Jake's Deception

Hearing what Jake had just said about the decision to destroy one of the wert bases on Soran, Sky didn't know how to react. Was he supposed to be excited? Worried? Nervous? Doubtful?

Sky just stood there resting on the door of the hotel room, looking at Anna who still seemed unsure of the decision they had made.

"Are the commanders on board with the plan?" Sky asked.

"We're going to talk to them now. Well, Anna is." Jake said.

"Are you guys sure we are strong enough to bring down a wert base?" Sky asked. "Those werts are pretty strong compared to us."

"Speak for yourself." Jake said.

"Really? You think you can take on a five-tailed wert?" Sky asked.

"Take on? Yes. Kill? Maybe. I don't know yet." Jake answered.

Getting up from the bed, Anna had strengthened her resolve. "Let's go. While I talk to the commanders you guys will wait for me in the barracks."

Following Anna out of the hotel room, Jake, Sky and Sasha followed her to the barracks: where the soldiers who weren't patrolling the haven would stay.

The barracks was a relatively large place and the two commanders were also there, supervising and controlling the soldiers. The sleeping area in the barracks was different from the place where attacks were coordinated and the monitoring of activities was done.

Getting to the barracks, there were soldiers standing at the entrance and some more soldiers standing to the side.

Seeing Anna with the people who wanted to get inside the barracks, the soldiers immediately gave a salute and opened the door, letting Anna and the others go inside.

"You know, you never told me how you were connected to the military." Jake said to Anna after they had gotten inside the barracks.

"She never told you her father is the Monarch of Ansteria?" Sky asked, a little bit surprised that Jake didn't know Anna was the daughter of a Monarch: the ruler of the army in an entire district.

"No, she never did." Jake said. It all made sense to him now. How she was able to speak to the commanders when she wanted to, why the soldiers respected her a lot.

"So why was the daughter of a Monarch a school teacher? Weren't you supposed to be in the military as well?" Jake asked.

"Did anyone say just because my dad is a Monarch, I must be in the military?" Anna asked.

"No but that's kinda the usual assumption." Jake said.

"You guys wait here." Anna said when they had reached a reception room of some sort: the only difference between the room and a reception is there was no one at a desk. "I'll go talk to the commanders and hear what they think."

"We're rooting for you." Jake said to Anna as he sat down on one of the seats and watched her open the double doors in front of them before walking away.

"So," Jake said to Sky, "how many tailed wert do you think you can kill on your own?"

"I don't know." Sky answered. "I'm sure I can kill a two-tailed wert alone, but I think I can kill a three-tailed wert too. Guess we'll find out, won't we?"

"Yes we will." Jake said, taking a look at his system screen.

[Jake Cayden]

[Level: 26]

[Health:400/400]

[Species:Human*]

[Strength:59]

[Speed: 60]

[Endurance:67]

[Mental Moxie:49]

[Mana:53/53]

[Magic:50]

[Element: None]

[Ability: Magic mimicry]

[Exp: 15500/24000]

'I didn't waste the time I spent here during the past month. Killing beasts everyday was a good idea.' Jake thought. 'I never did find any beast higher than the enhanced rank. And I still haven't used my stat points.'

[Stat points: 157]

'Whoa!' Jake thought with wide eyes, unable to hide how surprised he was to see the number of stat points he had accumulated in the past month.

'This is the result of killing beasts for a whole month.' Jake thought, glad at the number of stat points he was looking at. 'Makes sense. I didn't mimic any magic so it's not showing anything about that. Let's see what Sky's magic is.'

Sitting next to Jake, Sky had noticed when he suddenly went wide-eyed, like he had just seen something that shocked him, but he had decided to ignore it.

Now seeing Jake trying to stealthily touch his hand, Sky said to him "Don't even think about it bro."

"What?" Jake asked, pausing his actions.

Shifting a good deal away from Jake, Sky said "You think a month away from home will make me forget your magic condition?"

"Oh come on. I just want to know what magic you have." Jake said.

"When you mimic my magic, it will be because I want you to." Sky said, smirking a bit. "Until then, keep your hands to yourself."

