Chapter 10

At the headquarters, Elizabeth was filling some reports. "It's about that time huh..." She thought with a light smile. She filed the report in a cabinet below her desk. There was a knock on the door, and she responded to allow them in. The legion squad, her bodyguards with Kris in cuffs, and a confused Abubakr walked in. She looked at Kris and facepalmed while letting out a sigh. She rested her back on her chair and crossed her legs.

Oumar stepped forward.

"I have come to make a report on the battle at Dahab."

"I heard we lost the entire town." She scowled her face as she looked at Oumar who rubbed the back of his head.

"My bad, but... we did retrieve the demon's core." He chuckled as Kamil gave him a box.

"We also have some information based on our observations and findings." Oumar retorted as his demeanour became serious while he showed Elizabeth the core.

"Very well then but first..." She turned to Kris, "What the hell did you think you were doing knocking out a soldier and putting your life in danger without the proper training" She glowered at Kris as though she was about to devour him. Her eyes glowed and her source energy rose slowly above her body.

Kris wanted to respond but the glow in her eyes and the immediate tension he felt kept him quiet as he looked downwards. The others unanimously in the room thought the same thing. "Wise decision." Kris slowly lifted his eyes and he saw Oumar giving him a thumbs up.

"You know what to do Abubakr." She hissed as she turned her attention back to Oumar. 

"Yes Sir!" Abubakr saluted before dragging Kris away.

"Don't be so hard on him. He is new but I can tell that he has much potential." Oumar voiced out after Abubakr and Kris had left the room.

"It is precisely because of that, that I get pissed off by his stubbornness." Elizabeth sighed. 

"So... Let's hear this information of yours." Elizabeth placed both hands below her cheek and a serious atmosphere engulfed the room.

Oumar turned to look at Asim. Asim nodded at him and stepped up.

"The demons' behaviour has always been random but in the past week, it's been too erratic. Even after a blood moon, the rate at which they had been engaging in rash rampages was abnormal. We have already established that they do have cognitive reasoning so such actions shouldn't be ruled out as purposeless. That was the basis for our investigation."

"So you suggest what? A possible distraction?"

"I can't categorically state it, but our suspicions were further confirmed when we killed a yellow source demon with bat-like characteristics close to an old base at Giza. It moved a bit after the orc creature started its rampage at Dahab. It's too much of a coincidence. Let's not forget the actions of the former Captain Edward. He could have hit any transport centre while escaping, but he picked an abandoned centre, one which experiments were performed in." Asim noted.

"Using diversions and scouting techniques huh..." Elizabeth uttered as she bit the base of her right thumb. 

"Alright then, good work. We will look deeper into this." Elizabeth added.

"Yes sir!" the squad saluted and took their leave.

Elizabeth sat in silence and thought to herself, "In the battle between James and Edward. Edward possessed a second core which he fused with his to give him a tremendous boost in power. Are they after our cores to strengthen themselves? Nah... that doesn't seem to be entirely right... well whatever it is, we will figure it out."

The testing/ training sites(rooms) in the O.W.A.D Egyptian base are divided into 3 blocks. C block for beginners, B blocks for intermediates (those with perfect control of their source energies), A block for advanced (those who can battle proficiently with their armors). C block has 3 sub-divisions, B block has 2 and there is only 1 A block. The sub-divisions number shows the difficulty rank. 3 being the lowest and 1 being the highest. It serves to challenge you the more adept you get with source energy. Kris was taken to the B1 block. The same one Abubakr lured him into earlier. Abubakr uncuffed him then walked to the centre of the room.

"Just when I thought you had calmed down, you pull this stunt," Abubakr scoffed.

"Well... shit happens, I..." Kris tried to respond.

"Don't move" Abubakr lifted his hands to stop him. He stopped as he saw the blue glow in Abubakr's eyes. Abubakr sighed.

"Take off your shirt. This training session will be done without any extra energy protection." He added.

"Extra protection?"

