18 Opportunities

The entire capital city was mobilizing as orders for the left wing were to join in with the second kingdom, The Andra. The Tredje kingdom's retaliation army consisted of three segments: The left wing, the right wing and the center defense line. The Left wing was stationed on the eastern parts of the kingdom, holding back Kridora forces from the in the center of everything stood Riku as he relayed out directions to each and every regiment.

"Squadrons C1 to C13 report to the Pound for weapons resupply! A1 to A7 report to the hangar for take-off preparations! We have 3 hours to finish this! Central Command out!"

With beads of sweat trickling from his temples, Riku finally took off his earpiece and laid back on his seat. His assistant, Harmet, also took off his equipment.

"You should really take a break now, Riku. Like I've said countless times now, we've got this covered."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Riku answered back with the same reply he's given every time.

"It's nothing, really. And besides, I'll be leaving you guys for quite some time after this so it's only fair I do my share of work."

"You've been really good with directing squadrons and everything from the start. Of course it's going to get hectic when you leave but hey, we're recruiting help from the graduates of this session for this Communications Team of ours. I think we can handle things on our end so you don't worry about it, okay?"

Riku took off his 'Party Hard' jacket and went to the other side of the room where his equipment was kept. He attached his blade contraption on his right hand and his gauntlet on the left and finally put on his dark blue long coat. His coat, similar to Alexio's new suit, had the symbol of the Tredje kingdom on the back but instead of geometric designs, his had phrases written all over. Most would consider it a queer style of clothing but to Riku, it meant something precious.

"Well, I don't know what Lord Deberius is thinking but I have my orders. Sheesh. We're treated like some special class of fighters but really, it's not that much of a difference."

"Says the fourth strongest fighter on the entire planet and a member of the Templar knights. Being an adept fighter class must have merits of their own, don't they?"

"Everyone lays their desperations and hopes on your shoulders and believe me to be their savior but hey. With great power comes great responsibilities, you know?"

With that imposing statement, Riku made his way out of central command room and descended down the stairs. Harmet leaned on his chair a bit more as he thought about what Riku said.

"Great responsibilities, huh? Well I've got mine so might as well get back to it."

***//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////***

(Somewhere above the eastern hills in a drop ship headed for a certain city.)

"Where are we headed again?"

Alexio yawned and stretched leisurely on his seat while Richard and Ava flew the ship. Looking out the window, Alexio saw clouds stretched over in a wide plane with peaks of the easterns hills poking here and there. Ava just sighed as Richard explained the situation.

"We're headed to the *pfft* LOST city of Helgon."

"Lost? If it's lost then how are we 'headed' there?"

On that comment, Richard burst out laughing while Ava continued from where he left off.

"So you see, it's not actually lost but…it's just that nobody actually visits Helgon unless they REALLY have a reason to. So In a sense, it's lost. See, you've never been there. I've been there once and Lord Richard here has been there a couple of times in his entire life. So don't be surprised if you receive a…ahem…warm welcome. They don't get visitors all that very much."

"So I'm assuming there's someone over there who can transfer gifts then?"

"Not exactly. You'll see when we get there."

After an hour or so, the ship began to descend over a thin forest area. Lush green trees sprawled all over the place with a thin path twisting and turning through the density. After a few minutes, Alexio finally saw a clearing in the forest. A small city was laid out right in the middle of the clearing with people walking around everywhere. But even with its rural location, the city was by no means a simple one. Ground to air missile turrets lined the clearing walls with soldiers stationed at every entrance. The citadel was in fact a communications tower which had picked up the approaching ship. At once, the turrets aimed at their ship as a voice came over the open channel.

"Unidentified ship approaching from the northern sector, you have exactly a minute to identify yourselves or we WILL open fire. I repeat-"

Before the stationed officer could complete his message, Richard answered back in a cheerful tone.

"Ey! Sully! It's me, Richhy boy! Hold your fire!"

The person on the other side just sighed and seemed to press a few buttons as the aimed turrets returned to their original state. The young man's voice then returned to the open channel with a slightly irritated tone.

"Could you, like, call before you arrive here?!"

Their ship made its landing on the sole landing zone on the far right corner of the city. As the ramp descended Alexio grabbed his long coat and was going for his blade contraption when Richard whispered something in his ear.

