1. The Encounter
One hot and humid afternoon at the beginning of the November holidays, four children were eager to try out the newly acquired electronic toy. School ended a day ago and they had two months of free time all to themselves. Kelvin, Alex, Calvin and Lenny were four twelve-year-olds who just graduated from their primary education in the small town of Seremban. It was a sleepy town located on the west coast of the equator nation of Malaysia. They kicked off their holiday by playing Kelvin's brand new PlayStation2 in his house. All of their parents were away as usual, they were used to spending their time around each other's company ever since three years ago. Kelvin's parents went to Australia on a business trip while Alex's parents left for America for vacation. Lenny's parents on the other hand had gone to China and Calvin's parents went along with them. All of their parents decided that it would be best to just let their kids spend half of their holidays in an educational camp starting the next day. Since none of them are coming back for another month, they hired a temporary nanny to take care of them and make sure they make it to the camp. "So Kelvin, how do you feel about tomorrow's camp huh?" Lenny asked while busy tapping the buttons. "It's so boring! It's the same thing every year! Our parents just ditch us and went to have fun on their own." Kelvin replied. "Yeah, I agree. And I think the instructors there are fed up of looking at our faces each November holidays." Alex added. "So what do you all plan on doing?" "Dunno," Kelvin blurted without thinking. "But who cares anyway, the neighborhoods are empty, the town is quite deserted and it seems to me like as if we are in a ghost town. Everybody living here are currently not around, and most of the houses here are vacant, especially during this time of the year." "So what's the big idea? As long as we can do whatever we want, who cares?" Calvin said. "Even if you did the craziest thing possible, I don't think anyone will bother since most of them are still at work." "So, do you guys have any ideas on what to do at the camp for the next couples of weeks?" Alex asked. "Beats me?" Kelvin replied. "Lenny?" "Nope! Ah, shit!" Lenny replied in a loud, impatient tone before hitting the X button repeatedly. "I'm bored. I'm going outside to play with the dogs," Alex yawned and stood up sluggishly from the sofa and then headed towards the front door. "Remember to help me feed them, okay?" Kelvin shouted. "Yeah, yeah. Alright! Call me when Lenny had done with his turn. He's taking forever!" Alex sighed and went outside. Moments later, the doorbell rang which was followed by the sound of Kelvin's quick footsteps. "That must be the nanny. Who could it be this time?" Kelvin murmured to himself while heading towards the front gate.
As he approached the front gate, a stranger in tuxedo, black tall hat and dark sunglasses greeted him. It's not exactly the attire someone will wear in this kind of weather, and sure as hell not what a babysitter will wear. He was tall, medium built and was clean shaved. "Good afternoon Mr. Howard, nice to meet you." Kelvin was surprised because the nanny usually address him by his first name. "Yes, and mister you are…" "Mr. Erik, Erik Jacob. I'm an administrator from the camp which your parents have booked for you tomorrow. I am here to inform you that the camp had been cancelled due to renovations. Are your parents at home?" "I am afraid that they are abroad now. They won't be back for another month." Erik's eyebrows furrowed and he took a deep breath before sighing. "Very well then, I guess it is alright for you to sign some paper work and take the refund?" "Sure… But before I let you in, can you show me your identification card please," Kelvin, always weary of strangers, but who could blame him; both his parents are cops. "Of course, you can't be too careful these days." Erik put down the small suitcase he was holding on and fished out his wallet from his breast pocket. "Here you go," Satisfied with the details, Kelvin returned the wallet and opened the front gate. "By the way, do you happen to know where Mr. Lenny Lim and Mr. Calvin Saunders stay?" "You're in luck Mr. Erik. Both of them and Alex is here too. All of our parents are away, so I guess you can pass the refund to us." "Very well," Despite the hot weather and Erik's thick tuxedo, there weren't any sweat on his face. After Erik entered the house, Kelvin called everyone to gather around for the refund. "So, you must be Lenny, Calvin and Alex. Am I right?" They nodded as Erik confirmed their names. "Alright, everyone's here. I shall begin then. This is just the formality." Erik removed a piece of paper from his suitcase and started reading it aloud. "We regret to inform you that the 23rd Junior Scientist Camp scheduled for the 3rd of November stands cancelled. The reason for the cancellation is that the venue was under renovation and we were unable to secure an alternative venue. Therefore, we shall refund you fully and sorry for any inconvenience caused." "Yes!" Lenny shouted the moment he heard the word 'cancelled' from Erik's mouth. "Alright, calm down you all, here's the paper I need you guys to sign before I give you back the refund." All the boys gathered around him as he took out a few sheets of paper from his suitcase. "Okay boys, please sign here and here. Thank you." Later, Erik opened his suitcase again and took out a few envelopes filled with money and handed them to the boys. The boys proceeded to counting the money. After Erik made sure that the sum was right, he stood up from the sofa and said "So, I guess you boys must be very free now that the camp had been cancelled," "Yeah, I think we would probably get bored in a few days' time. But I don't think we have any plans, do we?" Kelvin said and looked at Alex who shrugged his shoulders and then to Lenny and finally Calvin. "Oh, what a shame. Before I go, can I interest you guys to go on an adventure?" "What kind of adventure are we talking about?" Calvin asked. "It will be an adventure unlike no other which is both dangerous and exotic but at the same time full of thrills and excitement. You'll be introduced to a world unlike any other. It'll be a memorable trip," "But what is the catch? Do we need to pay anything in return?" Kelvin asked. "Nope. It will be an all-expenses paid trip. In fact, you don't need to bring anything. And I meant ANYTHING there. Your accommodation, food, transport, activities and etcetera. How about it?" "Seriously?" Calvin replied, his voice heavy with doubt. "There is no catch at all? That sounds too good to be true." "There is actually. Here is the catch, I will have to show you for you to believe it. Alright, here goes!" Erik revealed both his gloved hands in front of the boys and then all of a sudden, Kelvin's dog appeared in his palm. "Wow!" The boys exclaimed. "Now watch this!" Erik put Kelvin's toy poodle – Sherry on the table and then he snapped his right fingers. Sherry vanished instantly without a trace. "Where did she go?" Kelvin asked. "Where she was before," Moments later, Sherry's bark echoed from outside the house. "Cool!" Alex said. "That's just child's play. Now how about the offer? Are you in?" "I am definitely in!" shouted Calvin. "Me too!" Alex followed. "I don't know guys, this just doesn't sound right…" Kelvin said. "Come on Kelvin, give it a shot. I meant we don't have anything to do anyway. If we follow him, we get free stuff all the way, if what he's saying is true that is." Lenny tried to convince Kelvin to participate. "Of course I am. You also get to learn a lot of new tricks and secrets on the way. Are you all ready?" Erik said. "Okay, which way do we go? Where's your car?" Kelvin finally gave in. Erik smiled and said "Car could not take us where we will be going."
