Ch 38: Truth of Genius

Magneto fly Ruler and the other mutants of his group around in search of more bases.

The next base they found was even more heavily fortified. Before Ruler could jump off, Magneto held his hand up.

"Watch and learn. This is how you handle humans without getting your clothes dirty."

So Ruler relaxed and sat on the edge of the disc to have a good view of the show that was going to occur in front of him.

Magneto did not even lift his hands or make a movement, but Ruler could feel a change in the air. The feeling when you know something is about to happen but don't know what.

Magneto simply raised his right hand.

Ruler saw a few knives start floating into the air. Then there were the pistols. Next were the SMGs. Then the assault rifles. Any vehicle that came with or had a weapon strapped to it was next.

Soon, every weapon that was inside the base was floating in the air beside any explosives which were left on the ground. Each weapon was turned and aimed at the humans and the base down below.

Then, Magneto lifted his left hand.

Now, any metal that was in the area was pulled off whatever it was attached to before being flattened and deformed.

The flat metal flew to the edges of the base instead of into the air and created a fence around the base. More and more metal flew to the edge until it could no longer be called a fence and they were more like walls to a fort.

The humans looked truly terrified now. They had all their weapons pointed at them while what they thought would protect turned into the prison which would kill them.

A few humans ran to the center of the area while holding several people who were tied up. Ruler would have assumed they were all humans if not for one having the head of a shark.

"We have your mutants! Open fire on us and they die as well."

Magento paused whatever action he was about to take next. He could not kill his citizens who had done nothing wrong. Seeing Magneto pause, Ruler decided to interfere.

"Keep the disc steady for me."

He released his wings before reinforcing himself and using the disc as a launching platform. He flew down into the humans before anyone knew what happened.

Once he was right in front of the group holding the mutants hostage, he killed each of them with his tail before extending and wrapping his tail around each of the mutants and flying back up to the disc. He did not even use his sword as he thought the humans did not deserve it.

After he landed, he gave Magneto a small nod which was returned by the old man. Magneto no longer hesitated and opened fire on the humans below.

The humans screamed and begged for mercy as the bullets and shells rained down on them but their prayers were not heard by anyone who cared. They mercilessly killed. Some of the shells or bullets hit the explosives below and caused explosions to occur around the base.

Ruler looked at the carnage happening beneath him and did not feel any pity. He had seen what Genosha was like before Magneto took over. Everyone present deserved exactly what they were getting.

Once all the ammunition was used up, Magneto sent the mutants that came with himself and Ruler down to ensure all the humans were dead. When the cleanup was over, the disc flew away to its next destination.

When they finally returned to Genosha, the capital of Genosha, they had wiped out 6 bases in total and had freed 50 other mutants who were captured by the rebels.

Magneto and Ruler both demonstrated their skills under the amazed gaze of the other and all the mutants following them as well as the ones rescued. Both were whispered about by the mutants that they had saved as heroes and savior.

When they arrived safely within the walls of the city, Ruler said,

"Since everyone got back safely, I'm heading back out. I haven't had the chance to truly stretch my wings like this in awhile. I'll return in a few hours."

Magneto nodded at Ruler's words and did not stop him. He was not worried about Ruler's safety or loyalty after everything he had witnessed that day.

--Outlands of Genosha--

Ruler flew until he reached the edges of the island of Genosha before landing on a beach. He made sure that he traveled to the furthest one and that there was no one around.

Seeing that there was no one to interrupt him, he summoned Achilles and began his training for the day.

Ruler knew that fighting against humans was useless to him. His reinforcement allowed him to ignore bullets while his wings took care of anything stronger. His Instinct also ensured that he knew when to use his wings instead of his body. The only people who could truly get his blood pumping were those stronger than him.

So while he was still in his Alter Ego install, he activated his reinforcement and charged at Achilles while swinging his blade only to be blocked by Achilles's shield.

Achilles countered with a spear thrust but Ruler ad already dodged it before the move was even made.

This was the perk of using Instinct against someone without it or similar skills. He would have an edge in combat even if he could not defeat his opponent. But it also came with a demerit as well.

'Summon Lancer, Summon Archer, Summon Avenger!'

It was like every bone and drop of blood in his body was telling him how to win and not how to fight. This was the main purpose of Ruler's training besides to get a good sweat going. It was to suppress or control the Instinct.

He knew he was being greedy for wanting all of the perks of the skill and none of the demerits but that is still what Ruler wanted.

"Oi, Oi, Oi! At least wait until we get inside the duel field boss."

Achilles threw the spear before it created a black area around the pair. Several words appeared in front of Ruler.

[

Achilles challenges you to a duel. Rules of the duel

-Parameters will be made equal to the weaker of the two at their maximum strength

-No Noble Phantasms may be used

-No other body parts the other does not possess may be used

-The duel ends when one surrenders

Do you accept>

]

Ruler thought yes. The world was restored with color and was even brighter than it was before Achilles threw his spear. Achilles began swinging around his spear and making movements to get used to his weaker body. His body was as strong as Ruler's with reinforcement at the moment.

The moment Achilles was used to his body, he ran at and struck at Ruler but it was deflected by Ruler's blade before being countered. Achilles managed to easily block Ruler's blow as well.

The duo continued exchanging blows and trying to kill the other for almost an entire day. Inside the false world, the pair had managed to destroy the beach and the nearby forest. Ruler finally surrendered when Achilles almost took off his arm.

If Achilles was actually able to almost kill him, it meant that Ruler was getting exhausted and could no longer use his Instinct properly. The skill still worked but it was useless if Ruler's physical body could not keep up. Ruler decided to take a break and sleep for a bit.

This was the secret to Ruler's increase in strength over the recent years. He had not just spent two years training like everyone else thought but had trained for nearly 50 years with Achilles.

He was truly very average or maybe even below average in his talent with magecraft. But after so many years and only using 3 spells, he was definitely a threat to other mages even if they specialized in combat like him.

After he had recovered his strength from his nap, Ruler decided to ignore Achilles and begin his magecraft training. He had been improving with his mana burst recently and he wanted to get it down before he left the duel realm this time.