THE AMBUSH

The guest in the personal gallery box lit his cigar with true satisfaction. He has seen many talents these last few years while working for the Corps, but this guy with an EQ of only 11 has caught his eye.

"A strategy well played. Looking forward to meeting you, young man." He told his secretary that he would like to meet this young man before taking his ride home.

The manager of X-Punk got up in fury as he watched his team lose. He lost his face in front of his guest. "Worthless fools", he uttered. He left his chair in anger and started roaming in the room.

"Calm down. It's just a match."

"Anyways I should leave now. Call me next time you set such an interesting match." Smirked the guest. It was like rubbing salt on the manager's wounds.

Shouts and cheers poured in as Noah and his team left the cage. The audience had never been entertained with such a shocking match in their lifetime. They were cheering in joy.

Melv was still unconscious. So they started sprinkling water on his face to wake him up.

The announcer came to them and shared their winnings. A total of 12K ST.

"Then it's time for me to leave", said a happy Miss Fortune. Noah thanked her and shared her cut as decided earlier.

"Can you not even share your real name or contact?"

"What... you wanna go on a date with me. Too soon for you champ."

"Not interested. I would like to help if you need any in the future. Well never mind then."

"Aww...cho chweet. A piece of advice then, you should probably look to raise your ability. The competition is gonna get tougher and tougher for you. Well, see ya next time then." Miss Fortune left saying goodbye.

While leaving she thought to herself, how much stronger Noah is going to be when she sees him next time. She looked forward to it.

Meanwhile, Melv was gaining consciousness.

"What happened?" as he looked around.

"Where is that punk? I am gonna beat him to death. How dares he badmouths me…."

"Finally the Champion of RedRock is awake. The match is over. Thank you for your contribution, Sir. You have basically slept the whole match." Noah looked at Melv with a sarcastic smile.

"I…..I….Did we lose? What happened? Tell me."

"You guys won. A win against all odds." The Guest came down to meet Noah.

"Here, I was told this was your prize for this match. So I thought of meeting you and giving it", as he handed the core to Noah. The core that was snatched by Pax at the Black Market Shop.

"Thank you", Noah took it gently. He looked at the guest. He seemed almost in his mid-40s. Had a battle-hardy look on his face yet again elegant, wearing fashionable clothes as worn by high-ranking Corps personalities.

"Ah, where are my manners? Let me introduce myself. I am Solomon Glass…"

"Chief Strategic Officer of Athena Corps and a Talent Recruiter for the Athena Corps Hunter Unit." Noah took the words out of his mouth.

"How do you….hahah..Well well..Seems my identity is not that secret after all."

Noah didn't understand how he knew it. It came out of his mouth as if he had known long about him. However, he composed himself swiftly.

"Nothing as such. It's common knowledge." Noah said.

"Common you say. Even if I stand in the town square, not even 10% of people will know me."

"So you have such a Fetish…"

"Hahaha….Ohh my...and I thought you were the quiet type."

"I don't want to know what a Corp guy is doing here in the Black Market, but I would like to know what he wants from me. If it is regarding the core, it's mine. I won't hand it over."

"Why would I want something I gave to you?"

"Coz it's not Corp registered?"

"Don't worry about it. Rather I am interested in you."

"You might have a low EQ, rather lowest among EVOs, but you possess some good wits and presence of mind. Your battle preparation is outstanding. How did you know their abilities and find their limitations to use against them? Their information is not public, so I won't buy that common knowledge stuff answer."

"Yes, their info is not there. But if you search deeply, the people they fought were taken to hospitals. Most of their diagnostics had wounds from heavy metal. Even some amounts of iron were found on their skin. So I concluded that they might use some iron tools or have capabilities of iron."

"..and you gathered, processed and countered it in how many days? Less than 2 days right? Brilliant. You have a promising future, young man. We need guys like you."

"I have an offer for you. If one day you can raise that EQ of yours above 20, contact me."

Now it seems worth mentioning that EQ can be raised. Though the process is not common knowledge or easily available, it exists. Some myths say such potions exist and some say based on situations, it takes effect. But it is clear that there is no one way to raise EQ.

"So that's that and for taking up your time, I will give you this", as he handed a card to Noah.

"What's this? Your visiting card?"

"It's a one-time jail-free card you can say. If you get into trouble with any Corp matters, you can use it as a pass. One-time use only. So use it wisely." Smiled Solomon and left the area.

Noah looked at it and kept it in his pocket. Melv was calmly listening to the conversation.

"How did you know him?"

"I didn't. It suddenly came to mind. Like I knew everything about him."

"Ahh...you might have got hit hard on your head in the battle."

"Anyways, let's go home…."

"Sir, why did you give such a precious item to some unknown kid?" the secretary asked Solomon. He smiled and said "Wouldn't it be nice to see how such a promising talent uses it? His future actions may have a role to play in our plans."

It was like Noah was also growing with each battle. He was enduring the pain of the battle better than earlier. Also, he was no more that shy kid. Something changed, but he was not able to find a conclusive cause.

Almost to his orphanage by the back alley, the light was always dim.

"6K ST...I can eat so many Fried Chickens…" Melv's eyes gleamed as he thought of food.

"Always thinking of food...dummy."

"We have also been hungry for a long time. What took you?" a shrewd voice was heard from the darkness.

A gang of people came out from the darkness. 5 guys with good physiques. They were waiting for Noah and Melv to return.

"What do you want?" Melv shouted.

"Nothing much. But to beat you." Smiled Loco, the leader of the gang.

"We don't know you. We didn't cause you trouble. Let us leave." Replied Noah.

"What's the hurry? We got paid well. We should at least break some bones. Whaty'a say, guys?" Loco started laughing and so did his gang.

On his signal, one gang member rushed towards Noah and punched him in the abdomen. Noah was in pain and he started gasping for air. He was already battered in the last battle.

Melv tried to help him, as he was cornered by 3 guys. They held him while others thrashed Noah. Noah was almost beaten senseless by Loco. They threw him and moved towards Melv.

"These guys are so weak. We don't need any weapons. We can knock'em with just our punch." Loco said.

Melv put on some fight using his ability and as he was sleeping almost the whole of the match at the Underground Battle Arena, his energy was restored. But it was 1 against 5. Though futile he tried to fend off against them. They were beating him quite hard.

Noah desperately struggled to stand up seeing Melv's condition.

Melv, who was beaten black and blue, lost consciousness.

Thus, their day started with an uncertainty of life at the death arena, they overcame that challenge but ultimately again resulted in the uncertainty of life due to the Ambush.

…