"Yes boss." Jake said and put his hands in the pockets of the blue sweatshirt he was wearing. "But you know I'm still gonna have to mimic your magic."

"When I want you to." Sky said.

"But..."

"Dude, drop it. You're not mimicking my magic till I say you can. Why not mimic Sasha's magic?"

"I can mimic her magic anytime I want." Jake said. "It's your magic I want to mimic right now."

"Well too bad, you can't." Sky said.

Seeing the double doors open and Anna walk towards them, Sky, Sasha and Jake waited expectantly to hear what she had to say.

Sitting down on one of the chairs, Anna took a deep breath before talking. "They didn't agree."

"What?" Jake asked. "Sorry I didn't hear you. Did you say they didn't agree?"

"I'm pretty sure that's what she said." Sky said.

"How could they turn down a Monarch's daughter?" Sasha asked.

"That's not how it works." Anna said. "There's a ranking. Me being a monarch's daughter doesn't mean they must do what I tell them to. They are commanders after all."

"Well this is a load of bullshit." Jake said as he rested his back on his seat.

"I guess now we're going back to Veda." Sky said.

"Fvck that." Jake said and got up from the chair. "And fvck this. If I wanna do something, I'm gonna do it. I don't need nobody's permission. Come on Sasha." Walking back in the direction they had come in, Jake left the barracks with Sasha.

"Don't tell me he's going to do what I think he's going to do." Anna said, slightly worried.

"That depends. What are you thinking?" Sky asked.

"He might be going to attack the wert base alone." Anna said.

"Technically he's not alone, but I see what you mean." Sky said. "He really wants to destroy that wert base."

"Yeah I don't get it. Why does he want to destroy it so bad?" Anna asked.

"Maybe instead of talking, we should go find him." Sky said. "We just got him back and I'm not gonna let him die."

___

After leaving the barracks with Sasha, Jake had gone back to the hotel and checked into another room. He didn't have any credits but with the high number of beasts essence that was in his dimensional ring, which he still wore on his finger, he was able to pay for the room.

Inside the room he had just checked into with Sasha, Jake was sitting on the couch with Sasha sitting opposite him.

"What are you going to do?" Sasha asked.

"I'm thinking of paying the Werts a visit." Jake said.

"What about the five-tailed werts Anna talked about? Do you think you can beat two alone? Even with the use of your energy abilities?" Sasha asked.

"Of course not." Jake replied. "I'm not an idiot. But I'm counting on something. If I go, Anna will surely follow me. And no matter how high ranking those commanders are, they certainly can't let the monarch's daughter die. How would they explain it to the monarch?"

"So are we doing this?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah. But I need to do something first." Jake said. Looking at his system screen, Jake used up all his stat points and he suddenly fell to the ground, pain coursing through his body.

"Are you okay?" Sasha asked Jake as she looked at him on the floor from her seat.

"I'm fine." Jake answered through gritted teeth. The pain was searing and it was evident on his face, and just as suddenly as it came, it was gone.

'Maybe the pain is because I added a large number of stat points at once. I can feel my body got stronger. And I feel lighter all of a sudden.' Jake thought while looking at his system screen.

[Jake Cayden]

[Level: 26]

[Health:600/600]

[Species:Human*]

[Strength:86]

[Speed: 85]

[Endurance:87]

[Mental Moxie:69]

[Mana:78/78]

[Magic:70]

[Element: None]

[Ability: Magic mimicry]

[Exp: 15500/24000]

"I'm ready." Jake said to Sasha. "But one more thing before we go." Walking closer to Sasha, Jake was about to hug her before she gave him a hard slap on his cheek.

Rubbing his cheek, Jake asked Sasha "What was that for?"

"What were you trying to do?" Sasha retorted.

"I just wanted to mimic your magic." Jake said. "Calm down, will you?"

"You could have just touched my hand." Sasha said.

"Fine." Jake said then touched her hand for five seconds. 'I didn't even feel a thing from the slap she gave me. That's what eighty-seven points of endurance does.'

"Let's go." Jake said then headed out of the room with Sasha following him from behind.