"The badge on the camo is a device that harbors source energy. It's used to protect the average soldiers when they go against demons"

"Hmmnn... source energy is quite convenient," Kris muttered as he pulled off the top of the camo. The moment he was done, the pressure of the room fell on them. The crushing feeling pulled Kris face down to the floor. He released his energy to start resisting it.

"Normally, we'd take you to the beginner's area for this aspect of your training. But as punishment, you would have to overcome this." Abubakr scoffed while folding his hands.

Kris forced out more energy from himself. He staggered till he got to his feet, grinning. He looked forward and saw Abubakr casually walking towards him. He noticed that Abubakr was barely using source energy. Just light blue linings (Like a cloak) on his body.

"How...?" Kris asked forcefully.

"This is the fundamental difference between how you use source energy and how every other person here uses it." Abubakr retorted as he took a seat in front of Kris. The pressure building up forced Kris to crouch to a horse stance. Sweat began dripping from his forehead.

"Listen Kris. I will not repeat myself. From what I am about to tell you, you must figure out how to utilize your energy better." Abubakr smiled as he looked at Kris struggling.

"Alright..." Kris grinned.

"Source energy. You already know where it came from, how humans came in contact with it, and its various classes. Now it's time to know about its manipulation. Source energy exists in two forms. The pure form which exists naturally in the universe and the converted form which is being released from the cores in various colours. The rings around the core in demons pull in the source energy and process it within before releasing it. In humans, it's slightly different. The rings absorb source energy from the surrounding almost three times slower than that of the demons. Luckily, it compensates a bit by also absorbing our internal energy and adding it to the absorbed source energy to form our converted energy. So, in general, we are at a disadvantage when it comes to source utilization. Therefore, we figured out a way around it." Abubakr smirked as he saw Kris fall to his knees, looking like he was about to pass out.

"The way you utilize source energy is the way the demons use it. You just burst it out indiscriminately and let it flow till it takes proper form, the armor. We, on the other hand spiral the energy so fast around our body it seems still. The effect is having a denser amount of energy around us without necessarily pulling so much from our core. We can then manipulate this energy at will. It's not particularly easy to do but you must learn to do it without really thinking about it. It's a very efficient method, one which can easily cover the gap in strength and even surpass them. They have power, we have control."

As soon as Abubakr was done, Kris roared and started violently spinning the energy around him. The pressure had become overwhelming, and he was at the last of his strength.

"It's too rough. You are trying to release a large amount of energy and spin it at the same time. You are just putting more stress on your body." Abubakr reckoned.

Kris stopped the spinning and forced out more energy to resist the pressure. 

"You are just doing the same thing as..."

"SHUT UP!" Kris yelled out. He closed his eyes and tried to think through all he had heard Abubakr say to him. One sentence kept resonating in his mind. "The effect is having a denser amount of energy around us without necessarily pulling so much from our core." It clicked. Kris pulled in the large amount of energy he had released and while pulling it, the crushing feeling got heavier but he was forcefully enduring it. When almost all had been pulled in, he began quickly spiraling the remainder. A red cloak began forming around parts of his body and the crushing effect began to reduce. He added more energy and spiralled it, till his entire body was covered by a rough cloak. The crushing feeling was greatly reduced, and he felt some relief. Abubakr flicked his fingers and stopped the pressure of the room. The cloak on Kris dissipated. He fell to the ground breathing heavily, sweating, his body ached but he was smiling.

 Abubakr walked up to him and said "Hmph, you've done well. Most newbies can't keep calm under pressure."

Kris lifted a thumb and closed his eyes.

"Alright then, after a five-minute rest, you will continue. You aren't leaving here until your cloak is smooth and you feel nothing from the pressure... It's going to be a long week."

"Wait what!"

"Oh yes. We would also be carrying out some basic exercises and engaging in sparring sessions. I look forward to it." 

"Fuck shit!!!!" Kris yelled out.

