In the same underground room in which Caroline, Jason, Thomas and Aimee spent a lot of time training, the array at the center was burning in a golden and orange flames, instead of purple like usual. The walls of the room were thus coated with orange and golden light, and a different kind of energy aura filled the room - one that would help revitalize the internal flow of energy inside of the bodies of the people in the room, instead of speeding up the time. And on the side of the fire, it was Jianmen and Jianmen alone who were practicing the Kung-Fu moves.
Josephine Wong was standing on the side, with the wheelchair Jianmen had been using to roll around inside of the inn and even places nearby, watching his moves. It did not take long before she realized that his moves were quite similar to those of Caroline and Jason - in fact around 80% of these movesets consisted of similar moves, and the other 20% was different and tailored to each person practicing it.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" with each strike or kick, a small explosion erupted from Jianmen's fist, elbow, feet or kneecap. Cinders and sparks flew off from the explosions, and kept burning in the air for a short while before they faded away. The first set of moves were done in a little more than five minutes, and it was due to the fact that Jianmen was practicing it slowly, almost as slowly as the Tai Chi practice done by a lot of older folks.
After the first set, Jianmen started doing the second set. His moves were a little different this time from the first as well. This time, his moves seemed less aggressive and more defensive, and his movements had become even slower. And this time, only the defensive moves caused movements of energy, his blocks and parries each caused the solidification of some kind of light brown energy shield on his forearms and shins.
After he was done with the two sets of moves, Jianmen came back to the wooden wheelchair and sat down. Then with a snap of his fingers, the orange and golden fire died down.
"So your physical therapy went well?" Josephine Wong asked as she rolled Jianmen out of the room.
"It could have gone better. But I'll try to get more warmed up next time." Jianmen sighed: "How's the meeting with the Division? Had any interesting meetings?"
"'Interesting' would be the last word anyone would use to describe any meetings that happened, are happening and will happen in the Division." Josephine Wong shook her head and walked through a door to enter the diner: "But I did receive some kinda interesting intel - the conflicts between some of the High Brokers of the Exalted Bondsmen have continued to escalate - we know that at least two groups of players had been trying to get their hands on the 'codex'. It's an all out war, but luckily we haven't seen that bleeding into the civilian world - yet."
"And who are these two groups?" Jianmen waved his hand at a pot of coffee, the pot was lifted into the air and filled a cup, then the cup flew to him and landed on the wheelchair's armrest.
"Carol Summers, Soren Lupei in one group, and potentially Lucias Vyn in another group. The high brokers cannot even meet now." Josephine Wong sighed: "But that's all we were briefed - it's not that useful in stopping the war"
"Woah, so you've got their names already?" Jianmen drank up half a cup of coffee and asked.
"Just knowing their names is not gonna help much." Josephine Wong chuckled: "You know that the Exalted Bondsmen existed like it is today because the Division basically lets it, out of operational and executive necessity right? We even have someone from a well known magical family amongst the high brokers. Not to mention - well, not to mention our friends who were not human."
"How about the true names? Don't you have someone who can do something with their true names? For example, Carol Summers and her real name - Beverly Winters?" Jianmen shrugged: "Kind of an interesting choice of a name, if you asked me."
"We don't have that kind of power wielders amongst us." Josephine Wong said: "Sadly for me and what we want to do now, and luckily for the big picture."
"What about the group that attacked our students? Any idea on who they work for?" Jianmen sent the cup back to the table where it was placed.
"Powered mercenaries, unregistered and not all of them were found in our database. The ones we did find were known to be scoundrels with no loyalty to anyone, so hard to tell who their employer was." Josephine Wong said: "That necromancer you almost killed - Timothy Durbin, he's gone underground for quite a long while and it's only recently we found traces of his activities, aside from your report, but we all know how the Division treats your report. He has no known affiliations, so we are operating under the assumption that he's out for hire."
"What about that girl - Emilia Corin?"
"Young girl from a local crime family - the Corin family, had no records of that kind of superpower or affiliations with any powered groups. Someone must've trained her and given her the artifacts she used. It's got to be one of the unsavory High Brokers. But unfortunately, we don't have any more than that."
"We can try divination when I am fully recovered." Jianmen stretched his neck: "And… you wanna tell me about the war you've been preparing for?"
Josephine Wong sighed, then she grabbed a chair and sat down in front of Jianmen: "I've alerted the Division, but unfortunately, not many understand the severity of the situation. I think I am close to running out of favors to call."
"Your team's still with you, right?"
"Yes, but judging from what happened at the hospital we could barely handle one defiler." Josephine Wong looked Jianmen in the eyes: "I will call people I know from the academy for help - Professor Kapur, Tony, Glenda, even Dorothea if I have to. But it's not gonna be enough."
"You can bring your team to train here. I will share my library with them on how to fight defilers." Jianmen said: "And the crystals - I can break up some of them to help you make a few of those swords."
"But - but what about you? Don't you need them?"