Erik moved his right hand out of his pocket to reveal a glowing hand. Then, with a few quick strokes of his fingers in mid-air as if to write something, a few small gashes appeared in the empty space where Erik had just stroked with that glowing hand of his. The gashes coalesced to form a mini whirlwind which soon increased in size and became static as it enlarged to the size of a window. The whirlwind stopped after leaving a mess of the living room; newspapers, magazines and tissues flown all over the place. What remained was a portal staring into total darkness. Erik stepped towards it and grabbed the edge of the portal before pulling its sides with both of his hands. The portal slowly expanded with Erik's effort. He stopped and stepped back when the portal was the size of a door. Erik removed a handkerchief from his breast pocket to wipe off the beads of sweat that was all over his face. For the boys, the portal revealed a dark endless tunnel which seems to lead to nowhere. It also left them dumbstruck and staring blankly into the dark portal. It was a while before Erik broke the curtain of silence. "Now, shall we go?" Erik said. The four boys were still dazed by mysterious portal. They circled around the magical tunnel and examined it more than a dozen times from all angle but none of them believed what they were seeing. "I wanted to believe this to be some kind of magic trick but no matter how I see it, it doesn't seem one bit phony. Either this is a very well done magic trick or we're on a crappy reality TV show." Calvin said. "Sorry to say that both are wrong. This is not a magic trick, it's one of my abilities which allowed me to cut through time and space. Just like this," Erik disappeared into thin air with the snap of his left fingers before reappearing behind Alex who was standing behind Calvin. "Okay, that is truly amazing, how did you do that?" Kelvin exclaimed. Erik extended his right arm and pointed towards the seemingly endless pathway. "Follow me if you wish to learn more," "Where are we going?" Lenny asked. "To convince you that this is no mere trick of course. Step right in," Lenny put his forearm into the portal before stepping into it and then he was gone. Not believing what he saw, Kelvin went around the portal to see if Lenny was on the other side. But there was nothing on the other side of the portal, just the same endless tunnel of abyss. "Where did he go? It's sure not a damn hole in the wall, so what is it?" Kelvin asked. "No way, it can't be, this only happens in the movies. Is it a wormhole?" Alex was talking to himself. "Exactly! It's a short cut through time and space." Erik explained. "Really, I think it's just another good illusion that fools us all. Seriously Erik, how did you do it?" Calvin asked, still being skeptical about the wormhole theory. "Fine, if you don't believe me, be my guest and step right in." "Alright, if what you are saying is true, then where will we end up going to?" "New Zealand, is that far away enough to proof that this is indeed a wormhole?" Erik replied. Calvin took the challenge and became the next person to enter the wormhole. The others quickly followed and Erik picked up the rear.
It was a short few seconds of silence in a dark tunnel that stares into the vast nothingness everywhere they look. Before long, they reached the end of the tunnel that shimmered in a late evening twilight. Everyone exited in one piece and to the boys' surprise, they were really in New Zealand as their location was depicted by Calvin's handphone which was equipped with GPRS. "Now do you believe me?" Erik winked at them. "Who, what are you?" Alex blustered. "That would be a story too long to actually tell it to you but you all will find out in time. What I do want to say is that both our worlds need help in the near future," "How so, care to elaborate?" Kelvin probed. "Long story short, there was a prophecy about evil will once again rise and terrorizes my world 'Nirvana'. The prophecy was made ten years after the end of a Great War which happened fifty years ago. Because of that, peace between the many different nations and clans were difficult to achieve. Everyone was suspicious of one and the other and secretly gathering their forces to prepare for the worst. By doing so, they might be the very one creating the evil that the prophecy speaks of. My boss believe that you guys might make a difference in what's to come. But honestly, the prophecy seems bogus to me. I meant it's been so long since the last real conflict occurred." "Hold on a second, you're telling me that we're going there to be trained as soldiers?" Kelvin exclaimed. "Not exactly. Like I said before, these are peaceful times. Nothing's gonna happen to you." Erik reassured. "You could at least tell us the war part sooner," Calvin said. "If he did, you guys would never have agreed to go with him." A familiar voice replied. Everyone turned around to see their ex-classmate Kenneth Fong. "Oh there you are Kenneth. You're just in time. I guess we can go now." Erik said. "Hey, wait up. I still have tons of questions that need answering." Kelvin asked. Kenneth patted Kelvin on the shoulder and said "Have some faith. All your questions will be answered soon." "How did he convinced you to go?" Kenneth just shrugged his shoulders. Erik clapped his hands once and said "Okay, shall we get going?" "Where to?" Lenny asked. "Nirvana of course. Just one last time, do you all really wish to participate after what you have heard? It's not too late to turn back now. And don't worry, I'll send you back to Kelvin's house before we depart if you do not wish to participate. And sorry Kelvin, I cannot answer any further questions unless I am sure that you're willing to go with us. It's best to keep our existence a secret from your world, for both our sakes." "I'm in." Kenneth raised his hand without a second thought. "If Kenneth's going, I'm going too." Everyone's attention was turned towards Lenny. "What? It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Tell me when you'll get another chance like this one?" "I'm in as well," Calvin raised his hand. "Alex?" Kelvin glanced at him and Alex nodded in return. "I guess we're all going then," "Excellent! Now, please give me a moment to get ready. This is going to be a longer trip in limbo compared to the last one." Erik reached his right hand into his back pocket and withdrew a small abacus the size of a key. Later, the abacus melted in his palm and expanded to cover his entire right hand in glowing gold light. "Alright guys, step aside please. This could get dangerous sometimes." Everyone quickly backed away from where Erik was standing. "I was just joking! This is completely safe." Erik chuckled and continued his work. He drew a circle the size of an adult in mid-air and then slowly walked backwards. Suddenly, the imaginary circle glowed on its circumference and became visible. The circle slowly expanded and a small dark hole started forming at the center of the circle. The dark hole expanded until it reached the size of the glowing circular ring and stopped. The dark hole was stable unlike the last one; it did not exert any gravitational pull at all. After the dark hole had fully expanded, Erik invited the boys to step into it. "Are you sure it's safe?" Alex was very concerned about the dangerous journey that they were about to take. Erik patted Alex on the back and said "It's not too late to turn back but you might regret it for the rest of your life later. It's an experience unlike no other and an experience which no ordinary people can ever get. Trust me." Alex looked at Erik, a sincere look on his face. With that said, Erik ordered the boys to arrange in single file and walked into the dark hole with Erik picking up at the rear.
As soon as they stepped into the dark hole, they felt as if time had stopped and they were unable to move. About ten minutes of suspended animation, they finally saw light. The boys and Erik emerged on a grassy plain overlooking a huge fortress. "Welcome to Nirvana, my home planet and this is the continent of Yume; one of the ten major continents in this world. This place was nicknamed 'a place that never was' because the very ground you are standing is where the turning point of the Great War occurred. Prior to that, peace was such a far cry at a time when the clutches of evil was so strong. Battles after battles, evil dominated battlefield. Everyone was drawn into depression. But just when everyone thought that all hope was lost, our first victory in the war occurred about fifty years ago. And this fortress my friend, is where it happened. We dealt a major blow to the army of darkness in the Battle of Saamaya, the start of the triumph of good against evil. Saamaya was the old name of this fortress before it was renamed into Freedom Fortress after the formation of the Freedom Clan. My clan's job is to monitor all the other clans and various parties out there to ensure none of them violates the Saamaya Treaties, ensuring this hard-earned peace will persist. The treaties were signed by the head of the 12 major clans and also forty other smaller nations. They included rules of engagement, prohibited weapons, so on and so forth. Enough with the history lessons, you will get to know more and more about it in time if you are interested. Sad to say, freedom and peace are not such easy thing to maintain because a war might be inevitable sometimes." Erik looked grim as he stared at the mountains in the distance. "Anyway, let's get in." Erik led the boys along a wide tarmac road leading to the huge gate of the fortress. Alex noticed that Erik looked more tired and sleepy than the first time they met him as he kept yawning along the way. He broke the silence and asked "What's the matter Erik? You looked tired and worn out, did something happened?" "Yes, I'm tired because of the wormholes. Do you have any idea how much energy it takes to open one! Furthermore, I'm in your world a while ago, so generally it will consume much more energy than needed. But don't worry, I still have enough energy to lead you all into the fortress, so if by any chance I fainted, help me out, okay." "You're joking right?" Alex replied. "You catch up quick," When they were a few hundred meters from the gate, they could see vehicles no different from Earth going into and out of the gate. There were sedans, trucks, sports cars, SUVs and so on; it didn't seem that much different from Earth. There was no traffic though.
