Lord Tyrin was the principle of Taria Academy and he was seated in his office in the founder's Hall. He was tapping through messages on a holographic screen in front of him, when he heard a knock at the door.
"Come in." said Tyrin.
The door opened and Gerris walked in. He bowed his head in respect as he said, "Greetings, master."
Tyrin smiled as he waved over his disciple to take a seat.
"I heard the Council is not pleased with the results of your recent mission and they doubt your capabilities to lead the moon mission. Are you here because you wish for me to reassure them of your capabilities?" said Tyrin.
"No, master, I am here for another matter. I wish to seek Sylvia's hand in marriage." Said Gerris.
Tyrin's smile faded a little as he replied, "You know as well as I do how headstrong Sylvia is. If she doesn't like you, there really isn't anything I can do for you. This is the 2nd time you have come regarding this and Sylvia already rejected you once. What changed for you to come again with the same matter?"
"Master, I believe I wasn't strong enough before, but I believe I am close to breaking above Genji tier. Before I came here, I have tested my power in the Crystal Hall and there are hints of black in my gold light. Please give me your blessing!" replied Gerris.
"I will speak to my daughter regarding this matter, but everything else depends on you. I will not force her into something she does not wish for." stated Tyrin.
"That is all I wish for. Thank you, master. I was wondering when I can receive your guidance in battle. I wish to test where my limits are and no one else would be a worthy opponent." said Gerris.
"I have some time tomorrow evening. Let's meet in the Dueling Hall at that time. I will reserve my private training room." said Tyrin.
"My thanks, master. I have a few other matters to attend to. I will see you tomorrow evening." said Gerris, as he stood up and gave a slight bow before leaving the room.
As soon as Gerris left the room, Tyrin's smile turned into a frown. It seemed like Gerris was finally going to make a move. Tyrin had always suspected that Gerris was unhappy about remaining his disciple. He had seen Gerris change for the worse as his power grew.
There were many suspicious matters regarding his last mission. Gerris had reported that a juggernaut appeared and wiped out everyone in Naren City. The juggernaut had consumed the irradiated core and nearly killed Gerris in the process. However, how did Gerris escape without any injuries from a juggernaut? Why did his power increase so much?
Tyrin was aware of Gerris' naked desire for power. If Gerris was stronger than Tyrin, then there would be no one else stronger than him in Bastion. It would seem that he would have to finally implement the contingency plans he had in place for his own disciple. It was a shame that things had come to this.
Tyrin sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He thought of the past and the tear-streaked face of the man he had saved while evacuating residents of Trebz to Bastion. The man had just watched his family and his lover torn apart in front of his very eyes. Was that scene too much for him at that time?
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*THUD*
Daemaus had just landed with Kain, Barton, and Desmond clinging on top of his back. A mass of tentacles was sprouting from Kain and kept all three of them secured to Daemaus' back.
Just ahead of where they landed, they saw a few zombified metahumans shuffling around near some trees.
"O thank God, I don't know what's going to make me hurl first: The constant up and down motion, or the smell from your tentacles." said Barton as he ran off to a nearby bush.
"He does know that we have to go through several dozen more jumps to get back to Bastion, right?" queried Desmond.
"Yea, hopefully there is a sleeping ability among these zombified metahumans. Then, I can at least knock him out so that we don't have to worry about flying vomit in our faces." said Kain, as he hurried over and started to absorb powers.
When Kain finished absorbing, he assessed his new powers: poison and pathogen immunity, sound control, ice control, lightning control, healing, and fire control. Seeing another fire control, he wondered what would happen if he gave it to Barton again?
Looking over at Barton who had just stood back up from the bush, Kain walked over.
"Barton, I'm going to use you as a guinea pig for a second." said Kain.
"Wait, what? No! I promise I won't hurl till we get to Bastion." said a scared Barton.
"Don't worry, if it fails, you'll just grow a tail like Daemaus…" said a grinning Kain.
Barton was already scrambling to try and get away because he saw what Kain had become with the mass of tentacles coming out of his body. However, Kain was too fast and had already placed a hand on his shoulder. Kain then tried to push another fire control into Barton.
Barton felt that Kain's hand was a burning brand searing into his shoulder. It wasn't pain, mostly just heat.
"Try and see if your fire control got stronger or not." said Kain.
Barton first checked that he really didn't grow a tail, before sighing in relief and summoning a fire. The fire was must brighter and stronger and had doubled in size.
"YES! My fire is stronger! HAHAHA!" said Barton as he hopped up and down.
"Looks like my experiment worked. So, if I find the same power and combine it to someone who already has it, it makes the strength improve immediately. Maybe you will need less time to improve your fire control ability as well, Barton." said Kain.
"The young ones always get all the luck." sighed Desmond.
"HAHAHA, be jealous more, old man!" yelled Barton.
Seeing Barton getting so full of himself, Kain couldn't help but turn to Desmond and say, "Well, if I don't come across a metal control power in the near future, I'll just give you a 4th power to make up for it."
Desmond smiled, while Barton started cursing and saying that he would rather have a 4th power as well. Kain ignored the puppy faces that Barton was throwing towards him and said,
"Alright, let's hurry and continue towards Bastion."
The three of them attached themselves to the back of Daemaus again, courtesy of Kain's tentacles. This time, Barton was on the edge facing away from Kain and Desmond in case of an "accident".
Daemaus somehow managed to turn its head 180 degrees to stare sharply at Barton, before growling in warning like a dog about to attack. Barton blanched even more and shut his eyes closed. He prayed his stomach didn't betray him.
Daemaus turned its head back to the front and launched himself into the air. While they were travelling, Kain conversed with Mexxle.
-What will we do with Daemaus when we get to Bastion? It isn't like we can bring him inside, or it would cause mass panic. (Kain)
-You don't have to worry. He has a chameleon ability, which is even better than invisibility because it also negates his presence from others. His other ability is perfect muscle control, which allows him to jump so far. Such muscle control also allows him to take silent steps, despite his great mass. (Mexxle)
-Wow, he really is a reptile. So… chameleon, perfect muscle control, and regeneration. Doesn't he also have invulnerability as a power?" (Kain)
-No, he is just so strong that his skin is nigh invulnerable. Just like how you have increased skin resistance as your strength increases. (Mexxle)
Kain nodded his head in understanding. He saw that they had already completed quite a number of jumps and checked his comm link. The map appeared and showed that they were not far from Bastion. Indeed, he could just make out the city in the far distance.
After a few more jumps, the wall came into sight and Kain signaled Daemaus to stop jumping. Barton jumped off and actually kissed the ground, but then promptly inhaled dust on accident and entered into a round of coughing fits.
When Barton recovered, they started to walk the rest of the way and Daemaus went incognito. Desmond was surprised, while Barton was stunned. It wasn't long, though, before Barton frantically called dibs on the invisibility power. He even went so far as to say that he would fight to the death for the power while pointing his finger at Desmond.
Barton and Desmond only had one word for him, "Pervert."
They continued walking and finally reached a large platform, which they all got on. Kain input a military pass-code into a keypad on one of the railings. The platform then made a humming noise, before floating towards the shielded wall. They passed over the minefield below for several minutes before they melded into the shield and lowered down to the top of the wall. Defenders of the wall called out in greeting, having noticed their military uniforms.
They had finally returned home.