Winged sandals

He entered the large bar, and was met with the smell of wine and beer that filled the air, he spotted Xavier at a distance, sitting all by himself by the counter, drinking a glass of wine

Henry went up to the counter and took a seat beside him

"Good to see you're in one piece," Henry began with a smile

Xavier chuckled "Like i said before, I'm pretty strong," he said flexing his muscles

"Anyways, about the past few days, I've been busy with some... things, which was why I couldn't reach you. But i believe you have started your training with Jane," he continued

"Yes i have. I even met her daughter," Henry replied with a sigh

Xavier laughed slightly "Yes Alicia, she can be a bit... eccentric, but she's a good girl,"

"Uh, thank God, I'm not the only one who thinks she's crazy," he muttered to himself

"Just pay close attention to Jane's teachings, she's a really good sensei," Xavier added

"Though i have to ask, why did you suddenly become weak when fighting those guys at the museum?" Henry asked

Xavier sighed "I suppose it was anti-mana energy,"

Henry's face brightened, he was curious

"The O.D.D found a way to create an energy that negates mana cells in our bodies, draining it temporarily and making us weak. This was what they used to attack us in the past, and were even feared for it, but scientists found a way around it and created mana cell antibodies that destroyed the energy before it could take effect, thus eliminating dark dawn's advantage," Xavier explained

Henry nodded as he followed the explanation "I always did wonder how an organization without abilities would be a threat to the mana celled humans," he muttered to himself

"Originally the energy was infused into weapons and other matter states like liquid and gas, but now for some reason, the leader of that group was able to project a beam of energy, one that contained that mysterious energy, and it was strong enough to bypass my cells antibodies.

"I think they have found a way to increase the strength of that energy, making it more powerful and maybe that's why they now possess abilities, and if that's the case, then we might all be in danger," he stated

"Oh, but is that possible?" Henry asked

"To be honest, it might be. Our scientists haven't been able to understand that energy for years, it's the same energy that was found in the mutants as well. But it feels like the energy is being combined with an unknown element, one we don't know about," Xavier replied

Henry smiled inwardly "It's a good thing i don't have mana cells then," he thought

"Hmm, i guess you all have your work cut out for you," he said

He then smiled and stared into Xavier's eyes, as if looking for something

"What is it kid, i know you want to say something," Xavier said

Henry chuckled, and the smile on his face was instantly replaced with a frown, he leaned closer to Xavier and whispered

"Why didn't you tell my mum? Or Jane?" he asked, his face stern and dark

Xavier sighed, he immediately knew that Henry was talking about the incident at the museum.

  "Because i don't think it would make a difference," he replied

Henry raised an eyebrow "The fuck does he think he's talking to? I'm not buying any of his 'it's all good' crap," he  thought

"That can't really be it, now could it?" he asked

"You probably want something, everyone always wants something," he added

"Hahaha, kid you must have been reading a lot of stories that has to do with secrets and blackmail, but with me there is none. I admit i wanted to tell Felicity, but i just discarded the thought," Xavier said

"Besides if I wanted to, i could've told her since the first week," he continued

Henry was confused "What is he talking about, the museum incident happened days ago, what does the first week have to do with this? Unless..." he thought before coming to a realization, to which Xavier's next words confirmed

"I know you've been hunting kid, since day one." he said

Henry was stunned for a moment, but he quickly recovered

"How did you know?" he asked

"You're a teenager, it wasn't so hard,"

Henry frowned "That's a bloody lie, he's probably been tracking me." he thought

"I only need to know one thing, which side are you on? I don't care about what you are or how you have abilities. I only care about your true intentions," Xavier said

Henry smiled  "Relax old man, you have confirmed that i am not a mutant, haven't you? And I can assure you that I'm not, neither I'm i with dark dawn or black rose. I'm just trying to do what i know how to do. Survive," he said

"But as for what side I'm on, well i don't really have one, i never cared for the concept of what is good and what is not. But i do know one thing, I'll destroy whoever stands in my way of survival," he added in a cold voice

Xavier sighed "Well as long as you're not on the bad side, we won't have any problems," he said

"Bad side?" Henry chuckled

"Let's not forget who handed me over to those psychos,"

"Sigh... of course you're still mad about that, look I'm sorry kid, i had no idea they would try to harm you," Xavier said apologetically

Henry frowned "No, actually I think you do, afterall you were supposed to rebel. No?" he stated, recollecting what the leader of the group had said at the museum the other day

Xavier's expression immediately changed to that of anger, but it wasn't directed at Henry

"You're right. I never liked Triad... Infact I hate them. For years now, I've been suspecting Triad for a lot of things, and their connection to all the cataclysmic events that have been occurring since the great horde, if they knew i was unto them, I'll be silenced so I had to be cautious with them, cooperating whenever I needed to," he began

"My wife, Roseline was the Deputy Director of Triad before she was killed by mutants, and the worst part is Triad covered it up, stating that it was an explosion and that my daughter was lost to the same accident,"

"I never believed any of it, i saw my wife's body and I grieved, but I never saw my child's, and I refuse to believe she's dead. I believed the mutants have her and I've been finding ways to get to them for years, while also trying to prove Triad's involvement with the mutants,"

