Bad Greetings

All the tests after endurance were pretty easy, mostly because I didn't have to get hurt in order to get the results. The speed test only required me to go from point A to point B as quick as I could, I surpassed one of the 1 of the unknown resurrected in speed and tied with the other, Akane was still on top though, and by a lot. I guess her powers focused on speed and stealth more then brute force and strength. Still I can't help but think about how strong the other two are if Akane avoids them, I doubt she couldn't take them 1 on 1 but she definitely wouldn't come out unscathed. Thinking about it really got my blood flowing, ever since I got these powers it's like all I live for is the fight and the rage, it's starting to become increasingly harder and harder to suppress these feelings, I think people are starting to pick up my bloodlust, because I get concerned glares every once and again from the people skilled enough to pick up on it.
Next test was the strength test, all I had to do was punch this special absorbing metal as hard as I could and it would deduct my strength from there. I reared my fist back closed my eyes and punched as hard as I could and when I opened my eyes everything around me had been destroyed. I didn't think I used my crest power, but still the amount of destruction I caused I didn't expect I had that kinda power. But still, even after all that destruction, I didn't surpass the #1 strongest, which was also one of the unknown resurrectors.
After all the tests, I did a debrief with SC Jeong. " You know Ryker, for having no experience or training you rank quite high against your fellow resurrectors, your a prodigy. But I can't really rank you in terms of power against them, you see you 4 are the future of the Nations and ranking y'all would lead to competitiveness and that would ultimately lead to infighting, that's why we only rank you guys in terms of certain categories. " " I have a question Jeong, if you have powerful Rankers like those 3, why was Johnny Dang ranked #1 in terms of power?" " Hm, we ranked him #1 because we wanted to keep how powerful you 4 are a secret, so we rank you at random in the top 10, for example Akane's ranked 4th but she's much stronger than Johnny Dang in terms of everything, so are the others, and you. We're also hiding your power from some of the Lower rankers. To keep things quiet and so they won't become complacent. " " Hm I guess that makes sense, but also am I ever gonna get to meet the other two?" " I'm sure you've might have already met them or accidentally walked by them, there here on base but they'll find you eventually. " " Uh okay? " He made it sound like they'd come looking for a fight with me. " Well Ryker I'm glad you decided to ultimately join us, I think you 4 are the key to solving the mysteries of these portals. I don't really care about your combat capabilities, they are necessary but I ultimately want a world where everyone can smile whether it be a kid or full grown adult, and I will stop at nothing to get to that point. " " Well Jeong you have my full cooperation then. " I said putting out my hand gesturing a handshake, he shook back and said " Thanks Ryker, by the way, your first solo mission is tomorrow, we're sending you to a low power lair to get you ready for what your eventually gonna be doing. "
After our debriefing Jeong had someone show me where my private quarters were, it felt pretty good having a room of my own that was actually nice. But I still couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard I tried, I was too busy just recollecting all the events that have occurred these past 7 days or so. I really had no clue how long it had been. Time seemed to just had slipped my mind. It didn't really matter anyway though, I guess tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of my life.
As I was drifting off into sleep I heard a knock at my quarters door. Who could it be? It was almost 2 AM? Maybe a test from Jeong? I got up cautiously and walked to the door, and pressed my ear against the door and said " Who is i-" and before I could finish my sentence someone had punched a whole through the door and had ahold of my neck squeezing. *ECHHH ACHHH* " What the hell. " We're the only words I could get out before he pulled me out of my quarters breaking the metal door. I tried grabbing his hand and pulling them apart from my neck but no matter how hard I tried they wouldn't budge. " MAN YOUR REALLY THE SECOND STRONGEST OUT OF THE 4 OF US, YOUR NOT EVEN STRONGER THEN DAIKI! " said the man with a Russian accent. All it took was him saying the 4 of us to determine that he was one of the Resurrected, and judging by his overwhelming strength he was the one ranked 1st in the strength test. He loosened his grip only enough for me to breathe. But he didn't let go he held me up like a rag doll and started punching me in the gut over and over again. " I have no clue what Jeong see's in you, YOUR WEAK. " The man was giant at least 7ft and 450 lbs of pure muscle. My consciousness started to fade away after each blow to the gut, coughing up blood almost after each strike. But I wasn't scared in the least bit. I was mad. "Weak? Me? Never." I said grunting through my teeth. After I said that He threw another punch and this time I caught it with my two free arms with his fist now caught in my grip I pulled him towards me and raised both my legs and kicked his gut shaking his hold on my neck enough for me to flip off of him after the kick. Once I landed I regained my composure and tried to look for any openings to attack. But his stance was rock solid, it felt like a trap, almost as if I was a mouse and he was the spring trap luring me in and if I bit, I would most certainly be snapped in half. But I wasn't scared, I was thrilled, I started grinning from ear to ear again. " What the hell are you enjoying this? " he said. " Must… crush… you… " I