"Son, even though arms are allowed inside the city parameters, I'd like it if you could just not use them here, okay? Keep them on you but don't exhibit it too much."

"Cool. Got it, dad."

The party descended down the ramp, they were greeted by a burly dude in very simple clothing. His hair was bordering on grey and his beard was well groomed. He went up to Richard and they greeted each other quite casually and even embraced briefly while Alexio stood in his place awkwardly. Noticing his uneasiness, Ava whispered something in his ears while those two caught up on recent affairs.

"That's Sully Penson. He and your father served in the same unit back in his prime days. He was pretty powerful, even by my standards but eventually he retired as well. Although his reasons were quite different from your fathers'."

"I see. Well, I gotta thank you once again for this coat, Ava! It's really cool!"

Ava smiled warmly as Alexio showed off his new drip by flailing his arms around and doing poses. This small exchange made her remember something dreadful that she has pondered over quite a few times.

'He's still a kid; Just look at him. We're so desperate at this point that our own future is fighting alongside us, huh? It's understandable that I feel this guilt. I should. I lived my youth to the fullest while the generation after me had to learn how to kill before how to live. We're really pathetic as an example, ain't we?'

Ava was still looking at the ground when Alexio said something to break the silence.

"It��s not like that. Fighting to…protect something is something like living with pride, won't you agree?"

Ava looked up in surprise as Richard beckoned them to come along as Sully led them on. Alexio and Ava caught up to them as they ventured towards the other corner of the small city. Helgon itself was small enough that it took them barely ten minutes to arrive at their destination. As they walked on, Alexio turned his gaze to the houses around him.

'Huh. People living here may be simple but by no standards are they backward. That's the latest workout equipment this dude's got. And that lady's got some mean looking skewers for a lawn. I guess I understand why dad said people rarely come here. It seems like a place for nut jobs more than anything.'

They finally stopped before a building. At first glance, there did not seem to be anything special about it. It was designed just like any other house in this city, with sloping roof tiles for snowy days and and a few windows which were lit up to indicate that somebody was home.

"We've arrived. Richard, I'll catch up with you about the latest happenings later. For now, you and the boy have some business with the descendant, yes?"

Sully turned his eyes to Alexio who meekly waved back.

"Yeah. He's cleared all the conditions. It's finally time."

Richard pushed back the door to reveal an empty house with a few light rods hanging from the ceiling and a trap door on the floor. Richard brought out his gauntlet and opened his connection console. He entered a few command lines and set the code running. In a few moments, the trap door gave a small sound and began to open to the side, revealing a straight drop for at least twenty meters. Richard then turned to the two staring in silence and smiled.

"Alright folks. What we're looking for is down there. Let's go."

"I don't see any stairs or grappling hooks; how are we supposed to get down there?"

On being asked this question, Richard's smile turned to a smirk as he turned towards the hole.

"That is a test in itself. It's a security measure I introduced. One would not be needed here if he couldn't at least make this jump, you see."

With that challenge, Richard jumped right into the hole. Ava followed suit immediately after him after giving a long sigh. Finally Alexio arrived in front of the hole. Lighting was installed up to a few meters but the drop extended a long way further as darkness ensued the light rods. It had been a few seconds since both of them had jumped and he still hadn't heard their footsteps. Finally, giving up on logical reasoning, he braced himself for the drop.

"Fuck it."

Alexio leaped into the hole but unlike most people, he was unaffected by the acceleration since he was constantly dropping into battlefields or into enemy camps in stealth so closing his eyes during the drop was out of the question. But as soon as he passed through the darkness, his feet landed on someone quite soft and he fell over. After a few moments to recover his wits, Alexio saw that he was sprawled out on a large cushion like material. Richard and Ava were looking at him with faces that were about to burst out laughing. They were standing in wait just in front of a large door.

"Wh-What is this?"

"I said you had to make the jump. I never said you need the skills to survive the drop. I was testing your-ahem-courage here, ya know."

Alexio ears reddened a little bit as he climbed out of the large cushion and caught up to them. The compartment that they had landed in seemed to be completely closed off. Apart from the channel they had dropped down, there did not seem to be any openings for access or ventilation. This underground area was almost completely cut off from outside contact. From these facts, Alexio concluded that it was either a sort of panic room or a storage area.

"What are we looking for here?"

"An artifact of immense power. Come along."

