relaxed his expression and smiled. Then he lifted his middle finger slowly before passing out. Abubakr sighed. He stopped the pressure of the room and the ground became stable. He walked to Kris and shook his head.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kris felt himself sinking in a dark area. He could hear a faint voice surrounding him.

"Huh who's there, what are you saying?" He whimpered as everything around him was dark.

"You literally chose to be crushed by a building than call him by his name!" James laughed.

"Who said that?"

"Oh come on... Are we doing this again?"

"What?"

"I guess it might still be a while, but for now... WAKE UP!"

Kris awoke. He felt slight pain in his body. He groaned as he tried to sit up. He was in a room, basically a self-contained with all the essentials. Added to this was a study and a mini fridge. He turned to his right and saw Abubakr sitting on a chair at the edge of his bed.

"The doctors said you only needed rest. So I brought you to your dorm." Abubakar stated as he got up from the chair.

"Thanks for trying to kill me." Kris retorted with a pained face.

"Anytime." Abubakar chuckled as he began to leave the dorm. He stopped and saw Kris still laying on his bed.

"Follow me. You aren't done for the day."

"You aren't done for the day." Kris mocked and hissed as he followed.

They entered a lecture hall room. Kris had this surprised look on his face. They were the only ones present in the room and Abubakr ushered him to take his seat.

"What's this?" He questioned.

"To understand how you will fight the demons, you need to learn about them, learn about source energy, learn the stages and how to utilize it properly."

"Nope... No no... No! I came here to fight and help save the world and all that. Not to study some history lessons. If studying was the deal, I would have stayed in school." Kris snapped as he backed up while waving his hands in a disapproving manner.

"What? Do you think this is a game? Do you think that you'd  just level up by trial and error, then suddenly you become unparalleled amongst your peers?"

"Oh... It's not?" Kris rolled his eyes.

"Tchh..." Abubakr furrowed his eyebrows while walking towards Kris. He grabbed his shirt, and pinned him to the wall.

"No, it's not! This is real life. Every single aspect is important. You need to know what to do when you battle the demons and their different variations. One slip up and you are dead. No second chances! So why don't you stop acting like a kid and get your act together."

Kris squeezed Abubakr's hand and removed it from his shirt.

"The ff..." Abubakr tried to resist before being shoved into the seats by Kris.

"Listen here one-armed. Don't you ever grab my shirt again. I am my own person and I know how to manage on my own. Plus I pick up on things I see, fast." He clenched his fist and the red source energy enveloped him. It was a bit more refined and Kris could feel his strength spiking.

"If you are not willing to show me practically, I'll learn it on my own." Kris scoffed as he turned around and left.

"Why is he so damn difficult!" Abubakr yelled as he hit the floor.

Kris walked for a while. He got outside the building, to an open field. He got to shade with a bench in front of him. He stopped and sighed, he was lost.

"Fuck..." he grunted as he wiped his face with his palm.

"That wasn't nice. Abubakr is only trying to help you as best he can." James voiced out as he took control of Kris's right eye. Kris covered the eye immediately and turned to face the tree.

"The hell? What do you think you are doing. What if someone sees you?"

"Relax, I only took control of the pupil. Moreover, if I don't take over a part of you, you wouldn't be able to hear me."

"Huh? Why? Aren't you in my subconscious?"

"Not exactly... but of course, you'd know this if you sat and listened."

"Tchh... you done?"

"I've had my fair share of being stubborn, but yours is just asinine."

"Alright time to send you back to wherever you're at." Kris scoffed as he stretched his hands up in the air.

"You are all levels of weird." A voice came from behind him.

Kris turned to see an Asian girl with long hair bonded in a ponytail wearing a full khaki, sitting on the bench and staring at him with curiosity.

"Ummm... Can I help you?"

"Oh do go on. Just pretend she is not here." She smiled

"Hard to do with you staring so happily...then again she?" He retorted with a demeaning look.

"So scary... She's been following since you pushed down Sergeant Abubakr."

"Stalker much. And again... she?" Kris with a bored look on his face.

"You said you learn from practicals. She respects that. Why don't 

you join her for combat training."

"You want to go right here right now?"

"No... not here. She know's a place..." She dragged his hand as she moved quickly towards a dome. Once they got in, Kris saw a lot of people with Khaki standing around a large opening. The girl dragged him to the rail. The spectator stand was eight meters vertical away from the actual battle arena. Once Kris got to the rail, he looked down and saw a guy smashing another guy's head into the ground.

"Knockout!" The mediator yelled and everyone screamed out.

"What is this?" Kris asked excitedly.

"What do you think? The best place to test all you've learned within the facility! To you, the most practical you will get aside from the outside."

"Interesting. I am so giving it a go."

"You are that excited?" She smirked as she saw his eyes beaming.

"Alright then, follow me." She dragged Kris down the stairs to meet the mediator.

"You sure about this?" The mediator questioned.

"Yeah, She is sure, besides...It's Francis. She always beat him." She bragged.

"Really? someone a girl beats?" Kris scoffed.

"Tehehee," She tittered.

"Okay then." The mediator replied. He picked up a microphone and yelled!

"We have a change in the roster. For the last match, Su-Ming has decided to give up her turn to this new recruit, Kristofa. So now we would be having Kristofa versus Francis Roland!"

"What? You can't do that! Today's the day I beat you Su" Francis protested.

"You made the bet that whoever lost the last match would do whatever the winner wanted. You can't back out on your own words." The Mediator interjected.

"Suck it up and let's call it a day!" He added.

"Tchh..." Francis hissed. Kris and Francis walked up to the center of the arena.

"You know the rules. You win by knockout or submission!"

Kris smirked as he looked at Francis.

"Why are you smiling newbie? Do you think you have a chance?"

Francis prattled as he raised his fists and took an orthodox boxing stance.

"It's not about that. It's been a long time since I had some exercise. Allow me to use you to blow off some steam." Kris gloated as he assumed the same stance.

Both stared at each other, each with a cocky smirk.

Ready... FIGHT!