"You can't just reach Stage two like it's easy to do, you bastard, no matter how talented you are!" After having been abruptly woken Raisen was fueled by his outrage. The old man reached out with an energy-filled hand and grabbed onto Fen's shoulder, shooting rays of Vital energy into him.
[He's right. Even I didn't reach Stage two uneventfully, and I was able to become a God for fuck's sake! If it was that easy everyone be able to have powers.] Dey scoffed along with Raisen but he also extended a tendril of Void energy to see if Fen was telling the truth.
"..."
There was a stunned silence in the Training Hall as the two skeptical Knights checked and checked again to make sure they weren't seeing incorrectly.
[Ahem. Well, I never said it was impossible for you to do it...] The God scratched at his head awkwardly.
"I did say it was impossible! And it should be impossible! Give me your damn Vital core!" Fen dodged sideways as a tendril of Vitality stabbed towards his chest from the jealous old man. "You didn't work hard enough to get that!"
Fen snorted in derision. "Ha, next time just blame yourself for being untalented, old man." It was hard, but Fen was barely able to hold back the smirk that threatened to spread across his face.
Even more important however, Fen started to notice the tiny changes in his energy. He raised his hands and made some of his Vital energy pool into his fingers. He watched as veins of energy spread across his skin and enhanced his strength. Reinforcing the trickle of energy, the energy veins extended all the way up his harms, turning from green to gold as the energy flow became more powerful as he exerted more effort.
"Why you piece of..." Raisen still couldn't stamp down his jealousy and sent another needle of Vital energy speeding towards Fen.
Fen instinctively directed his Vitality through his new Vital core and felt his energy instantly rebound around his body and enhance all his movements. If before he had to keep focused to circulate his energy, now all he had to do was think about it and his core would do the work for him. His nerves all fired in unison as his body tensed up, directing a wave of Vitality in front of him.
Time flowed unstoppably forward, but it could be slowed down through various methods. Armed with his new Vital core Fen felt as his perception altered and transformed into something new; his brain adapted until his sense of time matched his body's new abilities. With another wave of energy, the Vitality wall solidified and cracked as Raisen's needle was intercepted and stopped.
[Not bad. Your instincts are even better than mine were when I was your age.] Dey nodded approvingly after observing Fen's improved Vitality control.
"Yeah... I guess I'll stop trying to kill you, but only for now." Raisen grudgingly retracted his energy back into his body. "But just know that was only a portion of my power! If I went all out, you wouldn't even realize you died."
"Yeah, yeah. By the way, if its so hard to reach Stage two, then why does the Foundation expect us to become so powerful in such a short amount of time?" Fen thought about it and came to the realization that getting powerful had to be the VPF's goal; they wanted the candidates to reach a level of power that would enable us to protect the Earth. But if it was supposed to be extremely difficult to go through Stage Advancement, then why set the expectation so high?
"Oh, about that..." Raisen started looking everywhere except at him. "Well, probability-wise... Most of you have potential, but because of the time constraints- y'know, planet dying and whatever from the lack of stimulation from a God- we couldn't see if you had talent or not, so it's more like a dice-roll whether or not you survive..." His voice quieted down to a mumble at the end of his statement.
Fen was quiet for a few moments as his brain connected the dots. With a pause, he opened his mouth, "When Archon Ellora told us there'd be a high number of deaths, did she mean...? That's not possible. No way. If I can do it this easily there's no way that-"
[It's the truth. Unless you expend a ridiculous amount of resources there's no way to guarantee your survival from Stage Advancement.]
"Resources that the Foundation can't afford to waste. I'm sorry, but that's reality." Raisen had an apologetic look on his face. "But it's not like the risks are that high- in this place the odds increase a lot."
Fen had a confused look on his face so Deion filled him in. [The Void dimension is unique because it's the home of the Void Primordial, so of course it has special properties. Just in the Program alone, they're using it to increase the speed of time and to make up for the lack of talents within the Program. It doesn't matter if none of the Opfer have enough talent to advance if the Void is constantly shoving energy into their cells. Even a pigeon could become a Warrior if they spent enough time here. The only drawbacks are the monsters that spawn here as a result of that energy, and the vastness of this dimension that could hide incredible dangers even to the most powerful of beings, excluding me of course.]