"This way please." Erik said. "Hey, why aren't we going in through the front door?" Kenneth asked. "That gate is for the civilians staying inside. We're not going to the residential area, we're heading to the military base but before that, I would like to take you boys to meet the highest ranking officer commanding this sector of the fortress." Erik then led the rest of them off the main tarmac road and into a smaller driveway. Along the way, Erik told the boys few important general rules that everyone should abide when inside the fortress and also that the time in Nirvana is three times as long as Earth's time. "Oh, so that means our one month holiday will be extended to three months, is that it?" Lenny asked. "Yup, that's right." Erik nodded. Before long, they reached the end of the road and encountered a smaller door at the side of the fortress. The door looked metallic without any doorknobs and there were no guards or other forms of surveillance monitoring the site. Erik stepped in front of the door and said his name aloud. Moments later, the door opened on its own. "Welcome back, Lieutenant Jacob." A robotic voice was heard when the metal door slid to the side. "This gate is monitored by a biometric sensor which comprised of one's biophysical profile and also a voice recognition. It's not the fanciest of security system but it will do." They were greeted by a few guards on duty after entering the gate. Security was not particularly tight though. They then proceeded through a few alleys and ended up in a very beautiful bungalow. A cute girl about the same age as the five boys was seen watering some bushes of pink flowers. "Hey Julee, is your uncle home?" Erik asked the girl. "Yeah, he's waiting for you inside. And hi all!" Julee smiled and winked at Kelvin. Kelvin blushed. "C'mon boys, the big guy is waiting. You will get to know more about your newly acquired ability and some history lessons from him. Hey, you might even fall in love with this lovely place," Erik gave Kelvin a glance with a smirk on his face. "I think she likes you, love at first sight?" "Shut up Lenny!" Kelvin blustered. The boys went into the living room with Kelvin stealing a final glance at Julee before entering the house. Kelvin's glance was met with Julee's and both of them went their separate ways, blushing. Inside, the boys received yet another surprise. "Chen, you are here as well?" Lenny said in a tone of surprise. "Hello all, long time no see." Chen replied. "It's been only a week and it seems like forever." Alex said and gave Chen a hug. He's a rather short boy with a great temper and manner, not to mention a heart of gold which earned him the nickname 'Yoda', just like the legendary Jedi Master from the Star Wars. Later, a heavily muscled and tall man approached the boys and said "Well, well, I see you've brought quite the company," "General Max, I was wondering where you were just now," Erik saluted the big man. General Max returned the salute and said "Hello all, I'm General Max Jr. Power, but you can just call me Max. I'm the commanding officer of the East Sector of this fortress. Are you all hungry? Let's talk over a small tea break," General Max led them to a modest dining room where they met a middle-aged maid setting up the table for them. When all of them were seated, General Max dimmed the light in the room slightly and a hologram of Nirvana was projected above the dining table. "Now, shall we begin our express history lesson on Nirvana then? Please help yourselves with the cookies and tea." Max began as the boys settled comfortably in the low-back leather chairs; watching as the hologram danced in the dim room.
2. Elements & Abilities
"The earliest record of human inhabiting this planet was dated back nine thousand years ago which is about three millennia from Earth's current year. No bodies know exactly how the first human stumbled upon this planet but one thing is certain though, that the human population in Nirvana originated from Earth. It took a long time for us to discover and learn how to use our new-found powers. After that, more and more people started migrating and staying in Nirvana permanently. However, due to various reasons the major gateways connecting Nirvana to Earth were closed. This led to an almost complete isolation between the two worlds. The events which followed the next nine thousand years included countless wars between rival clan, kingdoms and the never ending greed for power. But none of the war we had in the past could compared to the Great War that happened fifty years ago. The war involved the entire world we lived in and resulted in the desolation of one of our most densely populated continent, Alsa." The hologram was zoomed to show only Alsa. They witnessed the destructive force that wiped the whole continent clean. It all started at the center of the continent; a huge explosion resulted in an enormous mushroom cloud. The explosion produced shock waves radiating from ground zero which was followed by an implosion. Anything within the blast radius of the bomb was instantly vaporized. Miles and miles of land was seen covered by a thick cloud of black soot which was suddenly being sucked inwards towards the center. After that, the whole place was in ruins and debris. However, the center of the explosion was still heavily shrouded by what seemed to be thunderclouds and soot even till the day the boys got into Nirvana. "The weapon is called a Lenox Desolator. It was made from a material called Lenox. It is very rare and so far, the only deposit ever found was in the Infinite Desert. That too was exhausted during the last Great War. Therefore, you can see why we must do all that we can to maintain the peace here and prevent such bloody war from ever occurring. Three billions lives were vaporized in an instant that day. Fortunately, the use of such weapon of mass destruction were forbidden by the Saamaya Treaties. And with our conjoint effort, we have been able to maintain peace in Nirvana for the past fifty years. Not a single armed conflict or civil unrest happened but tensions have been building between a few nations despite our effort. Hopefully this peace can last for another fifty years. Let's hope all this talk about the prophecy is nothing but bull. Anyway, that concluded our brief history lesson, you can always approach any of us if you wish to learn more. Without further ado, I like to officially welcome you boys to Nirvana and hope you all will have a pleasant stay. I'll assign each and every one of you to your respective mentors tomorrow. Any questions?" Max concluded his lesson. "General Max, I have a question," Kelvin raised his hand. "Please, call me Max. So, what do you wanted to know?" "May we know why we of all people were chosen for this extraordinary journey of yours? I meant there are tons of other people who are more capable and worthy than us for war…" Before Kelvin could finished, Erik interrupted and said "Well, it has something to do with your origin. Not everyone that travelled to Nirvana will gain powers by default. Some will remain just the same while others will unlock an altered ego hidden deep within themselves that they never knew existed." "That sort of make sense," Lenny said. "Look err, for that part, I'm not allowed to disclose too much information to you all until a later time. The selection process were made by the higher-ups after careful considerations. Sorry for that. Any other questions?" Max asked. "Max, what about the special powers that we just acquired by coming here. Can you tell us more about that?" Kenneth said enthusiastically. "Right, I was getting to that, if there is no other questions," Max scanned the room and continued "I would like you all to please follow Erik to the research and development lab downstairs. He'll brief you all regarding your new-found powers." After that, General Max left the room.
