Gold has really come a long way, both metaphorically and literally.
To back track his journey from getting recruited to by the organization known as Absolute Being to standing on the grounds of the Absolute Academy ready to give the new recruits some taste of true power, we need go back a few months to what happens after Gold's encounter with Rydel on B1.
Gold charged at Rydel, and he foresaw his blades cutting through Rydel's weak human body like a knife through a freshly made tofu. But before an decisive victory for him unfolds, Rydel un-clenches his outreached left hand, and the previously mysteriously disappeared club appeared once again past his defenses and crashed right into his face.
The initial impact sprung the secondary mechanism and the shock wave caused by the rapid expansion of the Club head gave Gold yet another hit. The massive impulse easily cocked his head back unnaturally as his brain rattled around in the helmet. The forward momentum of the rest of his body carried him forward and puts his body in an incredibly awkward position, folding him up into a horrendous V shape.
Thankfully, Aquarian physiology allowed him to survive as there are no hard skeletal structure underneath the slimey silky smooth skins. His organs are simply displaced by the pressure coming from the exoskeleton suit he is wearing, and none of the vital organs are severely damaged apart from being thrown around within his body. His face was not as lucky, however. The secondary hit as designed by the cheeky Rocky mechanic Torelamri delivered a crippling blow to his helmet, and it cracked open under the immense amount of force like a dropped watermelon before the shards of metal dug deep into his face.
His nose is the first one to go, and then the rest of the helmet collapsed inwards from the center point and very nearly squashed his brain if it did not swim out of the way, following the fluid pressure. His whole body was then flicked about the Club and flung back to the wall behind him.
Gold lost consciousness immediately as the cracks on the helmet became visible to his eyes and his brain was moved out of its usual position. This innate protection mechanism saved his life. Then in what must have felt like a few moments, he awaked somewhere else.
The dusty dirty planet of B1 is nowhere to be seen, and the windows of the room showed a mountainous terrain, typical of human settlements. There is no mirror near his vicinity, so he would not be able to see his atrocious defeated self. But that's probably for the better. He picked up his upper two arms and gently poked at his face.....it's extremely painful to touch. His airways to his nose is also constricted, but Aquarians have other ways to breathe.
'I wouldn't do that if I were you.' Lady Lily's voice came from his left, and Gold turned that way. Strangely so the only thing he sees are the windows and the forest outside. He turned the other way and saw the beautiful human female dressed in a tightly fit red dress coming in through the door.
'What is happening?' Gold tried to speak, and a thin voice came through. At least the vocal cords are still intact somewhat. But a warrior without two of his senses are worthless, and Gold felt a sense of despair underneath the depths of anger.
'Another artifact user got you good, as far as we know.' Lady Lily said, 'we don't have any of the footage thanks to their stealth and disruption technology, but we are fairly certain you have encountered some artifact users from the other faction and they have managed to snatch away our target.'
Gold forced his mouth shut and listened.
'But do not worry, as the master still values your importance to a certain degree. However, we are expecting a lot more out of you than what we are currently seeing.' Lady Lily continued on, and her words cut deeper than the shards of his helmet did.
Gold remained silent for longer.
'I will fix you up right now, and then we will prepare you for the nanotechnology enhancement procedure. It will take a few days for your body to get acclimatized to the new power. How long it takes for you master it is another issue all together.' Lady Lily said as she brought up a schematic of a single nano-sized drone in a hologram in front of Gold, and his scarred eyes opened up wide.
'Will this make the difference?' Gold ask, 'with this technology, can I win?'
'No.' Lady Lily shook her head, 'the nanotechnology enhancements will bring you to the highest level of power any being can achieve at this level, but it still doesn't even come close to the amount of power the artifacts can offer. But you will be a lot closer than before.'
'What are the effects?' Gold asked further.
'You shall see.' Lady Lily smiled a little, and then she took out the Pen of Rearrangement from her sides and puts Gold to sleep. Then, she began to prep his body for the nanotechnology enhancements.
'They really did you a nasty one, didn't they...' Lady Lily murmured to herself as she puts on a gentle oriental ambiance music in the background and began her work on Gold's facial area, removing the shards of metal, reorganizing the scar tissues and trying her best to return everything back to functional level. Once the macro-level damage have been dealt with, the nano drones should able to heal the rest. The actual procedure took around an hour or two, then she took out the book sized box full of nanosized drones and poured into into a needle in a light colorless fluid. The fluid is rather similar to Aquarian equivalent of blood plasma in terms of properties and will allow the drones to move across the fluids and enter Gold's body. After that, her work is done here.
When Gold woke up once again, he felt strange. No...he felt good. And it's not supposed to be this way.
Gold sat up on the operation table, and looked around. Nothing is aching, and he felt as if his body is brand new and years younger, void of wear and tear of his combative lifestyle. Maybe this is what the nanotechnology enhancement is all about.
Gold felt completely reinvigorated, and it really isn't supposed to happen seeing how everything felt before. Gold looked down at his arms, but everything seemed completely normal. Lady Lily is out of the room and the whole place is silent.