Dey was aware of the danger behind advancement and had thought that the Foundation chose candidates based on their talent; there wasn't anything to warn him otherwise; the God had only kept his eye on Fen, and he had plenty of talent.
"We did what we had to do. We couldn't just sit back and watch as the Earth's Mana decreased even further. Something had to be done." The Knight slumped onto his chair with a tired expression on his face.
Fen looked from Dey and back to Raisen, his eyes flashing with sudden inspiration.
"Wait, Dey, can't you stimulate Earth's Mana? We just need a God, it doesn't have to some of Heaven's Gods."
[I would if I could, but I'm the God of the Void. I can only leave this place with my many manifestations, and you'd need my real body if you needed me to do something like that,] Dey said with a sorry expression.
"We've run the numbers. Heaven's Virtues are the Earth's only hopes, even though your people have a bad history with them. Really, we don't have a choice. We need capable fighters as soon as possible, and this is what the Foundation came up with."
"...I see." Fen's anger towards the Foundation rose even higher. No matter how justified their goal was, sacrificing a bunch of kids to accomplish it couldn't be justified. The fact that they even understood the potential consequences... It was unforgiveable.
"Hey. This wasn't me Fen. I don't run the Guardian Program." Raisen pat his shoulders with a sincere expression. Fen turned his head to glare at him, but lost the energy to do so halfway.
"Fuu... I know. It's still annoying." He suddenly felt the urge to hit something.
Fen loosened his tightened fists and took a deep breath. To survive he'd gotten used to suppressing his emotions, and the recent Stage Advancement loosed him a little too much; he let down his guard and unconsciously allowed his anger to affect him.
"I'm gonna go. I need to get ready for the next Task, and running through some of the Scenarios are the best way for me to get used to the Stage Advancement." Fen got up to leave.
[Good idea. While you're gone me and Raisen can discuss and create a plan for your development.] Fen shivered after hearing Dey's casual statement.
'Like hell I trust them together... This bastard! What the hell is he planning?' Fen's mind whirred as he tried to come up with possible reasons as to why Dey would want to talk with Raisen without him hearing, but he couldn't think of anything concrete.
He could only leave the room with narrowed eyes and hope to gleam Dey's intent from staring at him; unfortunately, the God only waved while wearing an unrevealing expression on his manifestation.
The seal Raisen placed inside the Training Hall temporarily formed a hole so he could leave without dying, although Fen had to remind the old Knight three times so he could lift the seal. He was probably still a little jealous.
"Fuu..." Fen sighed as he walked back to the Squad room.
'What should I do for the rest of the day? I could just get myself into a Scenario and get used to the changes in my body, but it might just be better if I practice inside our Training Hall. This new Vital core...' He concentrated his Vitality within the new organ, feeling as the core pulsed and nourished his energy. 'It's amazing. It's like I understand my Vital energy more thoroughly now than I ever did in the past month."
The complex energy wasn't just a tool for him to use, it was a part of him now. The two were connected using the Vital core as a medium.
Armed with his new and improved abilities, Fen thought of the perfect candidate with which to have a spar with.
Opening the door of the Squad room with a bang, Fen called, "Qinnn! Gray!!! Fight me!"
He couldn't hide the smirk from deforming his facial features; he might just enjoy this.
****
Inside the Training Hall with Raisen's seal completely activated.
"So. Is it safe to assume that you remember me, Lost God?" Raisen's usual casual demeanor broke apart and a dangerous expression spread across his face. "It's a shame that we meet again under these circumstances, but, well... I didn't think that you'd have the balls to break into the Foundation, but to think that you did it for a kid like Fen. I respect that, to go to such lengths for another member of your race. I guess I can understand, there's so little of you left in the universe that you have to protect whoever's left."
Deion smiled a mirthless smile in response to Raisen's words.
[Don't waste your pretty words. If you were by yourself I wouldn't hesitate in killing you, but as you mentioned our circumstances force me to trust you.]
"Lucky for you that you don't have to fight me, right? After spouting all that godly bullshit about your strength in front of Fen, it'd be great to see his expression after I kick your ass."
They both laughed; Dey because he was confident in his own victory in the case they ever fought one another, and Raisen because... well, he was Raisen. He didn't need to take shit from anybody, even Gods.