Erik rose from his chair soon after General Max had left and said "Alright boys, time to go," Erik led the boys through a few secret passages to a huge library filled with seemingly endless racks of books. "Wow, this place sure looks bigger than it seems on the outside." Alex couldn't help but wondered in awe. "Don't be fooled by the external view of this building as most houses and buildings inside this fortress are interconnected." They stopped in front of one of the many racks in the seemingly endless bookshelves. "Erik D'Azur Jacob" Erik said in front of the rack of books and stepped backwards. The rack moved downwards to reveal a busy laboratory with hundreds of staff working at their respective stations. "Boys, welcome to our research and development lab. It consists of five stories of underground research facilities with a central control hub." 'Wow' was all the boys could said at that moment as they walked past all sorts of out-of-this-world experiments being conducted. "Where are we going now?" Lenny asked. Erik ignored Lenny's question and walked towards an elevator. "Patience Lenny, we're getting there in a moment," They descended to the level 5 basement and was greeted by a bald man in white coat. He looked slightly pale and shrewd; probably in his mid-forties or so. "This way please," They were led to a small briefing room where they were seated and taught a thing or two about the latest knowledge regarding the powers. "I am Dr. Samuel Heinrich and welcome to Nirvana. First and foremost, we'll begin with a little history about the origin of this planet and how we came to be. I am sure General Max had told you all a thing or two, so I'll just be brief then. Anyone of you ever heard of the lost civilization, the lost paradise, lost world of Mu or something else similar to these in folklore, legends and also religious books?" "You meant something like Atlantis, the Nazca and the lost City of Z?" Lenny answered. "Exactly! Stories of world like these existed in all language and culture but not all such stories were fairy tales because some of them are true. The world they are referring to is none other than Nirvana. That is because in the past there were gateways linking our worlds together. Passage between the two worlds were a common things eons ago. However, those who went across to Nirvana seem to obtain unimaginable super human abilities which are later classified into Elements and Abilities. These two categories of powers caused a huge imbalance in the natural order of the world when the humans who came to Nirvana went back to Earth. Due to that, you have stories of the God kings, vampire warlords and also abominations. Not to mention many other heroes and villains whom your world now view as nothing but mere fantasy. But the truth is that these myths and legends of immortals, gods and demons of ancient times were nothing more than power users who made a name for themselves. Characters like Hercules, Gilgamesh, Thor and Medusa, they all stemmed from Nirvana. Prior to that, Nirvana was not inhabited by any humans, just wild animals and trusts me, the creatures you see here are nothing compared to Earth's. However, we speculated that almost ninety percent of all species here are similar to Earth's but the remaining ten percent are creatures you only heard in myths and legends. One of the most famous creatures which went across to Earth and terrorized the ancient civilizations were the dragons. That was the time when most myths and legends you guys came to know were born. Seeing that there was no other way for these two worlds to co-exist peacefully because there will always be people who abused their powers for all the wrong reasons, the Gatekeepers were formed. They are a group of power users who specialized in manipulating space-time. They had decided to separate the two worlds forever by sealing all the available gateways to Earth. It took a while but they succeeded over time. Over the three millennia, those stories faded into nothing but myths since not much archeological findings could be traced. As the gateways between our worlds closed, those who obtained powers from Nirvana gradually lost their powers over time. However, their bold move came at a great cost. Those who dominated and terrorized the ancient civilization were not very fond of their idea. As a result, all the Gatekeepers were constantly being hunted. It was once believed that there were no more people with such abilities after the bloody Massacre of Endless Portal, the place where the Gatekeepers were believed to have based themselves. Endless Portal is a strange place that exist in another dimension but still accessible physically. Some time passed before their enemies finally managed to get into that place. They butchered every single person that were there, elderly, women and children, all of them. The whole place was laid in ruins and never to be found again. It is postulated that a traitor was responsible. But over time, the Endless Portal became just another myth like Nirvana. Those who survived the massacre went into hiding for decades. With no way of reversing what the Gatekeepers had done, the desire to connect the two worlds faded over time, people just get used to staying in Nirvana. Unfortunately, there are still a handful of well-hidden passages that was not yet sealed but they did not made much of a difference over the past millennia. Lieutenant Erik is one example of those few people with the powers of the Gatekeepers. They were those descendants who escaped the massacre. However, they were not as powerful as the history depicted since the knowledge of these powers were forever lost in time. So any questions up until now?"
Calvin raised his hand and said "Can you tell us more about the powers, can we like know what powers we actually have?" "Well, it wasn't possible until the last few decades when funds were poured into the research on the origin of powers," Dr. Samuel continued "Follow me and I'll show you," The boys followed Dr. Samuel to a laboratory filled with weird and funny-looking machines of all kinds. There were five other scientists there, all of them were in front of a different monitors. "Guys, let me introduce to you the Chvostek Formula, it's a series of tests to determine the powers that dwelled within you. The accuracy of the formula is about 98% and its accuracy had been on the rise since a few modifications. Now, without further delay, we'll proceed with the tests." Lenny was the first in the queue. He was guided to a conveyer belt moving through a machine which kind of looks like a magnetic resonance imaging machine in a hospital. The next test involved blood taking followed by a test which required them to grab a levitating ball. Later, they were enclosed within a small chamber one by one; the chamber produced a microenvironment with varying temperatures and humidity. Sensors recorded the boys' body responses to the changes. And finally they were instructed to hit a puppet as hard as they could. All the boys finished the tests within thirty minutes or so except for Alex, he was instructed to repeat three of the tests. Then, they were brought back to the briefing room and seated. "It'll take some time for the data to be processed. So in the meantime, I will teach you about the classifications of powers here. The powers we got to know so far were classified into two big groups, namely Elements and Abilities. There is almost endless number of abilities that could have existed at any one time, so there is no point in telling you one by one, you will have to see for yourselves during the training." Dr. Samuel projected a hologram and dimmed the room. The hologram depicted a pyramid with various symbols on it. He continued. "As for the Elements, there are four classes of them. Firstly, the most basic class of elements will be the Common Elements which are found in almost seventy percent of all power users. These elements are common but only few who can truly master them very well. The Common Elements are Fire, Water, Ice, Thunder or Electric, Nature, Wind, Earth and Metal. Furthermore, since they are the most common powers found among the power users here, they are the strongest elements in terms of quantities. That is to say, the clans that major in these elements have the most members or number of army. Next, we have the Rare Elements, elements which are rare and sometimes unpredictable. They can be more powerful than the greatest element or totally useless. It'll all depend on the user though. These elements are Sound, Soul and Psychic. The next class of elements would be the Special Elements which were thought to have made up the entire world in the ancient civilization. They are Yin and Yang which are also known as Light and Darkness. And at the apex is the most powerful element of all which is Force. It was the last element that came to our knowledge because it is nothing but pure raw energy, energy which can be converted to any other elements as mentioned before except the Special Elements. They are the rarest of all elements known, it is estimated that only one percent of the population had it. Although it has virtually no down side to it but Force is an element which takes decades to master due to its complexity as it can perform any task most other elements can. However, the last class of element which I haven't mention is still the most mysterious of them all, the Exceptional Elements. They were treated as abilities once but later they were re-classified as elements. The elements in this category are still yet to be completed as there were much debate to their classification since they are very similar to abilities. The only two examples of such elements currently recognized by most are Magic and Flame." A knock on the door stopped Dr. Samuel's lecture. One of the scientist from the lab was seen entering the room with a few pieces of papers. The two of them exchanged a few words and the scientist left the room. "Alright then, that will be all about the classes of elements you all will need to know. Any more details about them, you will have to rely on your mentor. And here are the test results," Dr. Samuel showed them the pieces of papers, the boys suddenly developed the look of great anticipation on their eyes. "We'll start with Lenny first since he was the first person to have gone through the test. Well Lenny, your elements are Ice, Water and Wind. By the way, any one person can have one, two or more elements at the same time, the same goes for abilities. There is actually not a limit to the number of elements or ability one possesses but the machine can just pick up so much. It is rare though for someone to possess more than four elements or abilities. And your ability is Sword Master. Any questions?" Seeing as there was no questions, the doctor continued. "Next would be Chen, your elements are Light, Psychic and Nature while your ability is Armored Skin. As for Calvin, your elements are Metal and Electric and your abilities are Invisibility and Shape Shifter. Alex, you don't seem to have any elements at all but you do have five abilities, they are Gunslinger, Teleportation, Extra Dimension, Doppelgänger and Super Speed. We had repeated the tests three times, so I doubt there's any error in this. It is rare to see someone with five abilities though. In fact, this is the first time for me! Kelvin on the other hand has the most powerful element of all, which is Force, congratulations! Your abilities are extraordinary as well, they are Super Strength and Universal Barrier. And finally Kenneth, your elements are Psychic and Earth while your abilities are Freeze, Super Speed and Sword Master. The details about your powers will be explained by your respective mentors whom General Max will assign to you. I guess that will be all for today, your official training will start tomorrow. For the mean time, you may walk around and may be even getting to know the locals here or make friends or something. Well, best of luck and have a nice day boys." Dr. Samuel showed them to the door and they were led by a middle-aged lady to their dorm for which they will stay for their entire adventure. Later, the boys were given a short tour of the fortress by the lady and then they were free to wander around.
For any normal twelve-year-old, they would have been terrified being transported to a strange new world such as Nirvana but for them, they somehow felt as if they had finally returned home. The boy spent the rest of the day roaming around the fortress and making new friends. In the evening, Max gathered them again for dinner and showed them to their respective mentors. Kelvin will be trained by Max himself while the others will have several mentors. Master Shin Yamato is the grand council and master for swordsmanship, so he will be teaching both Kenneth and Lenny on sword arts. Professor Dexter Robinson and his colleges will teach Calvin on the element of metal and electric. Dr. Jane Flummox and her husband Dr. Robert Flummox will be teaching Kenneth and Chen on their elements. Sir James Frost will be coaching Lenny on his elements. Alex will be trained by military forces since he possessed the Gunslinger ability while Erik will coach him on how to use Teleportation and Extra Dimension. "You have to always remember that the powers you possessed are not just special but you yourselves are unique too. After you began training, you will find that you advance more quickly than your peers here but keep in mind that the effect will eventually wear off after the first few months. Therefore, I suggest you guys to make full use of that time. In the process, you will realize that you are more than meet the eyes. And one more thing, do try not to brag around about where you're from. If anyone asked, you just said you're an exchange student from a land far away." Max said to the boys before dinner ended. The boys went to bed early to prepare for the next morning. The night passed uneventfully and a new day dawned. On Earth's calendar it would still be the 1st of November but it was the second day of 1st November as a matter of speech since on Nirvana, one Earth day is equal to three Nirvana days. The boys were awakened at five in the morning to begin their training. From that day onwards, their world was never once again the same.
