Braxton had discovered a way to determine if magical abilities had been acquired. The DNA markers lit up different than a normal persons. His markers for the shadow skills were like beacons. He ones he shared with the wounded man were more like trace highlights. He may have unlocked the skill but it would be weak, whatever it was. He had one other set of markers that was unlocked.
The third set of markers was from the lady bug creature he figured. It was another weak marker, but it was stronger than he first one. What it might be, remained a mystery.
Braxton began drinking the special blue smoke blood. The beaker contained ten or more doses of his standard vials. He took a new reading of his blood two hours later. New markers had unlocked. The traces were faint, similar to the ones of the wounded man's in his blood. He continued drinking and testing after two hours each time. The markers didn't change each time. It was random much like when Alpha would notify him of his increased and they were random.
The medic suit was tracking the data collected. Maybe X system would learn how to read the upgrades, Braxton mused. "X track my blood samples after each time I drink blood. Allow two hours for the blood to be absorbed." Braxton ordered.
"I will only be able to do this while you are wearing this suit. The other suits are not equipped for these functions." X system notified him.
Braxton returned to the hunters after he had drank the blood. "I drank the blood and it made me feel a little strange." He told one of the hunters.
"That's good. I means you acquired magic. You can join us now." He responded happily.
"My name is Larken." He added.
"Nice to meet you Larken. What does joining you get me?" Braxton inquired.
"You can have a woman every night. As long as one of he others hasn't picked her for himself. You get to hunt with us and eat better too. It's a dangerous but easy life." Larken seemed happy with his lot in life and wanted to share the benefits with Braxton.
This wasn't exactly something Braxton was interested in. He had two loving women at home. "What if I would just rather give my portion away? I'm more interested in knowledge than sex." Braxton questioned.
"It is your right not to have sex. Maybe you want to make a relationship. Some of our elder hunters have those relations. I don't think anyone will hold that against you. Do you have anyone in mind?" Larken asked.
"I'm partial to the youngest daughter of Markquise." Braxton grasped at something he knew the other hunters would see as impossible.
"Good luck with her. I doubt her father will let her come get the food." Larken informed him.
"Well can't I take it to her?" Braxton asked.
"I suppose you could." Larken said.
"How do I learn what magic skill I got?" Braxton inquired eagerly, trying to get to the heart of what he wanted to know.
"Most creatures magic we see when fighting them. Some are offensive skills, some are defense skills others are passive. You need to talk with those that killed it. Lucky for you I was part of that team. It had a magic arrow. I was able to block it with my shield ability. Your magic skill should be an arrow attack." Larken shared what he knew freely.
"That's good to know. How do I practice it?" Braxton asked trying to sound like he never heard of magic at all before.
"Just try thinking about summoning an arrow. Your skill is different than my so I can't tell you how it works specifically. Mine I summon and I can move it around with my mind. Bleaker has a spear shower skill. He might be more helpful than me. Try to summon it here. If you can I'll take you to find Bleaker." Larken bargained.
"Sure, I'll give it a whirl." Braxton said noncommittally.
It didn't take him long at all to summon an arrow. It floated in the air in front of him. It was three feet long and glowed white. "That's pretty cool looking." Braxton said as he reached out the touch it. It felt real enough and he was able to take hold of it. He carried it around like a sword. Then he walked out of the camp. He found a tree to practice with it on. Stabbing with it proved useless. The arrow wasn't sharp like a blade would be. He ended up just thinking about it flying into the tree and it zipped across the sky and exploded into the tree.
"That looks pretty powerful." Larken voiced his approval.
"It's interesting. I'm curious how much I could use it." Braxton replied.
"That's is hard to say. My skill get weaker as I get tired. It is the same for some of the others. It's why we hunt once a day. If we hunt too much like when they first learned these skills we end up losing many people." Larken stated plainly.
"I have many other responsibilities. I can't commit to hunting everyday." Braxton said regretfully.
"You don't have to plant gardens if you can hunt. Have the weak people given you what you want." Larken retorted.
"I have a family to provide for inside the portals. My mother lives in another world. I have to work for them to keep her alive." Braxton made up a story to cover his momentary lapse. He had almost given away information he didn't want too.
"Speaking of that I should go check on her. I do want to hunt with you. I can join twice a week. More than that could be difficult." Braxton added.