[I must admit, I have always carried a lot of respect for you. It takes a lot of talent to reach beyond the limits presented by the Stages, and even more talent to reach the legendary Seventh Stage. Aren't you immortal at this point? Must be why you decided to settle down and become an instructor for a Planet Grade organization like the VPF.] Deion manifested a glass of an unknown liquid in his hands and started casually drinking while staring into the Void through the window in the Training Hall.
"Close enough to immortality that I might as well be immortal. And you might be right about me deciding to settle down." Raisen accepted the glass that Deion offered him. "Or maybe I just got tired of fighting. The years were never easy on me, especially after I grew old. Eventually, all the wars and conflicts just started to look the same."
[But there's really only one true conflict in the universe, hell, every universe if you wanted to debate. You haven't forgotten that, have you? Even if you did fight for centuries there's no way you'd forget the reason why so many died.]
Raisen frowned while sipping the admittedly delicious beverage he brought.
"...I told you worthless Gods, I'm done. I have no more reason to help you-" Raisen's words were cut off after he was slammed into his own seal.
Deion was dangerously calm as he enunciated every syllable, [You shouldn't need any more reasons. Hatred was good enough for you for dozens of years; it'll be enough for several more. ]
Raisen placed his hand on the hands gripping onto his throat and applied enough strength to force the God to let go of him. "Careful. I understand that I'm not the only one hiding their true identities from the people around them. You wouldn't want your son grow without a father, do you?"
[YOU DARE?!] Void energy exploded within the Training Hall, and was barely constrained within the barrier constructed by Raisen using his own Vital energy. Deion slammed Raisen onto the floor repeatedly, and then threw him across the room, putting a significant dent in the Vital energy barrier.
"Euhk!" Raisen spit out a broken tooth and let his Vitality heal the wounds caused by Deion's outburst.
"He even resembles you, don't try to deny it. The resemblance grows closer everyday- From the Vitul transformation, perhaps? Maybe your plan to keep him hidden would've worked if he remained on Earth, but what plan ever survives after encountering simple bad luck?" Deion's body shook as rage spread across his body and boiled his blood, barely held back by his tempered will trained from centuries of living in battlefields. "Relax, we share the same goal for him anyways. The boy's grown on me. It's been a long time since I've grown attached to another intelligent being; hard to stay attached, usually they die of old age before I get interested."
Raisen took advantage of Deion's shock and brushed the dust and rubble off his clothes, standing up after seeing he was clean enough.
[...He can't know about me. It'll destroy him.] It seemed that being in control over their emotions was a trait passed down from Deion to Fen; the Void God pushed his anger aside in favor of conversing with the Unique. [His family on Earth is the only thing motivating him to succeed within your organization's bloodbath. Telling him the truth will take shave away whatever will and sanity he has left.]
[Raisen. You know why I'm asking you to fight again, especially if you know about me and Fen.] A pained look flashed across Deion's facial features, blurred by his materialization's energy properties. [We have to fight. In order to-]
"Stop." Raisen brushed the dust off his clothes and stood back up. "
"I only have one answer for you: You're right, we do have to fight. But not now. After Fen survives through the Program, I'll leave this organization and come back. And don't worry about me exposing the truth about you, I have no intention of informing him of his familial relations anyways. It's none of my business. Also, it's much easier to make fun of him when he doesn't have a God for family. The kid really does have some hilarious reactions whenever I bring up his girlfriend, can't imagine what his face would look like when I talk about his family." Raisen chuckled darkly.
"Look, let's just bury the hatchet. It'd be nice to have someone to talk to again. I can't imagine that you know anyone else from the same generation so close by." Raisen snickered.
[Hmph.]
"Oh come on. Don't be like that. We're even now, I found about your secret and you hit me, equivalent exchange... Wait, actually you need to let me hit you! Quick, bring your real body here so I can mess you up!" Raisen said with an eager expression.
[Like hell I'd do that. You insane bastard, if I did that this facility wouldn't survive.] Somehow the mood became much more calm after Raisen started badgering at Deion to bring his real body.
"Now that's just an excuse 'cause you know you wouldn't win in a fight with me. Always suspected you were a coward with the way you used manifestations for everything, but now I know for sure. Haha!"
Boom!
Deion was going to make sure that Raisen wouldn't be able to recover as quickly from the beating he was about to give him, though he'd limit his strength so as to not damage the facility too much.