3. The First Mission
It started slowly for the first week but soon the boys were able to adapt and make good use of their new-found powers. Each morning was started with a ten kilometers long run and hiking a small hill to build up their energy and stamina. The training seemed tough at first but they were able to felt the difference the training did to their physique; it was very rewarding for each and every one of them. Simple military hand-to-hand combat training was also threw into the mix. Next came the power classes on Elements and Abilities, those were the most interesting class for the boys. "The Elements are just pure energy, the way you manipulate it is what makes you special. Being a Force Element user, we have the advantage of using many different kinds of Elements but the real down side to it is that you might never be able to master any single Element at all. Mastering a single Element might be all it takes to defeat you." Max advised. "Then, what can we do to solve this problem master?" "You have to make do with the Elements' weakness. All Common Elements counter one another. For example, Water and Wind is strong against Fire and Fire is strong against Ice, Nature and Metal. Wind on the other hand is weak against Earth. So on and so forth. So which Element would you like to learn first?" Max asked. "I am always fascinated by the ability to cast fire balls with my bare hands, so I think I will go with Fire." Kelvin replied. "Very well, before we begin, wear this," Max handed Kelvin a pair of spectacles. "They are designed to see energy. All the Elements mentioned before had been color-coded, so you will know it when you see the color changes. Pure energy is coded in purple color. Now concentrate your energy on your left palm until you see your palm covered in purple." Kelvin did as instructed. "It's glowing in purple already, now what do I do?" "Picture your hand holding a fire ball, that'll do the trick." The next thing Kelvin saw was a ball of flame igniting and burning brightly on his left palm. "Cool! I can feel the heat coming from the fire but why it doesn't burn my hand?" Kelvin stared at his first successful attempt. "That's because you're the one who created it. Everyone's energy is unique, just like your DNA. Now try it again with your right hand," Kelvin was able to replicate the same result. "Well, that was easy. I thought it was gonna be a bit tougher." "It all depends on what Elements are you trying to learn. Even though they said that a Force Element user can use all the Common Elements and Rare Elements but there isn't a single person I had met over the past forty years that were able to master them all. Every one of us will have two or three Elements which are difficult for us to learn. Me, for instance cannot use Nature and Metal at all. I have tried using them for years and all I could do was that of a beginner. You'll find out for yourself someday. But you must always remember your weakness and tell no one about it. Or else it might cost you your life one day." Lenny who had a base in Chinese martial arts and also sword arts advanced more swiftly than any rookies in Master Yamato's class. Kenneth was not far behind for a beginner who just learnt how to wield a sword. "That's very good Lenny but all you did were normal sword skills. Physical strength with your sword alone is not good enough, you need to incorporate Elements into your sword arts. That will give your skills more potency and also versatility." Master Yamato explained. "Kenneth, more strength on your right hand, a katana is a double handed sword and you must grasp the basics before I allow you more flexibility to choose your own weapon." "Alright master," Kenneth continued swinging the katana, practicing the basic slashing techniques of a sword.
Meanwhile, Calvin on the other hand was brought to a workshop with all sorts of machinery. Professor Dexter began. "The first step to controlling the Metal and Electric Elements are simple. You just have to touch them. The rest will come slowly," He handed Calvin a metal ball and said. "Try to levitate it. Just free your mind and imagine the ball float on your palm." Calvin performed as instructed and felt the weight of the ball on his palm being lifted and replaced with a new feeling that he had never felt before. "Do you feel the weight of the ball as you try to keep it afloat?" "Yes and there is a new feeling I felt. A feeling unlike never before," "That young one, is the sense of magnetism. All Element users should be able to feel the Elements they wield, it was as if they developed anther sense in their body. As for you Calvin, the feeling that you felt is called magnetism. Being a Metal Element user, your body is generally drawn to metal in order to use them in the time of need. Likewise with electric, you can sense even a tiny spark being generated even if you have not seen it. But this sensitivity developed with training, the area that you're able to pick up metal objects and also electric current is much smaller than someone who have been trained to do so. Alright, just a quick practice," Professor Dexter pointed towards a table lamp about a few meters away and continued. "Why don't you try to pull that lamp towards you and put it gently on the table right here," He patted on the table beside Calvin. "Alright, I'll try," Calvin focused on the lamp and it levitated and slowly moved towards him. However, he failed to put the lamp onto the table and smashed it. "Sorry, I guess I was trying too hard to put it down," "That's alright, we're just practicing. The truth is, there is no need to exert so much force into moving small and delicate objects. You need to relax and take it easy, now follow me." Professor Dexter led Calvin away from the workshop and to a processing plant. Calvin couldn't help taking second glance at the table lamp he just smashed. "This is a recycling plant where all the trash from the residents of Freedom Fortress are collected and sorted here. This is Mr. Thiago, the overseer of this recycling plant. He'll be helping you out with the work out." Professor Dexter nodded to Mr. Thiago and he led them to the storage area. "This recycling plant virtually runs by itself. Me and two other colleges are here just to supervise the machines in case anything happens. So materials were sorted into different categories by the machines. And here we have a cube of aluminum extracted from the empty cans, old machines and all sorts of garbage people threw. Your task would be to lift these cubes of aluminum and load them onto the truck, as so." Mr. Thiago easily levitated the cube and put it onto a white lorry by the gateway on the side of the recycling factory. "Now you try it," Calvin lifted the aluminum cube and tried to move it but it dropped heavily onto the ground after it moved half a meter or so. The drop left cracks on the cement ground around the cube. "I guess that must be too heavy for you. But no worries, we have lighter ones over here," Mr. Thiago led them to another gateway which were stacked with shinny brown metal cubes that were three times smaller than the aluminum cubes. "These are copper cubes, they are made smaller than the aluminum ones but don't let their size fool you, they are not as light as they seems. Care to give it a try?" Calvin lifted the copper cube easily and loaded it onto the truck as instructed. "How was it?" Mr. Thiago asked. "It's heavy alright but I think I can manage a few more," Calvin replied. "Good, that's the spirit! You do that every morning after the morning work out to build your energy and Elemental strength. After that, I will give you lessons on how to use the Metal Element in combat situation. Alright, moving on," Professor Dexter led Calvin out of the recycling plant after saying goodbye to Mr. Thiago. "I'll see you tomorrow amigo," Mr. Thiago waved at Calvin as they left the facility. They walked to a power plant nearby and entered the generator room. "Do you feel electric current flowing all over the place? Do you feel that?" Calvin closed his eyes and he sensed enormous amount of energy surrounding him. "I see them, but why can't I sense your energy professor?" "That's because I have concealed them. It's not a hard thing to do and it's not hard to crack the concealment either. I'll teach you later. The more your opponent doesn't know about you, the more surprises you get to throw at them. Always remember that," Professor Dexter then proceeded to teach Calvin how to manipulate Electric. "Electric unlike Metal is not a matter, it is a form of energy which by right have no shape and is invisible. But as an Electric Element user, we can manipulate it into any shape and size as we please." Sparks formed on the professor's left palm and a sword soon took shape. The sword was completely immersed in a bright pink glow. "A sword, a shield, a club or even a dog," The sword morphed into the different objects as Professor Dexter commanded. "That is awesome," Calvin was out of words. "That's nothing, give it some time and you'll do much better than this."