He gently taps the table on the right, and his ears confirmed that it wasn't because he lost his hearing.
Gold took in a deep breath and the airway is wide open. He paused for a moment, and wondered if this is real. His whole body is feeling incredibly numb from all the lying down, but he also felt like he can explode out of the bed anytime he wants.
And that's what he did. Without his exoskeleton suit, he simply tried extend his two lower legs, and shot up and out from the bed he was lying on. The uncontrolled strength propelled him up and towards the nearest window, but he reached out with his arms and prevented yet another face plant. After bouncing off the window, he landed on the ground, and managed to stay stable.
'Pretty impressive for a slab of muscle, right?' Lady Lily came in after she heard all the noise.
'This is incredible.' Gold looked down at his unsupported legs, and they are solid just like the lower limbs of a typical human. Under normal circumstances, Aquarians will nearly always collapse downwards without the support of an exoskeleton suit or armor, but he guess he is no longer in that category. He struck the air with one of his arms, and the shear amount of power and impulse generated almost tipped him over, but he moved his feet and stayed upright again without the support of his skeleton.
'Go on, your suit is right there.' Lady Lily pointed at the other corner of the room where all of Gold's exoskeleton suit is being folded and placed on a small desk.
Gold nodded towards her gratefully, and carefully shifted his weight from one foot to another, being so careful and slow like a human baby trying to walk for the first time. Gold does have many years of martial arts training background that gives him and incredible amount of body control and proprioceptive abilities that allows him to feel precisely how much force is going through each limb. He waved six of his upper limbs in succession like a crawling centipede in order to balance his body. His steps became faster and longer as the natural movement instincts kicked in. A smile of excitement began to show up on his face, and that feels like the first time he learned to roam about the depths of Aquarian's vast oceans, when he first learnt to surf the currents near the upper levels, and when he first touches a blade and slid it through water with minimal resistance at the perfect angle of attack.
It's a feeling he has not felt fot too long. The excitement of potential, and the feeling of progression...
He reached out and picked up the first piece of exoskeleton that stabilizes his spine, and then each of his body parts. The carefully designed suit fit together quickly and simply, and he has returned to normal in a matter of minutes.
'This is incredible.....Lady Lily.' Gold bowed down and sincerely thanked Lady Lily, who stood by the door with her arms crossed and looked at him with a faint smile on her face.
'Can you feel the difference?' Lady Lily asked, and Gold slowly looked at and right at her as he put the helmet back on.
'Y....Yes.' Gold's voice is shaking as he concentrates on this extremely precise task. There are so much power within every single movement, and Gold is having trouble controlling all that power.
Practice! He needs to practice! He can already feel the shear amount of physical strength increase that runs throughout his body, and now he just need to harness its power.
'My Lady, could I have my blades?'
Gold cannot remember the last time he put as much heart and soul into his practice like this. He was the proud prodigy of the Unyielding Ice Style, and quickly became the strongest fighter in the whole area. He did not start as a prodigy, and always scoffs at others' comments when it comes to natural talent. He started from the lowest place possible, with incredibly clumsy under water movements and is so insensitive to the slight changes of current flow and pressure that the examiner joked that a sinking rock are better at moving than him.
Then, he began to put in the work. It's really that simple. The style of the Aquarian Martial Arts demanded the blade points exactly where you desired for it to travel, and any deviation of angle or direction will lead to blade spin in place without getting anywhere and then a smack on the back from your drill masters.
Gold was absolutely as horrendous as it gets when it comes to blade work. While most of the kids have completed the basic tasks of guiding the blades through straight lines of action, his is still zig-zagging uncontrollably like a dead seaweed wobbling about. He had grown callous on his backs and his suits worn out for all the smacking he had received, and he just can't seem to figure out how to get the blade tip from one point to other without risking straining his muscles.
Then, the rest of his cohort moved on to more complicated blade movements and actually started incorporating the rest of the body into it, and Gold had finally managed to move the blade exactly where he wanted for half a meter. The passing distance is two meters.
That came another four months later. And he attempted to use the rest of his body, and cut himself deep in the stomach the first time he tried it. Blood began pouring out of his abdomen, but he does not feel pain. Instead, he felt despair. An endless wave of despair.
'Master, am I just not built for this?' Gold paddled towards the master swordsman as he is wrapped in seaweed and stopped just short of reaching his side. His temple is empty, and the master was meditating in the center.
'Nonsense.' Master replied.
'But why?!' Gold refused to take the answer, 'but WHY! Why am I always the slowest to grasp the concepts? Why can I never control the blade? Why can I never ride the current that's supposed to be done?'
The master remained silent, and his facial expressions seemed as if he is sleeping. But Gold knew he is listening.
'Why do you think?' He asked.
'Why do I think...? Why do I think?! Why does it matter?!' Gold yelled at him, 'I am done with this load of turbshit! Why does it matter how much work I put in if the whole universe is against me!'