The three made their way to the singular door in the compartment and Richard brought out his console once again. He entered more command lines and the door creaked open, letting out stale air and a familiar buzz in Alexio's ears.

"This frequency, it's the same as that hilt we recovered from the Diablo."

"I'm impressed you noticed."

Before them stood another small room with the same flooring as before. A few light rods had been attached to the walls which provided ample lighting. In the middle of the room stood a man sized stone slab with various engravings on it. The hieroglyphics on it were the same as the hilt and in the middle a well-known symbol was engraved.

"That's the symbol of our kingdom, isn't it? What is that thing?"

"Yes, you're right. The symbol for the third kingdom, the sign of power. Do you know what this language is? It's the language of the so called Remnants of Gods that gave our people the gifts we use today. We haven't entirely deciphered it yet but this symbol-"

Richard pulled back his sleeve to reveal the same symbol in black on his arm. It seemed to have been branded on his skin by hot metal but to Ava and Alexio knew precisely what it was. Ava stepped forward towards the stone slab and examined its engravings carefully.

"Ah, the mark of the chosen warrior. Chosen by the king of the third kingdom to be his herald and carry a portion of his immense power. It's a shame really that our king's bloodline died with Fread. He was a fine king. But these engravings certainly are the same as that hilt. What is this thing?"

"We don't have the time for entire explanations so I'll keep it short. This is an artifact with the power to, quote, 'Take the burden from one's shoulders and shift them to another.' "

"What is that suppose-"

Before Ava could complete her statement, Alexio intervened by saying,

"I see. This thing can transfer gifts from one person to another, huh? Pretty cool."

"Not really. It's supposed to do that with the burdens in one's life but yes, in my case that would be my own power. It has a few prerequisites as we found through trail and errors. First, the feeling of regret should be absent from both parties. If either I or you regret our decision to go along with this, it won't happen. Secondly, they must prove themselves capable to carry that burden better than the other guy. That is quite obvious in your case. Lastly, and this is the weird one, they must bear the symbol of absolute power on their body. I don't know why this is but whatever. You've got one too, right?"

Alexio nodded and pointed to the blue symbol on his back, stitched into the fabric.

"Alright, now place your hand on one side of the tablet and I'll be on the other side. You ready?"

Before Alexio could say anything, Ava, who had been quiet all this time, immediately put her hands up and spoke in an urgent tone.

"Alexio, do you even realize what your father is doing? He's giving his dynamic evolution to you! It's something that ultimately drove his body to the condition it is in today! You're still a child. You don't need to carry this burden. I should take it instead. I am more than worthy and-"

"I've had enough with this child business!"

Ava was taken aback by his sudden aggression. Alexio was glaring at Ava but his eyes seemed to understand her thought process.

"You're going about this situation in the wrong way, Ava. I'm glad you're looking out for me when you say you wish to take this burden but I have to be the one. I'm the most compatible with his gift, being a part of the same bloodline. Let go of this guilt you've got in our heart. You adults may be in the wrong by bringing us children onto this path but trust me, nobody out there is fighting against their will. I believe if someone has the opportunity to be a part of something that fights for our world, they'd be honored. I am actually thankful to those who decided to let us fight, to let us be a part in saving our world. Thank you."

These were the words that Ava yearned to hear from someone, though she was frightened at the idea of hoping for them. She just turned around and waved to them to continue with their business, as she subtly wiped a tear from her left eye.

"Alright then, I'll begin the process."

Alexio and Richard places their hands on the tablet as Richard recited a line he seemed to have planned as an incantation of some sort.

"Alexio, I am no longer able to carry this burden that poisons my existence and now hope to seek salvation from this. Will you take this gift that now curses my body?"

Alexio, almost as if on cue, felt words coming out of his mouth.

"I shall take this burden from you, father, and grant you relief for the remaining days of your life."

The symbol of power on the stone tablet glowed green for a brief moment and then went dark again. Richard let go of the stone tablet and briefly grabbed his sides, as if he was in pain. Ava and Alexio rushed to his side and he raised his hand to show he was fine.

"I-I'm alright. That's done, I guess. Congratulations, my son, now you are as strong as me!"

"That was really anticlimactic. But really? Wow!"

Alexio immediately began throwing punches around but did not feel any noticeable difference in his strength or speed. He looked at Ava with confused eyes as she sighed again at Richard's stupidity.