Chen learnt to manipulate and summon plants and also use his Light Element under the teaching of Dr. Jane Flummox while her husband taught him and Kenneth how to wield the Psychic Element. Alex practiced his shooting with the army under the guidance of First Sergeant Rashed. And in the evening, he would meet up with Erik to learn how to teleport and also use his Extra Dimension ability to create a storage portal in another dimension. "Welcome to my home, Alex." Erik opened a portal and invited Alex into it. Inside was a bungalow with a big lawn and a beautiful greenhouse. "Wow, did you built all these?" Alex asked. "No, I didn't. I paid people to build these houses and also plant the lawn. I kept all my assets in this dimension which I can stay comfortably and remain undisturbed. It took a while for me to be able to keep a dimension storage of this size. Come, let's go in and show me how you open a portal, just like I told you the other day," They walked to the front yard and Erik took a seat on one of the aluminum fold chairs surrounding a small aluminum round table. Alex took a deep breath and focused his energy in front of him. A dark circle started forming in mid-air and it slowly expanded into the size of a regular door. "Good job, now let's get in," Erik let Alex led the way. Inside the portal was dark and empty. "Why is it so dark in here? While your place is well lit," Alex asked. Erik removed a torchlight from out of nowhere and on it. "That's because I had LED lights installed at the top of my portal. If you take a closer look, those aren't really sky on top, they're just paintings with LED lights to make them look natural. When I am outside, a special type of LEDs will be on that allowed the plants to photosynthesize. It took years to decorate this place like what you saw now," Erik explained. Erik examined Alex's portal and said "Well, your portal size I'll say it's about the size of a small room but it'll get bigger as you train more. The important part is not the size but it's the content that matters. You need to learn how to open your portal fast and get whatever you need in the nick of time. Do it so often that you know exactly where to find what without looking. Therefore it is important for you to decorate this place yourself so that you will remember it like the back of your hand. Here, let me show you what I meant," Erik raised his right arm and his forearm gone into a small portal that fits only his hand. Within seconds, he removed a handgun and simultaneously, his left hand withdrew a lightsaber from another portal. "I remembered exactly where I put my weapons so that I can use them instantly without having to carry it around or conceal it on me. That's why I don't seems like a threat to anyone who don't know me because I don't carry any weapons around." "Okay, I see your point there. So where do I start?" Alex asked. "Let's head to the workshop and we'll have the carpenters and engineers fix something for you."
Their basic training lasted about a month, more precisely 30 days and ended on the second day of 11th November. Through that one month, all of them had changed a lot from the first time they got there; for starters, all of them became more athletic built. Lenny got the chance to resume his martial arts training with the sword. He also learnt how to use other similar weapons like katana, broad sword, cutlass and rapier; not to mention the Chinese Halberd or better known as the Kwan Dao in Chinese. Kenneth on the other hand learnt basic fighting techniques using a sword. He quickly switched to his favorite weapon – the lightsaber. He was still learning how to wield duel lightsabers. After the one month of training, Chen got really good at telekinesis and levitation just a week after he started practicing. He was able to manipulate some scary looking, giant man-eating plants. However, he was still weak in his Light Element. Calvin on the other hand learnt how to build his very own laser gun, plasma cannon, force field, explosives and all sorts of other weapons. Alex became the fastest among the six of them, his fastest recorded speed was Mach 1 on land. He also built a fine arsenal of his own in his storage portal. Kelvin became bulkier, his physique slowly resembled that of his master each passing day. He was able to use Fire, Ice, Water, Wind, Earth and Sound. After the initial tough period, the boys grew to like the training they had experienced. Through the training, they had met a lot of new friends and learnt much about Nirvana.
On the morning of the third day of 11th November, the boys were gathered once again in the same dining room where they were lectured by Max the first time they were there. "Morning boys, good to see you all are in good shape today. I have gathered you boys here today to help me on an escort mission at Spring Garden, a small town nearby. This will be your very first mission. Toby here will be your guide to the town. I'm sure you all know him somewhere socially." Toby, a teenager with spiky golden hair and a slim body-built walked into the dining room. "Hey, Toby, where have you been? I haven't seen you since the second week of our training," Alex asked. "Been busy," Toby was acting cool as he always did in front of the juniors. "Okay guys, back to the mission," Max projected the image of a small town consisted of about 5 to 7 streets located north of the fortress. You all will escort Toby here to see Chief Masou Uzumati, there is an important package which he will pass to Toby and then you all will secure the package and bring it back to this fortress. The package is this blade," The image of the town faded and was replaced by the image of a well-made silver cutlass. "This sword here is called Siskhlis, the blood lust sword. It was meant to be transported to the Freedom Fortress yesterday but some accident occurred in between and the package ended up in Spring Garden." "What's so special about this sword, it's just a sword right?" Calvin interrupted. "No, this sword is actually part of the ten Swords of Darkness. They were made by the nameless black smith under the volcanic mountain of Raj. The swords were once the signature weapon of Narakiya, the person responsible for starting the Great War fifty years back. After the war, all the ten swords were separated to different continents to ensure no one single party has all ten of them. We have one of the sword locked up in our archive, it is Disforme, the shape shifting sword if I'm not mistaken. The Siskhlis was entrusted to the Fire Clan for safe keeping but the current leader of the Fire Clan, Lord Moto insisted us to keep it for them. It is however not a good time for them to do the transfer as tensions had been building between the Fire Clan and the Water Clan. The Water Clan is based on Zui, a marvelous continent located northeast of Yume but they have a branch here, located on the eastern side of Yume. While the Fire Clan is based here, just to the west of Spring Garden. The reason for the rise in tension between the two clans was due to a newly found Lenox deposit near Spring Garden. As mentioned before, Lenox was used to construct weapon of mass destruction but it can also be used as a source of power for the generation of electricity just like uranium and plutonium. Therefore, a Lenox deposit is a highly priced piece of land. Water Clan wanted to lay claim to the land and tried various ways to bribe Chief Masou Uzumati who governed the autonomous town of Spring Garden to join them. Lord Moto reacted by threatening to attack and lay waste to the town should they join forces with the Water Clan. There has been rumors that armed conflicts had been going on between the two clans but they were not serious enough that requires our clan's intervention. Currently however, Chief Masou had sought the protection from the Freedom Clan and is now our ally." Kelvin interrupted the conversation and said "But why do Lord Moto wanted to entrust us with the sword all of a sudden? I thought he was also interested in the Lenox deposit. Since Spring Garden falls under the Freedom Clan's protection, wouldn't that make Fire Clan sort of our enemy?" "I see where you are going with this. I was also surprised with the news but it seems a deal had been made between the leaders of the Freedom Clan, Sir John Edward, my boss and Lord Moto. The two of them go way back. They met and were fighting side by side during the Great War. May be the Fire Clan just doesn't want the Water Clan to have the Lenox deposit. The two clans had major issues with each other ever since before the Great War. Anyway, as long as things resolved peacefully, it shouldn't be a problem, right?" The boys nodded. Toby coughed twice and said "Ahem, General Max. It's nearing the time for the rendezvous. So could you please get to the point if you have anything else to tell us," "Oh, sorry about that. Go escort Chief Masou and secure the package. From our last contact with the chief, the package is with him and he'll be expecting you guys at twelve O'clock sharp at the town square. That will be all, good luck!" With that, Toby led the boys to the armory to get themselves well equipped before the journey. "We'll be travelling light with light armor. After we secure the package, we'll be heading back at full speed, got it?" Toby assuming the position of captain of the team.