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Three days had passed in the training room. Kris's energy cloak had gotten smooth and refined. Once it was activated, his pupils glowed a darker shade of red than his body. His physique had also developed. It was getting more defined, like that of a calisthenics athlete since his basic exercises were more endurance and power centric. Right now, he was about to complete his tenth set of 10,000 push-up reps. 

"9998,9999,10000...." Kris grunted and got to his feet.

"Alright then, it's been three days and you've gotten down the idea of enhancing your body with converted energy. We are behind schedule, but we will manage." Abubakr noted. He put off the pressure and walked to a wall in the room. He placed his hand on the wall and a fridge came out. He took two energy drinks and tossed one at Kris. Kris caught it with his right hand and gulped it in one go. 

"I have a question..." Kris uttered. Abubakr turned to look at him.

"Who is stronger, you at your prime or Captain Oumar."

Abubakr sighed. "It depends on what you define 'stronger' as. Regardless, Oumar and I have sparred seven times out of which, I have only won two. Although one was due to him only wanting to test out a new skill and the other, he forgot about our sparring session and went to stuff himself full of roasted lamb." Abubakr rolled his eyes with a deep sense of irritation. 

"Why do you ask?" He questioned.

"I thought probably with our training, I could figure out how lower source classes can defeat higher source classes. But everything so far shows that once full control of source energy is achieved, the class you happen to be in will be difference. But then there are people like Captain Oumar. How is he so strong?" Kris retorted while folding his hands.

"I think the word will be that he is more adept with his powers than most people are. Another person like that is Ming Su. Despite being a yellow source, she is the current top of the class. Maybe you can learn a thing or two if you asked them."

Abubakr retorted as he sat on the ground and started meditating.

Kris flashed his mind back to the fight between Oumar and the orc.

"Was it really more of adept...?" he wondered. 

"From what I could see, he did overpower it despite it being a blue source," James muttered.

Kris freaked a bit and covered both his eyes. Abubakr looked at him.

"Is something wrong?" 

"No nothing at all..." Kris began some stretches. 

"Ooo...kay..." Abubakr closed his eyes and continued meditating.    

"Relax, I can speak directly to your mind." James reassured.

"Since when?"

"Since this morning."

"How?"

"The more adept you get with our source energy, the more we are able to sync. The fact that we can speak telepathically means we are at least 25% sync."

"Wait does that mean you won't need to take over my body?"

"To speak to you, no but to stay involved in a fight... definitely."

"I see... wait... have you fought Captain Oumar before?"

"The fact that you keep calling him Captain Oumar rather than just Oumar is surprising." James teased.

"What? I got a lot of respect for him," Kris scoffed.

"Wow. You have respect for someone... I never thought such would ever happen" James laughed.

"Just answer my question..." Kris rolled his eyes. 

"Like I said before, I have once and I won. Although it was tough. He doesn't easily go down and his techniques are very annoying to deal with."

"He even gave you, a red source, a difficult time?"

"In my defence, I couldn't use more than half my power unless my core would become unstable."

"Alright enough rest!" Abubakr interjected. He stood to his feet and walked towards Kris.

"We are moving to the next segment of your training. As you know, you are a very late entry cadet, and you need to do a crash course on everything basic. The energy drinks you've been taking contain some healing capsules made from source energy. They augment your body and remove all forms of strain and fatigue. Convenient right?"

"Oh wow, and here I thought it was all me," Kris sighed.

"Anyway..." Abubakr gathered energy on his hand, lifted it a few centimetres above before shaping it into a sphere. Kris's attention was caught. 

"Weaponizing source energy comes from control with a dash of imagination." Abubakr asserted.

"Meaning no matter how crazy your imagination is, you can't manifest it without adequate control," Kris noted.

"You are catching on quite quickly. This right here is harmless." Abubakr noted as he shot the sphere at Kris. It hit his chest and dissipated. 