"He's trolling you again. You've gained his power of dynamic evolution, right? Even though it's dynamic, it's not noticeable in real time. You'll have to keep fighting for weeks at least to notice any change."

On that comment, Richard burst out laughing again and Alexio's ears turned pink once more. But before he could throw a punch at his idiotic father, he noticed steam coming off of his palm. Ava and Alexio seemed to notice it too as he turned it over.

"The wound when I grabbed a plasma blade aboard the Diablo. Why is it smoking? Wait…can it be?"

"No way. That quickly? How is this possible?"

Both Ava and Alexio were astounded by this development as Richard pondered on it for a moment.

"It seems you're more compatible with my power than me! Ha ha! But if that's active regeneration, it'll be a problem. I sure hope what you've got is passive."

Active regeneration was a risky power that was possessed by many previous generations. It allowed a person to heal most injuries if they focused all their energy onto healing that wound but that would require one to retire from the battlefield. This made active regeneration similar to evacuating an injured soldier so it was avoided by most since it also consumed energy to heal, a task which can also be accomplished by healers back at camp. Passive healing, on the other hand, was the ability of the body to regenerate any damage without leaving any traces of the wound, without requiring conscious intervention. It was slower than active regeneration but did not require as much energy and the soldier could continue fighting. It was an impressive ability possessed by select few.

"Well, only one way to know. Let's go. We're short on time."

The three made their way to the hole that they had dropped through. Alexio climbed up using his tendrils as a rope. Richard and Ava just leaped high enough to climb out. They made their way through the city when Richard spotted Sully on the way. He was waving his hands wildly and running in their direction. As soon as he arrived, he informed them of the message from Riku, the commanding officer of the left wing.

"An urgent message came through from HQ. It appears as though that heavy artillery redirected from the third kingdom to the second is headed for the capital city walls. A squadron is holding back the Kridora assault team for now but if the Kridora reinforcements reach them before theirs, it's gonna be a wrap for the city. Fortunately, the call for help came through on the open channel and Riku has redirected a few companies from the left wing to head for the city walls. I don't know what your commander is thinking, though. A few companies to fight off heavy artillery? He said Alexio would be a part of that company so it's fine although I don't know how-"

On that comment, Richard made an 'I see' face and thanked him for the information. The trio made their way to the ship and immediately took off. The eastern hills were closer to the Capital City walls of Andra Kingdom so they could catch up to that company easily. Alexio suddenly began to look for something in the drop ship armory.

"What do you want? I have the supply list; I can tell you."

"Does this ship have any heavy duty sniper rifles? I'll be taking one with me."

Ava was surprised at his request since snipers, especially heavy duty ones, required a strategic positioning to fire and could not be carried around in a close up battle.

"It's in the back compartment but what are you…"

"Yeah it's too heavy to fire while moving around but its durability is really good. It can withstand overloading with energy bullets too, if you've ever tried that. I feel like this will somehow be really useful."

"Alright then."

Richard quietly beckoned to Ava while Alexio was busy strapping the rifle to his back. Ava nodded slightly to let him know she was listening.

"After we drop Alexio in the battlefield, where are we headed?"

"I guess we'll be joining the left wing's main party inside the capital. Why?"

"I did not mention something before. The artifact that we used today does transfer powers but it also creates a bridge between the users. In the moment we were joined, I felt terrible pain almost wretch the life out of me. That pain was from him, my own son. I…I don't know what he's thinking or going through but now that I've seen…no felt it, I have to do something. And I need your help."

"That's…certainly surprising but of course. I'll help you."

Alexio, who had finally managed to strap the big gun on his back, made his way to the front of the ship where his father and Ava were whispering to each other. As soon as they heard Alexio's footsteps, they stopped.

"What're you two talking about? Let me in on it!"

"Nothing that concerns you. You should focus on the battle ahead."

"That reminds me, the over clocker. What is it set to?"

"The same as before, times two. Why?"

"Make it times three. Now that I've felt that power once, I feel like I'll have better control over it now. And if this is passive regeneration, the burns and internal damage due to three times normal power will be no problem, right?"

"I suppose but not beyond that! This is the limit."

"A very poor choice of words, Ava. You should know by now; All limits are self-imposed. And I have none anymore. Time to have some fun, Sophia!"