The six boys and Toby took off to Spring Garden in two Humvee-like vehicles at full speed. The town was visible after about a twenty-minute drive but they soon noted that something was wrong with the town. It was too quiet, the eerie kind. The moment they stepped through the front gate, they saw why. Bodies laid all over the street; all of them were mortally wounded by one or two deep slashes and presumably died from blood loss. The blood was still fresh when they got there, but there was no sign of the assailant. There were sign of a battle being fought as broken weapons laid close to the bodies. The residents seemed to have put up a fight with someone or something. Streets bathed in dried blood and mutilated corpses everywhere, it was a traumatic scene for some twelve-year-olds to face. However, none of them panicked and lost their mind; they were very calm even though it was their first time seeing a corpse. It seemed their training had prepared them well for those kind of situation. Before they had the chance to advance further, Toby began to throw up his breakfast all over the floor. "I'm fine, I'm fine, just ate some nasty things accidentally this morning. Just proceed ahead without me." Toby said and entered a restaurant to sit down. "Did you hear that?" Calvin asked. "Hear what?" Alex replied. "Quiet! I am sensing a strong aura coming our way and fast too!" Chen said. Just then, a shadow crash landed in front of them. Debris and dust began to settle and that was when they saw a huge man in ancient armor towered over them. "What the hell is that?" Lenny shouted while pointing at the giant figure.
4. Chief Masou Uzumati
The man stared at them for some time before releasing a loud roar. The sound echoed deep into the woods and shattered all the windows in the nearby buildings. The six boys were stunned and dropped to their knees from the deafening roar. In the man's right hand was the Siskhlis, it looked much bigger than Max had depicted. "Run!" Kelvin shouted as the man swung the cutlass at Lenny's direction. Lenny's training took over and he instinctively rolled to the side and dodged the attack. "You have to speak up, my ears are still ringing from that roar!" Calvin shouted. The man lifted the cutlass and lay it on his shoulder; he spoke for the first time. "You all are here to steal my sword aren't you, thieves?" "Thieves? I thought the sword belongs to the Freedom Clan." Calvin said. "Hahaha, too bad for you, this sword belongs to me now." "What do you think we should do about this douchebag?" Calvin said. "What did you just called me, boy?" The huge man became agitated. He lifted his cutlass and was about to strike when Calvin suddenly turned around and shot the man straight in the face with a repulsor beam. The man was caught by surprise and did not had enough time to react. The single beam of laser sliced through his face like a hot knife through butter and then completely vaporized his nose. Lenny followed up with a slash to the back of the man's right shin as he reached out his left hand to protect his face from further attacks. The man roared in pain, lost his footing and fell backwards. As the man lay on the ground, Alex, Chen and Kelvin rushed towards his right hand to remove the Siskhlis. But before they managed to reach him, the man slammed the ground with his left fist and dropped all three of them off balance. Before Lenny or Calvin had the time to follow-up, the man was already half way on his feet. He recovered at tremendous speed; the wounds on his face began closing moments after suffering from the blast and ended with the regeneration of a new nose. The wound which Lenny inflicted on the back of his shin also vanished without a trace. Just then, Toby appeared out of the corner of a shop lot. "Hey! What are you guys doing? That's Chief Masou!" "He's the one who started it first!" Calvin pointed his finger at the chief's direction and replied. Then, Toby's expression suddenly turned grim the moment he took another glance at Chief Masou when Calvin was pointing at him. "Oh no… He's holding the Siskhlis." "Duh, isn't that pretty obvious? Tell us something we don't know!" Lenny said. Chief Masou then slammed the ground with the Siskhlis, knocking everyone off balance. He then charged towards Calvin with lightning speed but Alex managed to intercept his attack with a hand grenade that blown off part of the chief's feet and halted his assault. "The Siskhlis has a profound effect on those with Ogre blood, it will drive them nuts and into a frenzy of insatiable lust for blood and gore. I think he's still partially in control of the sword," Toby explained as he got up onto his feet. "You called that in control? It's more like he don't know how to use a sword, he's swinging it like a club for goodness sake!" Kenneth said. "Back to the main point, how do we stop him?" Kelvin prepared for another attack as Chief Masou's feet completely rejuvenated. "Why you little brat! I'm gonna tear your guts out and split you limb by limb!" "We need to find the sheath of the sword, it should be able to contain the power and stop this madness once and for all." Toby said. Alex opened an extra-dimensional portal with his thought and said "Well, hop in, I will take you guys away from here so we can begin searching," Toby, Chen and Kenneth stepped into the portal just as the chief got onto his feet. "We'll keep him busy for you," Kelvin said. "See ya!" Alex winked at the chief as he sped past Chief Masou while dropping a bag of high explosive with a few flash grenades between the chief's legs. Lenny, Kelvin and Calvin barely had enough time to run the other direction and leapt for cover before the explosion completely ripped the chief's body in half.
Alex opened the portal again and let the three of them out when they were about three blocks away from Chief Masou. "You think that explosion killed him?" Alex asked. "Not when he's holding the Siskhlis it won't. The sword amplify the Ogre blood effects by two to three folds when wielded. That's why we must find the sheath so that we can seal the sword's power." Toby said. "But we don't even know how the sheath looks like, how are we supposed to find it?" Chen said. "We'll just have to search every nook and cranny of this town until we find it. I'll take this block, Chen you will take the western most block while Kenneth take the one to the east. Alex, I need you to take the northern most block near the edge of the town where it opens into the Outback of Yume and the Eastern Range. It's quite some distance from here, now move out!" Alex dashed towards the north while quickly ransacked through any places that he found to be suspicious. However, after going through streets after streets and houses after houses, the sheath was nowhere to be found. He was about to turn back and regroup with the rest when he saw the edge of the town was within sight. A sizable granite arch pillars filled with mosses with a pair of rusted gates stood about three hundred meters from where Alex stood. The surroundings of the arch gate was overgrown with weeds, reflecting the abandonment of that part of the town. As Alex turned to leave, he caught the glimpse of a shadow near the far end of the fence. He crouched low and took a closer look at the figure with his binocular visor built into his spectacles. The figure wore a commoner's face of blue eyes, low cheek bone and rounded nose. But, what caught Alex's attention was the shinning object the man was carrying on his back. It looked like a bronze metal scabbard with symbols carved onto it. His suspicion grew when there was no hilt seen at the end of the scabbard. Alex sent a message to Chen, Kenneth and Toby to alert them to his location before dashing forward towards the suspect. Alex moved fast but the man's reaction was even faster; he knew Alex's presence before Alex could proceed any further. With the wave of a hand, a gust of air lifted Alex off his feet while he was running. Another heavy gust followed the first and hit Alex straight in the gut. The gust felt like a heavy punch to the stomach which knocked the air out of him. Alex saw the third strike coming and teleported in time before another heavy gust blown from behind and took the grasses off their roots. Alex appeared before the man with double pistols in hand and emptied the magazines. All the bullets were stopped in mid-air before reaching their target. All of a sudden, both barrels of the guns were crushed before Alex could continue his assault. And the next thing Alex saw was a fist connecting to his left jaw, lifting him off his feet and dropping him on his back. The man grunted and walked towards Alex, he then lifted Alex up at his collars with both of his hands and said "Mind telling me who you're working for, boy?" "BOOM!" Alex uttered through his swollen lips. A spherical object covered with dry plants of sort appeared between them and caught fire. The ball of flame glowed bright as the sun in milliseconds, emitting glaring white flash that will blind anyone that stare at it even for an instance. Alex instinctively closed his eyes the moment the sphere caught fire, his spectacles retracted and became completely opaque; shutting off all lights from the outside, protecting his eyes. The man was completely caught off guard and released Alex from his grip the moment the blinding light was emitted. A high pitch scream unlike any living being Alex had ever heard was sounded following the shower of bright light. Alex's eye protection faded when the light dimmed and to his surprise, the man was emitting black soot from his body and face but there was no flame seen. And the man's face, it was melting! "What are you?" Alex got to his feet as soon as he could and withdrew a laser pistol from his storage portal. "You think that little flash light of yours is gonna stop me? I'll be your worst nightmare!" The man literally exploded like a popped balloon and dark smog shrouded the area. Alex was lifted off of his feet once again and was chocked by an invisible force constricting around his neck. From the smog emerged a vague image of a skull. The eye sockets, nostrils and also mouth were glowing in a bright red.