The master didn't reply. And Gold angrily turned around and began to paddle away. As he reaches the exit of the master's temple, he finally spoke out.
'And you are just going to let the whole universe win?'
Gold paused, and looked down at his bloodied seaweed bandage. He breathed faster and faster as anger flowed through him. No, not anger. Will. A will to defy, and a will to fight against all odds.
If the whole universe against him, then he will just win!
He will win against the whole universe, and no one will be able to face him ever again!
He spun around, despite the pain caused by his wounds tearing up once again and the blood began to seep through the bandages.
'Master, what should I do?' He asked in a calm voice, and looked right at him from twenty meters away.
'Go far, go deep.' Master replied, a hint of pride hidden in his voice, 'journey towards the chaotic depths. Take your blades with you, and never return until you have cut through ten thousand dragonweeds!'
Dragonweeds are the species of seaweed that grew near the core of the planet under incredibly high pressures and chaotic currents. They are one of the toughest organic materials on the whole of Aquaria.
Gold looked at him, mouth wide open and didn't say a word. Then he shuts it, and bowed deeply. His blood had finally broke through of the bandage, and lefts a trail behind him as he leaves the temple.
He had returned from the depths five years later, and won the martial arts tournaments that involves all three styles.
'Have you heard of Gold? The absolute genius of the sword! No one in the whole sector is able to break through his defense, not even the master himself!'
'Gold? The prideful prodigy of the Ice? Hell yeah...'
Prideful?
PRIDEFUL??
Gold looked around at the onlookers and ignored the jealous gaze. To them, he is someone that showed up out of nowhere one day, and dominated the rest of the swordsman. But little did they know what he had been through in those five years. If anything, he deserved to be prideful.
The work has been done, and why does it matter how one expresses himself. If anything, he is the only one in the entire region that deserves to be prideful, and no one had put in a remotely close amount of work compared to him.
If anything, he is the only on the entire PLANET that deserves to be prideful.
He melted down the trophy, and made himself his golden armor. Then, he journeyed beyond the planet, and into the wider galaxy.
But that's also when he stagnates and stopped progressing forward. At the peak of his power, he was seldomly matched by warriors of any race. He is too powerful, and life became boring. What could he possibly be improving in?
In hindsight, this is when Gold lost sight of his desires, and his drive to let the universe know that he shall not be defeated. Soon after, he was defeated multiple times.
What little pride he had is completely gone, and all that's left is his will. He removed the gold paint on his equipment and wore the grey. Until he is ready, he shall not wear Gold.
He will master his new body, and he will become stronger.
'And then you will go challenge the current user of the artifact Lock down, and you shall take it away from him.' When Lady Lily took Gold to the Master, the leader of the entire organization, he said.
'Lock Down is in the hand of the second in command of Grey Wolf, nicknamed the Black Wolf.' He explained further, 'when we offered the artifacts to him, he knew the terms. With great power, comes greater power to control it, or you couldn't possibly be worthy.'
'Yes, Master.' Gold bowed, 'I will make it happen.'
'Ah, of course.' The Master sounded amused. He remained in the shadows as the lights traced around his head to make out the general outline of a human male and tilted his head to the side and looked at Gold with a particular interest, 'I know you will.'
A month later and three months before Rydel enters the Space Force's specialist training, Gold have extended out a challenge to the Black Wolf. It was accepted three days later.
The battle field is set to be on a small dessert area near in the planet next to the Grey Wolf's homebase planet, and the fight is broadcasted throughout the region. Apparently it has become a big deal in the region, and the Black Wolf intends to use this opportunity as a show of power to his adversaries, and gather more supporters to his side.
The dry coarse wind sneaked through the gaps of his armor like streams of water through the cracks in the riverside stones, and it gently scrapes against his skin, massaging the fluids between his body and the actual suit that lies underneath the armor around.
Standing against him, tall and proud, is the Black Wolf. But really, he is one of Black and Gold not to dissimilar to himslef. He is a middle-aged human male with a darkened skin tone and grey beards. His frame seemed athletically muscular, but never to the point of bulkiness. He moves quite light on his feet, and the gold chains and decorations highlighted in the midst of his black battle armor tells you enough about what you need to know about him.
'Gold of Aquaria. I accept your challenge.' The Black Wolf raised his arms to his side proudly, and spun around as if he had already won this fight. The drones that he set up to capture this fight stayed at a reasonable distance and tracks his movements steadily. He paraded in a tight circle about fifteen meters away from Gold, and delivered his pre-written speech, 'Over the many years, many have challenged me in all walks of life, and yet here I stand, in the realms of the great Grey Wolf. You will be one of the many that will be forgotten, and may your soul find peace in the wild.'
He stopped and got into a battle stance, with a visibly modified blaster in hand. He looked straight at the Aquarian who stood tall still with six blades behind his back, reached out for something from his backpack, and dropped it on the ground right in front of him.
Gold didn't say a word, but instead drew his swords, took half a step forward and prepared himself.