"As you know, releasing source energy out of your body without adequate control greatly reduces its power. Especially for us humans. Demons on the other hand just pump out more power and shit gets done. Although even demons use some level of control as they pump out much power and still retain the shape and size of some devastating blasts. The point is you need control. Now, as you try to control your attacks, it indirectly affects the control of the energy around your body. That is until you max out your body control and achieve your armor. So, for now you must retain the mindset that once you are attacking with energy blasts and so on, your defence is weakened. It is said that the stronger the attacking potency the more vulnerable you get. So now the question is... What do you do about it?" he asked.

"Hmmm... increase the overall power you need to control?"

"Let's test that hypothesis."

Abubakr stretched his hand forward and formed an energy sphere. The energy became denser, and his body glowed slightly. Kris did the same. Immediately, he noticed the cloak around him thinning. As he pumped out more energy, the cloak became rough. As he tried to smoothen it out...

"Fire!" Abubakr ordered. They shot at each other but Abubakr's attack tore through Kris's sphere, hit him on his chest, and sent him flying to the edge of the wall. He smashed into the wall before falling to the ground. As he stood up, Abubakr shot another. It hit him on the same spot, but this time dissipated on impact.

"What did you notice?" Abubakr asked as Kris sat back down.

"The second blast had lesser power than the..." Kris stopped in his tracks. 

"You have realized it right?"

"Yeah... both had the same power output, but because my defence was weaker the first time, it had more impact."

"So also, your attack got sloppy because you were trying to smoothen the rough cloak you had. I will give you from now till morning to think deeply and practice this. let's see if you come up with the right answer." Abubakr replied as he walked to a wall and placed his hand on it. A long compartment opened below, and a floor mattress came out. It had earplugs on it. He put on the plugs, layed the mattress and drifted off to sleep.

Kris stood to his feet again. He burst out his energy and formed the cloak. He Stretched his right hand and created a sphere. He tried to increase the overall power, but as he did this his cloak became rough. He tried to smoothen the cloak, but he could feel the drop in power of the sphere and even see it losing shape. He stayed struggling with it for about ten minutes before falling to his knees.

"It's not working." he puffed.

"Hey, James! can't you give me a hint or two?" He asked out loud.

"I could, but of course, I won't."

"What!"

"I see it as giving a spoiler. You prevent the person from gaining the thrill of the experience."

"Bruh... fuck all that! I am trying my best! I don't know how this works. All this source energy, energy manipulation, control, demons, blasts, are all new! This was never my world! This was never what I thought I'd be doing! It's all too much! It's overwhelming!" Kris bangs his fists on the ground and source energy burst out around him.

"So... are you going to give up?"

"That's not what I'm saying." Kris turned and lay on his back. 

"Whether I like it or not I need to fill in some big shoes which you left. I try my best not to look and I know that they are trying their best to hide it. But it's obvious that everyone looks at me as a failure of a red source."

"I don't think so. It's more of inexperienced. They just think that it ought to be easier since you are a red source."

"Isn't it?"

"No. Not in the least. You are granted so much power and with it comes so much expectations. The longer you delay in mastering your abilities, the more lives are in potential danger. As humans, with the limited cores available, we are greatly understaffed. It gets worse the more potential you show either by your adaptability or your genius. The weight of millions of lives begin to rest on your shoulder as the powerhouse. Failure becomes unacceptable. Everyone keeps expecting more, people keep riding hopes on you with statements like 'We have a red source, we have nothing to fear' 'It's the genius rookie, we can leave everything to him' blah, blah, blah until you truly become alone and have no choice but to carry all the burden on yourself. It's a lonely circle. A total mess."

"Uhhh... you talking about you now aren't you"

"Yes, you asshole. What I'm trying to tell you, is that it gets worse. Be it loudly or silently. But you can't relent. You don't have the luxury to lay down on the floor and keep complaining. Life is always going to move forward, and events are always going to keep moving forward. You also have to move forward and along the way, you will find people ready to support you and pull you out of that lonely circle. Friends you can truly trust. Friends that will always have your back."

