Bait? Part 1

Activating his last bit of will power to compress all the gravitation around him was impossible to even in his best state let allow now. However, the shockwave itself would be enough to cause the devastation he desired. 'And that would be a fancy way of dying!' At least he had the consolation that his next life won't be such a failure right?

Seeing all the gravitation whirling around him, Kiel was overjoyed. The crimson swirls we're really mesmerising to look as converged with him as the centre. However, it was only him that could enjoy it.

"$^%*%" The leader was yelling something, but Kiel failed to discern what it was. Maybe he had noticed what was going to happen. "Hehe! Are you scared now? Messing with the wrong person will teach you!"

A roundhouse kick or what it seemed to hit him straight in the face the very next moment he uttered those.

"Shut the fuck up, you little bastard. Why don't you die already? And what the fuck is this?"

The emissary near him maybe tried to kill him through that. However, Kiel just flew a little distance more to lay back down, giggling. The pain was not there at all amidst his chars.

'It's no use. The command has been uploaded. Killing me now would lead to nothing. Only just it would rob me the joy of seeing you die. Not that I can see it now though. Hehe.' 

His eyes had unknowingly closed on their own, lacking the energy to keep them open. The after pain was still nowhere. All there was a feeling of sleepiness. How he couldn't help but chuckle even under these circumstances.

There were no more kicks that followed, but a rustle of leaves followed by some more distant incomprehensible curses for Kiel.

"%$@^"

"Huh? Are they running now? But it won't help. You are underestimating gravity itself." Kiel's giggling now sounded like crazy waiting for the impact.

.

.

.

But he waited and waited. The explosion he was waiting for never occurred. No sound, nothing. Even the concentrated gravity field disappeared. More like the fuel to the explosion itself felt dry! Describing more would be impossible in his current state.

{A/N: Fuel is referring to mana. For those that didn't notice.}

And then a profound voice rang out. 

"Phew! Little kid, do you really have a death wish?" 

The voice seemed loud and clear unlike the faint sounds from earlier. It was more like the voice was projected inside him. Such a clear voice was certainly one that piqued his curiosity.

"A-are you the g-grim reaper?" Kiel asked, feeling lost. He was not dead yet. So why was the reaper here? Or maybe he had already died. Maybe that's why it felt so unreal. That was the reason the expected explosion failed to occur?

He tried to open his eyes the best to really just take a little peek. His crimson eyes glowing an even brighter shade from that gap like the final embers which at the brightest… a hazy figure appeared from the darkness. 

A black robe and a hazy crescent moon shining. Despite the haziness, it was relatively understandable. 

'HUH? Is it one of the emissaries from earlier… So I am not dead yet? Hehe… Sure enough not fulfilling the challenge won't even have such an easy end… ' Kiel's delusion broke down as the last thoughts on his mind faded away. His brain finally could not handle any more of the stuff and blanked out.

"Grim Reaper I like the sound of that. But unfortunately, I am not. This elderly is just a twig overgrown in darkness. But enough about me. Kiddo you did a fabulous performance there. And the finale? Even I had cold sweats for a moment. Luckily this old man is capable enough hehe." 

"Huh? My audience had already gone off?" The old man shrugged off annoyingly as he looked at all the bodies scattered around him.

He came close to Kiel and touched his head as if scanning him. 

"I did doubt the Lord for preferring you a little wild midget for that. But it seems you really do possess something. Little kid let's see how your wings grow after I patch you up?" 

Although the words were not enough, the hideous grin on his face proved that what he was doing was never out of goodwill.

***

Central-South port city of Valsermia, Avenue Kingdom

20 km away from the port city lay an enormous castle floating on top of the sea. The enormous castle had no floats, no engines but still lay float without any problems. A dream home even for those in the 22nd century. 

But the strangest thing was that even the Kingdom remained ignorant about such an enormous structure. Any ship coming close to the castle could be automatically steered off their course to another without even having been able to process what happened. However, not a single rumour lay existent about the castle. Like the castle itself was an illusion.

However, the interior of the castle was totally different from the deserted outside. Full of hustle-bustle. Researchers, Combat specialists etc could be seen patrolling all around. It was more likely to be called a fort rather than a castle. The castle had all the facilities essential for independent survival. Hospitals, Canteens, Shops and even Research facilities and energy storage rooms.

Inside one of the biggest infirmaries of the castle lay a kid sleeping. The kid had silver hair with a very cute distinct facial feature.  Obviously, if the little kid was awake he would definitely be the centre of attraction on Earth. 

However here he had been sleeping on the bed for a very long time. The boy had been in a coma since the day he had been bought here. A white mask attached to his nose seemed to be supplying him with the air to breathe in and breathe out. Oxygen supply for hospitals?

But this was not the earth, to begin with. And science was not even an established word here! And the strangest thing was, there were no pipes or cylinders attached with the mask. Instead, a cyan gem lay embedded in its centre. A small circular cyan magic rune could be seen inscribed on the mask. The mask seemed to be operating on its own without any external attachment. A rather amazing product instead.