said smiling. It was hard for me to communicate I didn't even mean to say that my brain just flipped a switch, it was almost as if all of my bodies cognitive functions went into a primal mode. All I could think about was the battle and only the battle. I was still intelligible though, but not in the sense of book smarts but in combat. I was playing out 1,000s of attack scenarios in my head trying to figure this guy out. I was doing it naturally though almost as if it was second hand nature. " YOU GONNA ATTACK OR STAND THERE LIKE A WEAKLI-. " And before he could finish his sentence I was behind him, he swung his arm around in a panic throwing a blind punch turning his whole body around due to the momentum of the punch but when he turned around I was already on the other side of him, I kicked his knee out from behind dropping him to one knee he turned his head around to try and look for me but I was already in front of him, and I started throwing a relentless amount of punches and I finished it with heel kick to his jaw. I closed my eyes thinking I had finished him, letting out a sigh of relief. But before I could open my eyes I felt an overwhelming amount of weight on my left collarbone. " Got you. " he said smiling.* Krrk * he crushed my collarbone in one squeeze. I wanted to scream in pain, but I couldn't let the opposition get the satisfaction of me feeling pain. So I bit my lip in agony. I fell to one knee grabbing his forearm that was squeezing my collarbone. I tried standing up but his overwhelming strength kept me on the ground. " Ryker! " said a familiar voice. * THOOM * came Akane traveling faster then I've ever seen her go. She flew right into the resurrected kicking him through the wall. I fell onto ground due to the relief of having that enormous pressure lifted off of me. Akane rushed over to me grabbing my arm and helping me stand. Yet again, I had been completely defeated. " Calm down Akane, I was just testing him. I'm not impressed by the way. " said the man walking through the wall. " That's enough Oleg. "she said glaring giving off her bloodlust towards him.
" What's going on here. " said Jeong with a platoon of Rankers. " Nothing Jeong, just a spar, also your star rookie might be a little broken now HAHAHA. " " Leave now, Oleg. " Oleg's his name, I'll remember that. " Are you okay Ryker? " said Akane interrupting my thought. " Yeah I'm fine. I didn't need your help. " I said brashly. I was more sour about losing then I thought. " By the looks of it you did. Don't beat yourself up over losing to that guy, the way he fights is cowardly. " " Yeah I can tell. " Looking at my collarbone. " Ryker! " yelled Jeong "This way please, I'll transport you to another quarters. " We walked silently for a moment until I finally broke the silence. " So is the other one I don't know about going to beat the hell out of me too? " " Haha, I don't think so he's more of the silent type, but he is serious so keep your head on a swivel, I can't protect you from them, there power is above my jurisdiction unfortunately. " " So why does Akane listen to you then? It's a long story I have a past with her family, I'm somewhat of an uncle to her. " " Ah I see. " " By the way Ryker I'm gonna have your first mission postponed until further notice. " " No. " " Huh? What do you mean no Ryker? " " I want to go on the mission as scheduled, I can't let that piece of shit ruin my first mission! I have to get stronger too, so something like that can never happen again. " " Hm, your something else Ryker you know that? " " You mean that in a good way right? " I said with a beaming smile.
" Here's your new quarters for the time being, get as much sleep as you can, I'll personally wake you up when it's time to get ready for the operation. " And with that being said, Commander Jeong left the room. I didn't have trouble falling asleep this time after everything that had happened. I sunk into a deep sleep and with that sleep came visions. Visions of something familiar but yet so distant, almost like these visions were mine, but they weren't and I knew that. These visions induced feeling, those feelings induced rage. I'd seen these visions before, but I didn't experience them first hand. I couldn't make the visions out though I could only feel the malice behind them. It was almost like someone was desperately trying to get me to remember something. One thing that I could make out in these visions though was the man. The man who'd given me these powers. " Can you hear me? " I tried to answer out but I couldn't. " I need you to remember, I need you to carry out my will, MY VENGEANCE, I WILL HAVE IT, I WILL! " I woke up in a pool of sweat way earlier then I intended, but I couldn't go back to sleep after that. I got up and went to take a shower, while I was in there kept thinking over and over on what I needed to remember. His will?Was his will his vengeance? What were those visions? Who is that man? These were all the things I kept questioning as I was putting on my Ranker suit preparing to go on my first mission. Before I knew it we were already in the chopper on the way to the nest. " Ryker! " Jeong screamed over to me while in chopper. " Yes?" " You seem absent minded today, anything going on? " " I'm fine. " " Okay good we'll be approaching your drop off point in 2 minutes, right now we're right above the feeding area of the Imp nest, we'll drop you off at the outer area of where the nest starts that way you can work your way around and clear the stragglers. The reason we do this is because the feeding place is where almost all of the Imps reside. So for your first mission all I need you to do is take care of the stragglers in the outer area. " I looked at Jeong blank faced and said " Don't worry, I'll take care of it all. " And with those words I pulled open the choppers side door and jumped out and landed right in the middle of the feeding grounds.