Kris looked at Abubakr. "Awww. He was like that for you." 

"Uuugggh...You fool..." James groaned and Kris giggled. 

"If anything, he is trying to bring out the best in you. I mean, why does he want you to figure things out when he could just show you and let you be with a stoic mindset. He even went as far as to give you hints."

"Huh? he did?"

"Think through all he has shown you. Think through what you have experienced. The answer is usually the simplest one." James laughed.

Kris sighed and closed his eyes. He visualized every experience with source energy. Every encounter. Elizabeth and her guards, Abubakr, Francis, The orc, Oumar, Asim, even himself... Their utilization, the outbursts, what was similar. What made them different from him. Everything he tried to replicate, from walking on the walls of Jabbal Mousa to creating the cloak. Why he did such and how he did such... All these thoughts and experiences flowed through his mind alongside James' words… and then his eyes opened wide. 

"So that must be it. hehehee. These damned bastards." Kris laughed. He practiced what he had figured out all night.

The morning of the fourth day arrived. Abubakr woke up with a yawn. Dirt particles touched his hair. He looked up and saw a large hole in the wall above him. He was shocked. He looked around the room and saw dents all over every wall.

"Sorry about that. I got a little enthusiastic." Kris said while taking an energy drink.

"Hoo... I can see the results of your newfound answer. But is it the right one? Attack-wise maybe, what about defense-wise..."

"Well let's test it out," Kris smirked.

"Overconfident are we..." Abubakr stood up and walked a bit while doing some rhomboid squeezes.

"Alright then... Let's go" He added.

They both stretched their hands out and covered themselves with the cloaks. Kris's cloak became rough as he was concentrating on the sphere.

"Did he decide to just focus on attack and later find a way to maneuver to compensate as defence...? Tchh... It's an answer, but one that will get you killed easily." Abubakr thought, slightly irritated. He increased the power of his sphere, his body glowed, and he yelled "Fire!" before shooting at Kris.

Kris didn't shoot his. He smiled as the sphere got closer to him. His cloak thinned smoothly and became linings on his body and from it, an aura burst out engulfing him. The sphere hit his chest and tried to push him for five seconds before dissipating. Abubakr's eyes widened in surprise. Kris smirked and shot his at Abubakr. Abubakr rose his Aura with a smile as the sphere hit him on the chest. it dragged him back a bit before dissipating. 

"Hoo... impressive." 

"You really do give misleading words. Rather than treat it as two things that need concentration. It's just a single process. The sphere is an extension of your cloak. You are just manipulating it to create something else. Meaning your attack is always going to be as strong as your defence fundamentally. Source energy is both an offensive and defensive mechanism."

"If that is the case, does that mean if my attack can cut through yours, then I would easily be able to break your defence?"

"Not exactly. I didn't notice it the first time, but your aura slightly rose from the cloak linings when you switched from an ordinary sphere to the energy blast. The rise however little was represented by the glow of your energy. Meaning at any time, you can always reinforce your defence and attack. That's why it's usually a small amount of energy spiralled to form cloaks; so that it can be augmented easily later. You can almost accurately determine the opponent's attack force based on how much yours can resist their attack or how much damage yours does against their defence, assuming they don't reinforce it later."

"You figured this all night despite how much difficulty you were having? I am impressed."

"I try my best." Kris folded his hands and smiled.

"The ability to adapt quickly, the perseverance, the slight cheekiness... if we remove the unnecessary arrogance, you would be exactly like a friend of mine." Abubakr praised as a wide smile covered his face. Kris didn't utter a word. He just took a deep breath and looked upwards.

"This isn't the time to doze off. From now on we are going to polish all your skills till the week's done."

Abubakr smirked as he walked closer towards Kris.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Kris cracked his knuckles as he walked closer to Abubakr with a smile. As they both got closer to each other, they released their energies. The energies formed thin cloaks on their bodies and the Aura burst out engulfing them.

"Oh yes... The sparring sessions begin now!"