Knowledge Is Power

Arwan felt a mix of surprise and hatred when he saw who had just entered.

He expected the person to have at least visited the facility but he didn't expect Femi to not stop this person.

"Alicia, been a few," Arwan teased.

Alicia looked like she had gone through difficulties. Her dark pink hair was disheveled, twigs tangled in it and her makeup had melted, streaking her face. Mud clung to her pink skin, evidence of a hurried run through the forest.

Even with her dirty look, her beautiful charm remained. It ticked Arwan off.

For years now, Alicia had been working for this facility, using her abilities to mind control those at the top and expanding her range of control. 

She could even say everything within this planet was within her control to an extent. When the adventurers working with her were suspected, it didn't take her much stress to find a way to clear their name.

She had captured lots of individuals for the facility's experiments and recently, she began importing from foreign planets because the quality of this planet was bad.

It remained just one successful experiment to be yielded from her part and her boss, Moros, would reward her wholesomely. 

Femi, the one that resisted her control and showed excellent battle skills, was the most promising she had seen in years. Compared to him, Arwan was a feeble looking guy that fell under her control with ease.

They were supposed to be her ticket to wealth and more power, but now, Alicia could only ask herself; Where did it all go wrong?

"You this fucker! You're the cause and… and I finally know who you are!" Alicia pointed at Arwan and cursed.

Arwan with an unmasked face raised a brow at her statement.

Alicia bit her nails anxiously, "I made a mistake. We all did. You... You're the son of the Lieutenant General of Tonic. It's not our fault we crossed you. You've been hidden from the world so well. We dealt with the wrong person... Ahhhh, damn fate! hahahaha."

"Kick me in the ass." Arwan cursed. That was information he didn't want anyone to know, at least not yet.

"I know what you are. Your true worth. Since every side wants me dead now, I must take you down along with me. If I don't reap, no one will!" Alicia proclaimed. She stretched her palm, pointing it towards Arwan who stood on the opposite side of the room.

"You are still under my control! Link!" She shouted. A faint pink translucent rope extended from within Arwan's body and connected to her hand.

Alicia's tense face contorted, a pleased smile appearing on it. She mocked the clueless Arwan inwardly.

"Don't move. Kill yourself." Alicia ordered.

Upon her words, the rope that appeared between both of them glowed brighter as if the connection between them strengthened.

A sudden pink glow appeared in Arwan's eyes, mirroring the rope's pink colored intensity. His body shook slightly.

Silence fell.

Alicia was positioned away from the screens, hidden in the darkness. She waited patiently for the expected result. Immediately Arwan - the person that put her in current tight position - died, she'll accept her loss and kill herself.

That's better than being trapped in the Alliance prison for life or worse, being captured, then tortured to death by The Hollows.

The pink glow in Arwan's eyes spiraled, until it disappeared, leaving Arwan with his usual blue eyes. Arwan moved his hand closer to his neck and held it.

Alicia froze. She was confused. This had never happened before. Once a person is caught by her link, they aren't supposed to be able to break free, they would just follow her instructions.

Arwan coughed. He tried his best to hold in his laughter, but it was all too funny to him.

He turned around, walking towards the chair to sit.

"Alicia, knowledge is power." Arwan said sternly.

"You've made me aware that not all blessed people are wise. Although you're talented, you can't use your talent well ."

"Your mistake is overestimating your abilities, thinking its absolute. Your ability to win and brainwash people with your charm, I've deduced it. It's crazy how such an ability is wasted in your hands." He continued.

"When I first met you, I blamed my desires towards you on my late puberty.. But it was just you controlling my mental state, clouding my thoughts and trailing me away from the truth." Embarrassing words that made Arwan cough uncontrollably.

Alicia stood still with a defeated look. She listened to Arwan's exclamation. His words reminded her of the person that granted her abilities.

Arwan sat carelessly, throwing his mask in the air, using it to play. He felt superior to Alicia.

Once Arwan felt superior to someone, he believed those beneath him could do nothing to harm him.

He explained, "Femi made me realize the hidden truth, he was the reason the charm work that you did on me broke. Honestly, you underestimated that fella. He made me ask questions like "Why is Alicia so nice that she even led us to 'forcefully' hunt?' As long as we aren't affiliates, such thoughts shouldn't be considered, the Alliance had a rule like that. 

I'm a stickler for rules, I could have used Alicia breaking the rules to avoid going on a hunt but I didn't?. But you still did so, and it even seemed like you did it to more people before us. Why didn't you get corrected?"