Alex struggled to break free but it was no use. He grabbed his neck as if trying to pull apart a rope around his neck but there was nothing there. He tried to teleport out of the thick smog but it didn't work. His struggle grew weaker as his lungs screamed for air. Just when he was about to collapse, he felt the embrace of a cold chill from within. "Who are you?" A voice was emitted from the skull. Alex could barely make out the image of the skull as his vision became blur but he was sure that there was a tone of surprise in its voice. Then, everything turned bright yellow and the smog dissipated. Alex once again able to breath, he coughed a few times and took deep breaths in between. He was too tired to take note of things that happened afterwards. When he was able to stand, the skull head was gone with the black smog. All Alex saw was Chen, Toby and Kenneth surrounding him. "Are you alright Alex?" Chen asked. "What happened? Your lips are swollen," Toby said. "We got here as soon as we got your message. Chen got here first and he said that you were being engulfed by smog." "I rushed towards you and blast the smog with Light energy to remove it. Luckily it worked!" Chen continued. "Look! There's a scabbard on the ground." Kenneth picked it up and showed it to the rest. "Hey, I think this is the Siskhlis's," Toby said. "Why don't you two go ahead and bring it to them. I'll accompany Alex back." Toby and Kenneth nodded. "Shouldn't we call the fortress for back up? I think this had really gone a bit out of hands." Alex finally spoke. "Yeah, I think we should have done that the moment the fight started," Toby sent a distress signal back to the Freedom Fortress and then rushed towards Chief Masou's location with Kenneth. Alex and Chen followed behind them. "What was the thing that just attacked you? I sensed that the opponent is a strong Darkness Element user. That's why I blasted the miasma surrounding you with Light energy. Light is the weakness of all Darkness Element but sadly the reverse holds true as well. I think I need more training of my Light Element if we were ever to face that guy again," "Hey, don't worry about it Chen, you did fine. You saved me back then remember? C'mon, they must be fighting hard to keep Chief Masou busy, let's go help them out. I am feeling much better now. Hop in, I'll catch up with Kenneth and Toby soon." Alex opened his storage portal and let Chen stepped in before he dashed forward with his incredible speed. He picked up Kenneth and Toby on his way. "Look, there he is," Calvin pointed at Alex's direction. Alex stopped some distance from Chief Masou and let the boys out. "Now, how are we supposed to get this thing onto the sword?" Kenneth shouted so that Kelvin, Calvin and Lenny could hear him. "Ask Alex to do it, the rest of us will hold him down." Kelvin suggested. "Good plan!" Toby commended. Chen nodded and ran closed to the chief's left leg. The chief tried to stomp him but Alex shot Chief Masou's leg with his laser pistol, delaying the chief's action. Chief Masou turned his attention towards Alex who was also holding the sheath of the Siskhlis at that time. Chen took the opportunity to withdraw a drawstring pouch and poured the content onto the ground. All of a sudden, thick vines with prickles emerged from the ground and twirled around the chief's left leg. He tried to break free by pulling his leg away but that did not helped. The prickles on the vine pierced deeply into the chief's flesh and inflicting pain whenever he tried to forcefully move his leg. Chief Masou then tried to move his left hand to pull apart the plant. Calvin fired four thick suspension cables with arrow tip that pierced through the chief's fore arm. "Help me pull!" Calvin shouted as he struggled to grab hold of the end of the cables. Toby, Kenneth and Chen rushed to help Calvin secure the end of the cables. Meanwhile, Alex had climbed onto the roof of a nearby building with the scabbard on his back. He was waiting for the right opportunity to seal the cutlass with the scabbard. Just then, the opportunity presented when Chief Masou was about to swing the Siskhlis. Alex ran a short distance for momentum before he leapt from the rooftop and landed on Chief Masou's right shoulder. Chief Masou turned his head and Alex gave him a swing kick to the nose. Chief Masou roared in pain as his nose started bleeding. Alex then teleported near to the Siskhlis and slammed the scabbard into place. "Alright!" Alex celebrated. "Why you little…" Chief Masou's left hand broke free from the entanglement and threw the four boys off balance. His left hand came straight for Alex who was still in mid-air but Alex managed to teleport just in time to avoid the blow. "Hey, why isn't it working?" Calvin asked. "It is working! Look, he's not regenerating as fast as before," Lenny pointed at Chief Masou's bleeding nose. Chief Masou broke free from the vines using his left hand and tried to remove the scabbard of the cutlass. "I got this!" Lenny said confidently. "Lenny, I don't think that is such a good idea! Lenny don't!" Before Kelvin could stop Lenny, he already leapt forward to meet Chief Masou's attack with his own. Lenny's katana collided with the scabbard and it shattered into pieces. Lenny took the full recoil from the collision and was sent tumbling towards a brick wall. The wall crumbled from the impact. Alex teleported towards the chief's wrist and planted a high explosive before teleporting away to the roof of a nearby building. Toby and Chen rushed to help Lenny soon after he crashed into the brick wall. Kenneth and Kelvin on the other hand prepared for on last assault. The explosion blew a hole in the chief's right wrist, causing blood to spew all over the place. Chief Masou dropped to his knees and grabbed his injured wrist with his left hand, screaming and cursing at the same time. "Damn it, he just won't drop the damn sword!" Alex cursed. Just then, a giant fist made of earth and rock emerged from the ground and came at Chief Masou. The chief tried to dodge but he was suddenly immobilized by Kenneth's Freeze Ability. The fist was connected to Chief Masou's crotch. That was followed by a loud bawl and Chief Masou finally dropped the Siskhlis. He was seen dropping to the ground and holding his crotch with both his hands, shivering and then losing consciousness. Alex quickly picked up the sword. The sword shrunk to the size which Max showed him prior to the start of the mission. "Huh, that's funny. I could have sworn it was much bigger than this," Alex uttered to himself. "The sword adjusts to the size of the wielder, Alex. It was a mistake asking you guys to go for such an unpredictable mission. Are you guys alright?" Erik suddenly appeared before them and behind him were a few soldiers. Two paramedics rushed towards Lenny and put him on a stretcher. One of them was seen pouring greenish fluid onto Lenny's wounds which healed instantly. "Stop moving, you have broken your ribs, it will take some time for the medicine to work. Hold still!" One of the paramedic said when Lenny tried to sit up.
"Great job on securing the Siskhlis guys, First Sergeant Rashed here will escort you all back." Erik said and took the Siskhlis from Alex. "What happened here?" "That's what I am here to find out," Erik replied. "You should get your injuries healed and I will see you back at the fortress." "Yes sir," Alex saluted Erik and followed the rest of the boys led by First Sergeant Rashed into a portal. They arrived back at the Freedom Fortress and was attended by a few medical personnel. They got their injuries checked and healed before proceeding to the dining room for dinner and debriefing. Each of them took turns telling their part of the story. "From your stories and also what Erik found on the scene, it was no accident that the Siskhlis was unsheathed and in Chief Masou's hands. But how Chief Masou came to use the Siskhlis even though he knew it would drive him insane we'll find out when he wakes up. But I have to say, that was a pretty severe wound you inflict on him, Kelvin. A hit to the crotch, ouch!" Max said. "I have no choice. Lenny was out, mostly his own fault. I had to make him drop the sword one way or the other. We tried other methods but they failed." Kelvin replied. "Yeah, I agree with Kelvin's action, if it wasn't from him, Chief Masou would never have dropped the Siskhlis." Toby said. "Me too," Kenneth said. Moments later, a soldier entered the dining room and spoke softly into Max's ear. "What? But how could this had happened?" Max voice was loud with tone of surprise and disbelief. The rest soon found out that Chief Masou was found dead in his cell! A deep wound made by a sharp dagger or knife was seen at the back of his head. There was a momentary black outs in all the security cameras surveillance in the cell when the murder was assumed to have took place. None of the security guards on duty reported anything suspicious, it was a perfect assassination, leaving no trace behind.