Every day someone would come here to do some regular check-ups on the boy and cater to his health. This had been going on for a long time. 

Obviously, this was none other than Kiel. He fell into a coma the moment his mind relaxed a bit due to overstraining his mind. His brain had been in a blank state until now only this very day for a fateful awakening. 

[Beep… Mental Energy recovery at 99.0℅… 99.98℅ 99.99- 100℅. Mental energy recovery complete. Rebooting Host's consciousness. Awakening Host's soul structure from Hibernation State…]

[Beep… Awakening success! Host's brain functions restored!]

A sudden jolt and Kiel consciousness slowly awoke gradually. His consciousness had been in a similar state as stasis until now to conserve energy.  And as his mental energy recovered to the brim, did his consciousness register a link to the real world. As he slowly recovered and started opening his eyes, everything seemed a bit fuzzy. A bit more time and only after did his eyes adjust to the real world, he got the feeling of being alive. It was like the experience of spring after extreme cold, intensified much more. 

'Ah, what is this feeling?' A silent moan could not help but escape from his mouth. Waking up never felt so refreshing ever. Kiel felt that he had been sleeping for a very long time.

A very silent sleep without any noise or disturbance. No dream, nothing. He even had the urge to not even wake up. But there was a simultaneous curiosity to wake up too. And this urge was even stronger than before.

And finally, curiosity surpassed comfort and he opened his eyes albeit with much effort. However, what met his eyes were a very unfamiliar ceiling. 

"HUH? What? Where am I? The system you there?"

[I am here Host!]

A strong confusion followed by sudden relief of finding someone you know. Although he was still in confusion, the thought that he still had his system was rather reassuring. It means he didn't die and this was a good thing. Starring life again would include the baby phase and it was the most disturbing phase of life when you would have an adult consciousness.

However, what surprised Kiel was that there were no more chars on his body. His pale skin seemed to be brand new. And most importantly the insensitivity had all vanished and he could feel his whole body again. What was even more surprising was that his body felt impoverished! Yes, he felt that he had become very thin.

Kiel wanted to ask something more to the system, however, he didn't get the chance. The door opened and his daily checkup nurse was inside. "Huh? You are awake? I will call the physician." 

As went the nurse, the following was the medics checking upon him. Kiel thought that was it for today. But then the door opened again and another person came in. 

Kiel also got the notification prompt about the system update again. So he decided to update it. 

[Acknowledged Host! Initiating System Upgrade]

Kiel was jolting at himself seeing how thin his body has become. So it was not until the man spoke did Kiel notice him.

It was a tall man with a black innuendo. He looked like a man of authority with the arrogance he carried himself with. The innuendo added more to this authority charm. Pretty facial features and looking more like a mature adult business was the correct term for Kiel to describe him. And the smile he had on his face looked more like a cunning fox looking at you.

"So how have you been kiddo? Are you feeling well?" 

"Huh?... Oh Yes, I do." Although Kiel was a little surprised he expected such visits.

"Good to know. Oh, you seem surprisingly calm. Usually, kids your age are so hyper that talking sense into them seems like hitting yourself into the wall. With a little bit of power, they think they can achieve anything. But you seem to be a little different? And trust me when I say that because I have a really discerning eye about people. So tell me do you have any secrets?"

"Huh? " Kiel blanked out for a moment. Who asks for your secrets at first glance. 

"Hehe. Just kidding. Don't worry about that. And hello. I am Stiv Reeka, The executive director of the core branches of True Bloods"

"I am Kiel. Kiel Dmitriev." Kiel had a little confusion about the names.

"We all know that kiddo. After all, for the last three years, we have been taking care of you in your blank state. And trust me it had been quite a hassle."

"Huh? What? Three years? You are kidding right?" 

Kiel took a deep breath. He was thinking it was just a few days or maybe months. But had it really been four years? What we're his family doing? Were they worried about him? Kiel was definitely worried about them. And more importantly, how could he have wasted three years of his life!!

"Unfortunately I am not. It's already been three years since the time you were brought to the Command centre." Stiv just spread out his hands and shrugged off. 

Looking at the boy sitting next to him also piqued his interest. Much more after reading his file. So he paused for a bit to notice what the boy was thinking and then continued.

"And… don't worry about your family. We have notified them that you are admitted to our institute for a period of time. In fact, they should be happy… including you."

Kiel was shocked for a moment to be read so easily and confirming his family status was a little relieved. So he wanted to change the topic. "Huh ok? So what about the person who brought me here?" 

"Hmm… to say… it would require you a certain privilege. Which currently you don't. So I am sorry that I can't inform you about that now." The man was still smiling as this was just a common occurrence.

"Ok. I get it."

"W-ha? You get it? Well ok. Usually, it takes a lot of time for the others to accept this? You are quite an accepting kid."

"Hmm "

"..."