Henry stared at Xavier with pity and astonishment

"So this man is just chasing his daughter's ghost. She's gone dude, just get over it!" he said inwardly

"But i think dark dawn knows something, which is why I'm going to them first, to get answers," Xavier added

"Hmm, how will you find them?" Henry asked

"There are lots of the ODD's agents all around us, working as spies, I'll just find one of them, and if I don't, I'll find them the hard way," Xavier replied with conviction

"I don't know who you truly are, but I know you're something special, something... different, and I think Felicity knew that too, right before she adopted you," he continued

"That woman knew nothing about me when the proposal was made, i would never have signed that agreement, if i was in control of the situation!" Henry stated inwardly with rage

"I only hope that when the time comes, you'll be strong enough to face them, cause if they  were to find out about your... feats, they would stop at nothing to get to you," Xavier continued

Henry frowned "Let them come, I'll crush them all," he muttered, clenching his fist

Xavier smiled "This kid has a strong will, perhaps... once everything isn't about survival to him anymore, he might have just be able to make a difference in this world," he uttered inwardly as he stood up from his seat

"Alright kid, be good, and little advice from me, learn to trust someone. I can see that you are completely different from when we first met, i believe it's because you have your memories back," he stated

Henry didn't reply and just shifted his gaze away from Xavier

Xavier chuckled and began to walk out of the bar, but he said something before leaving

"Oh and Henry, just do whatever Alicia asks of you, you can't defeat her, believe me I've tried, she has a really terrifying brain, plus an even more terrifying grandmother,"  he said with a smile, before leaving the bar and leaving Henry to his thoughts

"How did he know about that? Does he expect me to succumb to a spoilt girl? Never!"

Henry muttered before also leaving the bar and returning back to the his room

*****

It was a fine morning, Henry was jogging through the streets of the city, heading to Jane's house for another training session. It's been 3 days since he started training with her, and he had cultivated the habit of getting to her house on foot

"I never thought I'd be doing this again, but i need to increase my speed," he thought, before taking a turn at a wide junction, entering a private street

He jogged past multiple fascinating houses and buildings before finally arriving at his destination

Henry stood panting in front of Jane's mansion catching his breath, while also checking the system's message he had gotten not long ago

*Daily Quest complete

[Run a mile]

*Reward: 20km/hr speed boost

[Speed Rate: 470 km/hr > 510 km/hr]

*Random Quest complete

[Reach 500 km/hr]

*Reward: One giftbox

[Congratulations you have received one giftbox]

[It has been added to your inventory]

Henry smiled "Finally, but I should check this later," he thought, as the gate to the mansion slowly opened

Henry entered the premise and met with Jane, they observed their usual sparring session which always ended quickly with Henry's defeat. Then she taught him new techniques in Karate and new styles of dagger attack.

They rounded up early in the afternoon, as Jane had some important things to take care of, so Henry left the mansion and headed back to the hotel.

"Well, today was tiring," he said, as he fell into his bed

"But I have to go hunting today," he muttered, trying hard to resist the comfort of the soft cushion his body was currently enjoying

He sat up and opened the system interface, and without further hesitation claimed his reward.

"Open giftbox," he muttered with anticipation, wondering what he would receive this time

"Hopefully it's not another exp, or event key," he sighed, before the box opened and revealed it's contents

[Congratulations you have received 30 exp]

[Congratulations you have received an equipment: Talaria-x]

"Huh?" Henry raised an eyebrow "This is the first time I'm receiving an item from the system, i hope it's good," he muttered, before going through the information on the item.

*Talaria-x(Epic):

[Description: The Winged boots of hermes, embodies the god of speed's essence, granting the wearer unparalleled velocity, agility, and combat prowess

Stats: +20 agility, +100% speed rate

Skills:

-Sprint: Temporarily increases speed by 200% for 5 seconds, with a 120-second cooldown.

-Windwalk: Summons the wing of talaria and allows the wearer to walk or run on air for up to 10 seconds, with a 60-second cooldown.

Passive skills:

-Speed mastery: Increases movement speed

-Agility amplifier: Enhances jump height and distance].

Henry was elated, the boot could literally double his speed, and the skills were also magnificent.

"Wow! This is really amazing, with this boot, i can run faster than before," he uttered with excitement

[Indeed it is an impressive item, but I think it's supposed to be a sandal, not a boot] Miley stated after waking from a long nap

"Well it looks like it's a boot, i think a boot is more modern than a sandal. but I'd have preferred a sneakers," Henry replied with a chuckle

[I think the items in the shop are being modernized, they originally used to be old relics, artifacts from thousands of years ago]

"Well that would be great, it'll enable better implementation. Hey, does this mean you have some of your memories back?" he asked

Miley sighed [Unfortunately no, i remember some things from then, but they are the same things in the present mythologies. There's... nothing more] she said with a sad voice

"Hmm, I'm sure it'll come around," Henry consoled her

"Right now, i need to get going," he said, standing up from the bed and heading to the wardrobe

"Now he's being nice all of a sudden, i need to focus on his true emotions and figure out what's really up with him," Miley thought as she began to concentrate deeply in Henry's mind. She had indeed discovered something about her past, but she didn't tell Henry.

Henry got dressed and left the hotel in his hovercar, heading to the hunting ground for another grinding session.