Zane is soon treated in the military hospital. With Harold's help he makes full recovery in two days and is finally returns to the barracks.
He enters through the door of the barracks. The group members surprise him for his return and congratulate him. Zane feels comforted.
"good job kid" lieutenant Rodney says, it was the first time he had spoken to Zane.
"how did you know where the core was?" Captain Will asked.
"when Harold was attending to me he I noticed in the hell of battle that the tail was regenerating faster then the entire body. I read somewhere that Azazel cores have default attribute of regeneration but the rate varies from category. Archie's claws had less effect on the tail so I had a hunch and I called the shot" Zane informs.
The men are impressed.
"your technicality is good, you can help us with long range and sneak attacks. You could go good with Greg and Ben" says Robert.
"the kid is still new" Pierre says.
"c'mon Pierre he clutched that fight or it would've taken a long time to wait for response from the logistics" says Harold.
"I don't care. Just because he did that doesn't mean anything plus this was a small fish. Try fighting a category 6. You noticed the core because Azazels category less than 4 have their mass unevenly distributed, which means its tail was stronger than its head that's why its attacked from the tail and didn't use its fangs. I bet you'd piss your pants at the sight of a category 6" Pierre then swiftly moves out of the barracks.
Zane is irritated.
"don't worry about him, he was imprisoned but was innocent. He has quite a lot going in his life and had a tumultuous past. He is nice don't worry." Captain Will reassures Zane.
Zane knew that it wouldn't be all flowers sunshine. Ups and downs were expected. He had to get stronger. A skinny body wouldn't cut it. Had Harold not been there he would've bled to death. He was annoyed but had to admit to Pierre's words because the last time he saw a category 5 he nearly died.
That evening after mandatory classes and training Zane roams alone in the compound opposite the training area. It's a relaxing area and most exterminators use it as a park.
Zane walks down the path. Alone and feeling empty. He hasn't had much in life but still feels awfully lonely. There are his group members but it has just been 3 weeks since he joined.
He then sees Roselyn out on the compound. She is training, but something is even more peculiar, shes moving objects a meter away from her.
Zane walks up over to her. She notices him but continues her training.
"so your still here huh? pale boy" Roselyn comments.
"I am good to see you here too. which group are you assigned to?" Zane asks.
Roselyn rolls her eyes.
"55th group" she gives a staunch answer.
Zane looks around, clearly uncomfortable with her and regretting his decision.
"so what's your power and your type" Zane asks.
"you can't figure it out by looking?" Roselyn replies.
"damn what the hell did I even do for you to treat me like this I'm just asking politely what's wrong with you" Zane snaps.
Roselyn stopped training. Composing herself and looking staring directly at Zane.
"I don't want you to talk to me. I don't like talking to men and certainly no boys. I have a problem and its better if you stop or I will hurt you" Roselyn says in a stern, sharp manner.
"not all guys are the same. try being kind and you will find kind people" Zane replies in a similar manner.
"what do you know about kindness?" Roselyn replies.
"a lot, dead parents and a sleeping sister thought a lot about it" Zane says as he frustratingly leaves her.
Roselyn has disdain on her face. She feels angered, disappointment and sadness. She eventually goes back to her training.
Zane feels terrible but really he doesn't have to care. No need to talk to such foul-mouths. But he wondered, what made her act like that. Why? Who? Or what? Could it be.
"dammit...I'll go to training" he says as he walks back to another compound.
#
Zane goes over to the training facility. With his Talum in hand he went on to swing around his powers seeing how efficiently he could use them.
He saw a distinct difference. He could control the flow of the energy to deliver a powerful strike. It was the same when he was fighting the snake Azazel. He wasn't able to fully charge up his powers and it didn't deliver the powerful shot. But when he had amassed energy beyond the spear's capacity he was able to shoot a far more powerful strike.
It almost worked like a pressure hose. If the opening is small, the flow rate and pressure should be higher to deliver a far-reaching spray.
What he wasn't able to understand was how he bombed the tail when he had pounced on it. It almost felt like a splash of energy releasing at hyper speed, destroying everything in its path, like an atomic bomb.
How can he control such power, how can he make a breakthrough. He picked up his spear, a long gleaming shine from its blade illuminates. He strikes the training dolls, making grievous cuts and swinging around in a sloppy but strong form. It hurt his arm to swing around the spear but he kept going. How would he fight against Azazel's if he wasn't even strong enough to fight a category 2?
He soon got tired and out of breath. He didn't do much but he couldn't keep up. He was too skinny after all.
Then alarms went off. The entire training facility turned red and sirens rang loudly.
"ALL EXTERMINATORS FROM GROUPS 33 TO 66 REPORT TO MAIN COMPOUND" the PA announced.
Zane picked up his spear and ran towards his barracks. He damned the heavens for making him run when he was already tired.
He soon reached the barracks. Opening the door the room was in a frenzy.
"GET IN AND SUIT UP WE GOT A CATEGORY 7" Captain Will ordered Zane.
Zane rushed trying to suite up. It was a hasty affair but after 3-4 minutes he suited up and rushed out to meet with his group. All the guards were out. The exterminators were lined up by their group numbers. After that they were all taken to the main compound. 330 exterminators with various powers and power ratings stood. Some excelled while some were failures. Soon Colonel Obadiah came up and started to brief the crowd.
"There has been an Azazel landfall in Santa Barbara city and its making way south towards Mexico. The Azazel is a category 7 and is classed as a mammal type. It is a grotesque elephant-like monster and is supposedly over 100 meters tall. You will contain it and stop it in its tracks and exterminate it. As we speak, casualties are ramping up and cities are being destroyed. You will be informed about its attributes on site. God speed exterminators. MOVE OUT".
All the exterminators got into the truck one by one. This would be Zane's first large scale mission. His group members got in the truck and drove off while many others used chinooks.
"you nervous?" Archie asks Zane.
"no I'll be fine" Zane replies.
"don't worry you will do a good job" archie says with a warm smile and sad eyebrows.
Zane frowns. He knows he isn't strong and he is in fact nervous but he still frowns at Archie's statement. Something made him feel wrong. Archie said something good, it was encouragement. But he felt odd. The other guys were cheering up each other and making plans.
The ride was bumpy, adding to Zane nervousness but it would all be gone soon when he reached the site.
He hopped out of the truck about 4 km away from the Azazel. Only exterminators could be this close to Azazel. The city was evacuated.
Zane looked in the distance. And he couldn't believe his eyes.
It was walking in a slow sway like the waves of water hitting the beach. It was large and gray and had a face that was horrifying, with hard skins and scales, sharp teeth and horridly shaped tusks that spiraled outwards. It had a long and fleshy trunk with blood and phlegm dropping. With its spinal chord sticking outside its body, this monstrosity was nothing like he expected.
"relax kid" Robert said.
"You will get used to it soon"
Zane nods with a normal expression but not showing the utter disgust and fear of this entity. But it was all for his sister and for the money. He would do this no matter what it took.