Chapter 19 - Prodigys

Zenith was currently fighting three Lesser resonant creatures. It had been a week since the first time, and he would often come here alone when he wasn't training back at the freighter with Fable. Zenith found himself enjoying this, maybe a little too much.

One of the creatures attempted an air tackle, but its body was splattered as Zenith backhanded it with his gauntlet at maximum power. Another then tried to bite his ankle from below, wanting to use its comrade's death as an advantage, yet it didn't matter as Zenith jumped then cleaved downwards with his weapon, impaling its skull from above.

The third creature hissed, throwing all pretense away as it jumped to try and bite Zenith upward. Zenith let go of his weapon. His fist emitted a soft resonance glow before he punched it square in its maw, the creature tossed away several feet or so.

When Zenith landed, he panted heavily, grabbing his weapon and rushing to the disoriented creature before cutting its head off. "42 rounds of 3 creatures..." he muttered, collapsing tiredly onto his knees. He truly had no energy left, always wanting to puke from exhaustion.

This had become common for Zenith ever since he had gotten a resonance frequency. Just like when a man struggled to survive in some third world country, moving to a first world place, he would use any form of advantage to get by, using his ethic of hard work until it paid off.

"This is incredible, the feeling of improvement," he said, sitting cross-legged. He raised his sword hand and clenched it into a fist, slowly willing the resonance in his body and muscles to emit into a soft glow. It still felt like a foreign feeling, but the feeling was amazing.

Zenith, the day prior, had been talking to his former teacher and his friend Kalen, telling them that he was doing well. He wasn't sure how to explain regarding him getting a resonant frequency, so he didn't tell them yet as it wasn't important in the meantime.

Clenching his teeth, Zenith laid down, then he began to will the mass in his body to begin the method of strengthening his body's structure again. In the meantime, he sighed quietly. "Life is filled with twists and turns. One day I'll become strong enough to not need anyone to rely on."

Despite this, Zenith felt a little lost. He remembered that day many years ago right as his father had been captured. It was when he was spending time with the family. His father had gazed into his eyes and told him no matter what happened, never to take revenge on the family. He could hate them, but please don't take revenge.

Zenith looked bitter. "Did he think I would always be weak... that I'd never have the strength to avenge him?" His father's care for him made Zenith miss those moments, even though it was only a few years. "I'll never forgive those bastards..." Mumbling to himself, his anger as fuel, the swishing grew more violent before drops escaped his resonant mass and formed strings to fill his body.

Fable was currently relaxing in the freighter's lounge area, a treat in his mouth as he looked over the current news of events. Mirabell had walked in, gazing around before giving a little chime of a tune to Fable. "Huh? You mean where's Zenith? That kid won't spend a second relaxing. It's like if he isn't training, then he will go crazy. It's a little scary."

A timed jingle left Mirabell's body as she looked a bit worried. Fable laughed. "Don't look so worried. Ever since he got a resonance frequency, he's become like a little monster. His body can handle it. His rate of improvement though is scary. I bet if some organizations knew, they would want to snatch him away from us." Jenabell then walked in, a bit serious as she looked around.

"Where's the kid? Still training?" In response to Jenabell, Fable nodded, and Jenabell looked impressed. "Then why are you lounging around too? Aren't you supposed to mentor him? You're always so lazy. Maybe I should ask if Amada needs a training partner." Fable quivered in fright as he jumped up. "G-gran, don't joke like that..." He felt wronged.

Jenabell chuckled under her breath. "I've set our next target." Mirabell and Fable looked a bit confused, then Fable showed excitement. "Wow! So soon? Thought we were gonna ride out the credits for a while."

Jenabell sneered. "Don't get into that habit. Although we've paid the federation banks off, we still have ways to go. This time I've decided we will try a true White Wolf level Relic site. It won't be a walk in the park like the last one. This one is going to put the kid's combat to use."

Fable looked a little serious. "Well, it's a little soon, but he has made some big improvements. I'm confident with myself. As long as we are careful and don't run into anything serious, we can handle it. Is it a material run then?" Fable assumed if there were creatures, then the focus would be materials.

Jenabell smiled a little. "Contact Zenith and tell him to come back. I'll explain when everyone is back." Fable nodded, bringing up his device. Zenith, back in the training relic site, had just finished adjusting his body. He wanted to continue but was hungry. It was just in time as well, as Fable contacted him telling him to return for the details of the next assignment.

Zenith was excited. Relic sites, in his opinion, were places of opportunity, though he didn't get too excited, still afraid that the universe would flick him some bad luck for being too big-headed. He began to head back.

When he exited and re-entered the large building and exited, he saw a lot of relic hunters and others standing on the side, talking with fascination. Zenith was curious by nature and walked over to inquire.

"What's going on?" he asked a nearby relic hunter who turned back to him and spoke. "One of the federation's prodigies, Mythica Aralune, has arrived. To think we would get to see her out of all the systems and outposts in the federation."

Zenith tilted his head. "Prodigy?" He then turned to look, getting a better view. He saw a girl around his age with fiery red hair, tied in long braids down to the middle of her back. Her outfit consisted of pieces of armor, mixed with external gear, no doubt crafted just for her, from expensive and strong materials. Her striking features were her strong charismatic look and burning orange eyes, as if she didn't see everyone around her.

On her back was a large great sword that gave an orange-tinted glow, the blade made from what looked like an alloy which caused the air to ripple from heat. Her imposing nature was obvious, but her beauty and femininity were equal. Her thighs were exposed down to her calves which met her sabatons. Her midriff was also showing a lot, exposing her abs, no doubt earned from training. Her chest was also well-endowed, the upper part uncovered to show a healthy large pair of breasts before her chest armor covered the rest.

Zenith pursed his lips. He could feel her strength from here. "She must be something," he threw out a casual comment. To which the relic hunter laughed softly. "You new? She's more than something. She's one of the top 10 elites of our federation that compete with the Retoran's and Eltanian's. Her family background is just as good too. Her father's part of the federation parliament, and her grandfather is a General in the military with great merits."

Zenith was impressed. He wondered though if she could achieve all she had if she didn't have that backing. "Well, lucky to whoever marries her, I guess," he spoke again. Clearly to him, he had other things on his mind than women, unlike the many here who fawned over her.

"Oh man, you don't know the half of it. I really admire that Aleren Vailen kid. He is definitely the main character of his generation," the man sighed in envy. Zenith froze for a moment, memories better left forgotten flashing as he spoke. "What did you say? Aleren Vailen? Can you tell me more please? I really haven't been around for long." His body was shaking, unsure why.

The man nodded, not noticing Zenith's change.

 "Well, a while back, the top families and organizations in the federation got their youths together to form bonds, but you know how hot-blooded people can be, especially when they think they are stronger than each other. I heard Aleren came 1st in the contest, even beating that wild animal from the federation frontier. Man's a charmer, I can tell you that. Apparently, he has 3 of the top female prodigies wanting to marry him out of their own willingness, Mythica included. What a bastard, he has his own harem of top girls. Leave some for the rest of us." He sighed, though when he looked around, he couldn't find Zenith. "Huh? Guess he left."

Zenith's face was expressionless, his hands and arms shaking from uncontrolled emotions. "Vailen clan... I've decided. One day I'm going to stomp you into the ground, just like you did to my family."