"The instant I had more thoughts along that line, I could feel a mental weight, a barrier in my head lessen. Then I considered why a talented person like yourself is in Adventurer grounds when you could earn better resources from other places... The simple answer is Terramoribus is an easier ground for you to manipulate. Your way of solving all your problems is that you're a whore that has brainwashed the majority of the important figures on this planet."

"You see, you should be like me, even when someone is in your palm, don't underestimate them till you've crushed them and you've confirmed all their blood has spilled."

Arwan tried mimicking a certain person's joyous smile, then declared, "You've lost."

Alicia felt her pride crumble. The bastard in front of her was the major reason for her downfall and for some reason her abilities didn't have any effects on him again. "A pretty figure like myself will never be touched by a slug like you!" She barked.

Alicia's body burst, exuding a wave of energy that created a gust of wind around herself.

Although she was at the bottom of those considered blessed, she was still stronger than those who weren't. Arwan knew this, but he was still indifferent towards her changes.

Alicia was still 'charging up' when he began to run in her direction.

She noticed his presence too late, she instinctively switched from an attack stance to a defensive stance.

Arwan's bodysuit had a buff battery inserted in it. It always did. The buff battery was enhanced for his personal use after all. It was tested by Killian on multiple people but Arwan was still the one who could truly bring its true potential.

Although, Arwan didn't know. What this battery did to him was that it enhanced his already existing genes, bringing out his 'real' strength for a while.

Arwan bet his all on just one punch. His fist coursed through the air at a destructive speed.

Alicia tried blocking her side but his attack strength was superior to her defense.

She wore no bodysuit after overestimating her abilities. The punch made contact with her hands first and as a result her bones broke. The punch didn't stop! It headed straight at her side. On impact, all her ribs broke.

Alicia's eyes turned blank before she hit the wall.

Arwan immediately felt the 70% of the buff battery energy get consumed. The side effects kicked in but he endured and forced his body to move to where Alicia was sprawled. 

He took a deep breath and crouched his body near her head. "If the blessed can't use their blessing properly, they're as good as worthless." He said.

He shuffled through the tool bag that was strapped to his bag and brought out a taser. He put the taser close to her head whilst he also wore his mask. 

His blue eyes were calm and cold as his gaze fell on her. 

Before tasering her, he said his last words to her. "Knowledge is Power. The knowledge you have is a problem, the power it has is a problem to me. To resolve that, say goodbye to your brain that keeps this knowledge."

Activating the taser, electric current went into her head and fried her brain.

With that done, he called Killian back. 

"Hey. I had a visitor that I've taken care of. Remember the brainwashing lady? It was her."

"That so?" Killian asked.

"With a bit of issues, but I pulled through in the end. Thanks for your guidance." Arwan assured.

"Arwan, the enforcers are close by. I suggest you just follow them and return home. You've gotten yourself tangled up with organizations whose existences you shouldn't even be aware of. Come back to Mars, please. With a feat like this, your father should listen to your wishes to an extent." Killian advised.

At the words 'your father', Arwan snapped. "You want me to give up my new found freedom and go back to that prison. Fuck that, Killian. Shut up and go suck some damn blood cause it seems you're losing it. I leave for a week and you're already on his side?!"

"Kid, don't let all this win get to your head. The Alliance underestimated Impius and the Hollows. You were lucky enough to face fools that don't even know how their ability truly worked." Killian was the one who told Arwan how to counter mental abilities, so he was aware of the incompetence of Arwan's abductors.

He also helped with almost every other thing, so he knew exactly what happened from the moment Arwan first heard the title "Syncro Trio" till that moment where he defeated Alicia. 

"Arwan, all I'm trying to say is that, in this arcane world, you already know much. Once you leave that planet without coming here straight, it's like playing with fire." Killian claimed.

"I rather play with Fire than the Shadows," Arwan said.

~BANG!~

A loud noise that came with ground shaking effects sounded.

"Got to go man." Arwan hurriedly spoke. After he cut that call, he planned on cutting all links with Killian for the long run.

Killian read his mind and shouted through the comms, "No! You fool, don't do-" 

"Bye Killian." Arwan muttered. 

He wallowed on whether his freedom was worth everything. 

Unfortunately, whatever caused the ground to shake couldn't let him do that in peace. 

He felt the noise coming from beneath. Since his body was tired and sitting on the floor wasn't such a bad thing to do, he laid on the floor while feeding his mental self that he was doing well.

Arwan hadn't completely laid on the floor when he shot himself back up. 

Tears popped out immediately, a cold feeling going down his spine. 

Coming closer to the ground, Arwan felt a presence. Whatever created these noises made Arwan feel like a prey.

His instinct, gut, hunch, whatever Femi called it spoke to him. 

It said to Arwan, "Run Or Die."