U.D.E

Chapter 14: U.D.E

When we walked out the portal, we were standing on a balcony on a tall skyscraper. Looking out you could see a giant golden domed barrier going as far as the eye could see. Every second you could hear something smashing and pounding at it. 

It was the same scene we saw on TV. I continued watching it until 3 flying vehicles blocked my view, they shone a spotlight on us and had several lazer guns pointed in our direction. When I looked in the direction of the building itself, I was even more surprised.

There were 20-30 men in high tech suits, some in small power armor suits. All of them were pointing weapons in our direction.

"Stand down, it's friendly."

"General Jordan, how are you on this fine day? Good? Good. I came to discuss the continent of Rosary with you."

General Jordan, an average size man in his early to mid 20's. At least I say that but even in my own world we were experimenting with expanding the life span. So I can't tell how old he really is. Not with tech like this.

"Your supreme highness. King King, what is there to discuss? According to international native law, you did not make a claim for your discovery. Thereby relinquishing your authority over any future projects in these new lands."

The old man looked back and chuckled, "You mean the law you made up to pacify me."

The general couldn't help but smile a little, "Yes, that one. The U.D.E is looking to terraform these lands, you should know by now that the natives there are suffering greatly-"

"Oh them? No, they're all dead."

Both me and the general looked back at the old man clearly shocked at his words but mostly because we both thought he might've been the one responsible for it.

"No, it wasn't me. I'm not that cruel. My daughter, Amelia is the one who discovered these lands actually. She told me that it was crawling with Depth Dwellers, but you already knew that, and the survivors managed to seek refuge from some friendly elves."

"Then what's the issue?

"When have you ever known a friendly elf?"

The General seemed to understand that statement fully, but before he could ask for more information the old man interrupted him, "Now guess who just sent tens of millions of elves across the seas and skies to send them to their brand new home. And technically speaking… they found it first"

"I see your point, these people clearly aren't friendly, but that doesn't change the fact that you don't have a claim to it either."

"No, YOU don't have a claim to it. I'm a native, so technically it's just a small civil war in your eyes."

That's right, the International Native Law was designed to protect the current inhabitants from foreign invaders but that doesnt mean natives can't fight amongst each other.

Usually this results in dirty schemes and hiring mercenaries to start wars and clear out a few native tribes. This method is used sometimes and even the king has been a victim to it in the past, but he didn't really care about that. The only thing that mattered to him was staying alive, and if that meant allying with the enemy then so be it.

What matters at the end of the day is that he could avoid total opposition. He didn't like the U.D.E but he had to admit that he still couldn't fight them all when they were all grouped up together. They still had advanced technology that could damage his kingdom from a distance if push came to shove. He could set up a shield, but that hardly matters in the long run.

"I'm not asking you to walk away from this, I'm asking you to pay me."

The General raised his brow at this, but he definitely knew what he was talking about. The king was offering a mercenary contract. 

The General shook his finger at him like he was admonishing a child, "That's why I like you."

"Everyone likes me."

I couldn't help but look at this shameless old man, even the General seemed like he was growing tired of this old man's attitude.

"It's a deal… By the way, who's the brat you're carrying like a purse?"

They finally notice I exist. They both look at me at the same time and the old man says, "This is the one you'll sign the contract with."

""What?"" The General and I were both confused.

"He's not a 2000 year old vampire in a child's body is he?"

The old man chuckled, "No, he's 3 and he's my grandson."

"I'll be 4 in 2 months." I just shrugged at the stupidity of all this.

"Oh! 4, thank goodness, I was worried he didn't know what he was doing… but I thought you would just portal through and take care of it in a day?"

"Not this time, Jessup here will be taking your role of the white knight and save the day… in 15 maybe 16 years."

Once again I'm confused. How does he want me to do that? 

"You want us to wait 16 years for him to be old enough and strong enough to take over Rosary? No, if you refuse to portal us it could take at least 20 years to get there… Alright, it doesn't seem like I have a choice. It's a deal."

"Great, I'll send over the paperwork later. Unless you want to make a soul pact?"

"You know I can't do that." General Jordan walked away, slightly pleased with the deal, and the old man opened up a portal so we could head home. Right before we left I looked at the domed barrier one last time before. 

_______________

"Why would you make such a deal? What am I supposed to do?" The one thing I just couldn't figure out was what he gains from this. This seems like a deal that only two parties win out on, and he's not one of them. 

"For the next 15 years you'll be training under me. You seem to be compatible with the dark arts so we'll see how you'll do from there." The old man was still carrying me like a purse even while strolling through the palace walls, "First is training some of your current skills. What are your current skills?"

"Hide status lvl 6, Sleep lvl 1 and at Bolster lvl 6. How do I train my skills anyway?"

"Sleep? You should've started training that years ago, as for how. You just start using it. Some skills are different of course, they need different methods to get stronger."

The old man was walking down the halls while teaching me, of course he somehow managed to get dressed in his royal attire this time.

"A perfect example is enlightenment. You can't keep repeating things over and over again hoping things will work out in your favor. You need to dive deep into your capabilities and see if you can improve everyday. When you think of these skills, they are usually things like swordsmanship, or lovemaking."

"What other ways are there?" I couldn't help but think of what Amelia gave me.

Now we've stopped moving, but before he said anything he gave me something. It was a syringe with a needle at the end. "Another method of course is drugs, elixirs, radiation therapy, you name it. Anything that can change your D.N.A can usually give you a skill OR it could kill you. This here is a family heirloom made from my blood."

"That's disgusting. What does it do?"

"It'll give you the ability to absorb a small fraction of energy coming your way. It also helps with cultivation. It's not nearly as good as the real thing but in time you might be able to make it a skill of your own."

He set me down and just offered it to me. I still couldn't understand why he was being so nice to me so I had to ask, "Why are you helping me so much? Why invest anything into me. I'm not your real grandson."

"Tell me this then, if you're not my grandson then what are you?"

Is that a rhetorical question? I'm nobody, that's only obvious. If I left tomorrow I'd probably die on the street of starvation or picked up by strangers. There's no telling where I would be if I didn't have this old man helping me.

"I'm an investment." That's right, that's the only reason why he's helped me so much. Why does he want me to be king, to be powerful? He wants to use me for world domination. Because he knows that even if I rebel against him, all he has to do is either outlive me or crush me.

I looked at him as if trying to prove that I figured out his gameplan. I wanted him to know that I wouldn't be his little pawn, but all he did was sigh and shake his head.

"Kid, this isn't a game of chess you're playing. Life isn't always about schemes, at least not when it comes to family. You're not an investment, you're the only son of my beautiful baby girl, and right now she's broken and I'm the one who broke her. I need you to be the one to fix her."

I couldn't believe this, the same arrogant prick, who had a standoff with the current rulers of the world and the same guy who said everyone is equal under him… Wants me to fix his daughter?

For now I listen to what he said and accept the injection. 

[ENERGY ABSORPTION LVL 1]

That's my new skill. It can absorb 3% of most kinds of energy and convert it into mana.