"It's dangerous work. The extra hand will be useful. You can be on my crew. Join when you can." Larken said invitingly.
"I'll catch up with you later." Braxton said as he left. He returned to the portal and Earth.
Braxton took a couple days off then returned to the caves. He read the papers in the safe. They confirmed the history of the Decamar. Other documents contained the plans for creating battle suits. One covered making a gate. The bulk of them covered nanites.
Then he found a diary under a false bottom in the safe. It covered the history of his family struggling to rebuild after the fall of the empire. The technology was so far behind on Earth they couldn't make any of the items they had plans for. They spent lifetimes trying to advance human civilization enough to make basic gear. The last entry was made by his great grandfather one hundred years before. Braxton made his own entry. He documented things the best he could explain them. Beginning with his great grandfather's sudden disappearance. His own father's work, what little he knew of it. Finally he documented his own findings. Then returned it to the safe.
He learned the Skaggar were mortal enemies of his people throughout the ages. Both species had been trying to wipe out the other. The reason it started had been lost to history. If they discovered the others war was the only possible outcome.
Braxton found it very odd the combat suits targeted his own people for reports. That was something he would need to figure out. The government team probably had something to do with it. How he had avoided detection and his father before him, he had no idea. The answer may have been found inside the DNA provided by his mother, grandmother and great grandmothers. If that was the case, he could help the men hide among humans and grow strong again but the women here would have no hope.
He returned to the lab. As far as he to determine now he had learned as much as he could in the secret caves. He had sensed more open spaces near the walls but wasn't interested in them right now. The other gates he took off the ship might end up in them soon. Now he wanted to examine the body he found on the spaceship more. He had samples of he Decamar now. He could test the DNA against theirs.
The medical suit had opened up more options than he had anticipated initially. He needed to know as much as he could to protect his own children. The second one would soon be born. They were Decamar as much as human. The Skaggar would want them dead. The man who he met in the dumpster was most likely one of them. The shadowy figure matched one he had seen in the holographic movies.
In a short period of time he had learned a lot. He had acquired a new enemy. Magical skills and abilities. He learned there were more available too. Braxton reviewed the sample of the wounded man's test results. He was worried his own skill had passed to him. His worry was well founded. He had received a mild amount of the magical skill.
That piece of knowledge he kept to himself. If someone drank his blood hey could likely awaken magic abilities. The same could be said for the others with magical abilities. Braxton didn't want them killing each other for their powers.
Braxton took a sample from the spaceman. As he expected it came back as Decamar. The body was almost perfectly human looking. The facial features were sharper and more angular than most humans but, it wouldn't be hard for him to have hidden on Earth in his day. That could explain how his family members had been able to hide too. The test did not reveal he had magical abilities. Those markers were all missing. He did have some genetic anomalies. The report indicated he wouldn't have lived long even if he had survived the battle on the ship.
"X did you test or find data that would confirm this specimen was a victim of genetic warfare?" Braxton inquired.
"The data suggests it is possible he had a disease that attacked his genetic material. The cause I cannot be confirmed." X responded.
"Can you confirm the issue is dead or inert?" Braxton asked.
"Affirmative. Whatever his issue was is now longer cause for concern." X system confirmed.
"What is he status of the data translations?" Braxton requested.
"3% completed." X stated in reply.
"Any useable updates?" Braxton pressed.
"Sub space communication comlink can be taken from his suit. It would function planetwide." X informed.
"No thanks. Last thing I want is sending data too easily." Braxton responded with finality.
He left the lab and returned home again. He had learned as much as he could for now on most fronts. It was possibly time to talk with his father again. Braxton needed time to sort out what to say. Right now his father knew very little about the family history. Telling him could put him at greater risk. By default the rest of his family.
Braxton set himself into a rhythm. Over the next few weeks, he spent time hunting three days a week. He spent two days with Markquise and his youngest daughter. It was mostly for show. The girl was attractive and his own age. She knew much about the history of her people and Braxton learned as much as he could from her. The other two days he spent at home. Vixen was getting close to her due date.
His sexual needs were being attended to by his baby mama. Braxton kept them both up to speed with what was going on but omitted all the details on the Decamar and Skaggar. He didn't want them worried. There was too much going on and he was glad Vixen had not been with him. Her suit wouldn't have been able to prevent leaked data. That was a major hurdle he would have to fix before she could rejoin his travels.