Chapter 12

Kris walked furiously as he headed for Elizabeth's office. He was displeased with the decision to rope him into the graduation ceremony. As he kept walking down the hallway to her office, he kept getting pissed at how far the length of the hallway stretched.

"Dude, calm the fuck down. Reconsider! This is suicide!" James warned.

"I am calm! I am just going to have a little word with her. How dare she rope me into graduating just after my crash course! That's B.S" Kris ranted.

"Where is this coming from? You get to test your abilities as soon as possible. For someone that loves fighting this should be a cloud 9 opportunity for you."

"Who said I love fighting?"

"What? What do you mean by that? Every single thing down to your very aura suggests that you love fighting. The fact that you are going to her office in this mood suggests you want a fight."

"Whatever man. I am still doing it."

"Ughhhh. You know what, go ahead! Do what you want. It can't be me arguing with you."

"Tchh..."

In the office, Elizabeth was addressing the guards. Her eyes were focused on a file while she spoke to them. Kris burst open the doors. While still looking at her file, she flicked her finger sending a tiny white sphere at Kris. It hit his chest and blasted him back across the lengthy hallway and into a wall. The force pulled her doors close. Kris couldn't fully comprehend what had happened but he was fully reminded of the terror of Elizabeth.

"I can think of a thousand other ways that could have gone..." James mocked.

"I don't want to hear it... shit, I really don't have much of a choice now, Ouch..." Kris cuts him as he stood slowly. He walked out of the facility and saw a place to sit.

"Now... what to do?" He thought to himself.

"You are worried?"

"No shit, the others have had ample time to refine their abilities. I may have the advantage due to my source type but after my battle with Abubakr, I realized that at my level, I might not be able to fully capitalize on that advantage. Experience and control is a big key."

"You can't judge based on one battle, especially one with a seasoned warrior. You will be fighting noobs so of course there is that lack of experience in their path as well."

"Well that's true..." As Kris responded, his eyes caught a glimpse of Asim walking out of the facility. He gathered a little energy at his fingertips but suddenly noticed that Asim wasn't in his field of view. A hand came from behind aiming for the base of his neck  but he lifted his left hand quickly to stop it.

"Fine reaction" Asim muttered.

"How did you..."

"The moment I sensed an elevated energy, I concealed mine and step-dashed to the source of the energy. It's a little trick that gives a vanishing effect to the mind the moment you blink." Asim explained as he folded his hands.

"Were you trying to test me?" He followed up.

"Kind of. All source soldiers I have met are something else. Similar in prowess yet unique in their own way. All based on how they use source energy. I wanted to see what more I could learn about the utilization of this power."

"Interesting. You are that kid right? The trainee at Dahab?"

"Kris is the name."

"I'm Asim."

There was a brief awkward silence as they both stared at each other and looked around.

"You seem rather off, not as spunky as you were on our way to the Commander's office." Asim finally voiced out to break the silence. He felt uncomfortable as he wasn't sure what to do next.

"Tch... That woman roped me into the graduation ceremony after my crash course." Kris hissed

"Oh wow, it's that time already?"

"Yeah... I am stuck between being excited for it and being worried about how green I am."

"You are a red source. The only one in this set of trainees right? You need not worry much since you have the obvious advantage."

"Not after seeing someone like Captain Oumar." Kris sighed. Then it clicked to him. Asim was with Oumar on that day at Dahab. He stood up with excitement.

"You work with Captain Oumar right?"

"Just call him Oumar. He isn't big on formalities." Asim chuckled.

"Yeah, Oumar, How is he so strong despite being a yellow source?"

"Hmmnn..." Asim rubbed his chin.

"Anything you know would be helpful. If I can figure out the tricks he uses and add it to my source advantage. I'll definitely be unstoppable." Kris smirked as he clenched his fist.

"Why don't you ask him directly?"

"Huh?"

"Yup. We always rendezvous at Naama bay in the evenings. It's his favorite place."

"Perfect!" Kris struck his fist into his palm.

"Shall we."

AT NAAMA BAY, They met up with the other members of the Legion squad. Oumar was stuffing his face in roasted lamb.

"Oh God! This is bae. This is so bae!" Oumar praised as he let out a sigh of satisfaction. He began drinking a bottle of water before Asim walked up behind and whacked his head making him pour out the water from his mouth.

"Ahhhhh!" He wailed

"You are a captain for God sake! Learn to eat with decorum in public!" Asim raged. Oumar wiped his cheeks.

"Who has time to care about public perception? Life's short. One should live to the very best of their abilities and enjoy the little things as much as possible. Maybe you care a little too much and that's why you are single."

"What did you say?!"

"Even though you are a nice guy, you are too stoic! Too uncompromising. Too unrelaxed not to mention prone to violence. You'd make a woman feel more in danger beside you than with a demon." Oumar teased and everyone began laughing except Asim who felt like an arrow went through his heart. He took a seat and began sulking. Oumar saw Kris who was standing and feeling awkward.

"Oh! It's you! Kid from Dahab!" He called out

"Yeah..." Kris responded as Oumar stretched his hand out for a handshake. Kris felt more awkward as he took Oumar's hand.

"You've got a different air around you! How has your training been?"

"Good I guess..."

"Nice! take a seat." Oumar tittered. As Kris sat down, Oumar gave Kris a piece of meat.

"Try it! It's one of my favorite dishes." He told Kris. Kris felt so weird. He wasn't sure how to react. He looked around at everyone and they nodded with smiles. He took a bite of the roasted lamb meat and his eyes lit up!

"This is so good! How have I never tasted roasted meat this good!" His eyes sparkled.

"Mr. Kahn never disappoints!"

"Hey Mr. Kahn. bring more roasted lamb here!" Oumar called out to the cook.

"I am Oumar by the way and these are the members of our little squad. Asim, Robert and Kamil."

"Sup! I am Kris." Kris responded now relaxed.

"Nice to meet you Kris" They replied.

"Remember why you are here" James whispered to Kris who was already taken away by the comfortable environment.

"Oh right... Oumar."

"Yeah?"

"How do you beat demons and even soldiers with source energies greater than yours? In fact, How is a yellow source the Captain of a squad."

"You don't mince your words at all, I like that! But before I answer you, I'd like to know why exactly you wish to know? You basically have a source advantage against everyone in your set. Honing your skills would be sufficient to make you an ace against demons."

"Everyone's all about the source advantage. You all make it sound easy to novices when you know that it's less of power and more of control. Humans fight constantly at a disadvantage against demons yet mostly come out on top. It means power and source type means no shit unless you know how to use it. The fact that you can take down even blue sources amongst humans and demons means your control is on a very high level. If I figure out your trick, I will get stronger."

"Why though? Why get stronger?" Oumar asked as he placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on the back of his hand.

"I don't really know. It feels like the right thing to do now. No one knows when they would be in a helpless situation. Isn't every single thing we do now to make that situation more bearable worth the effort?"

Everyone's eyes widened. Oumar smiled and raised his fist at Kris.

"What? Why are you all smiling?"

"Long ago, I said the same words to the former captain of the Legion squad. Having them thrown back at me... it's so nostalgic!" Oumar voiced out. Kris smiled as he made a fist bump with Oumar.

"Come with me, I'd like to show you something." He added.

Kris and Oumar walked to the far end of the beach. Oumar created two spheres in his palms and let them float in the air by themselves.

"One thing you have right is the fact that I use an unconventional method of source control to fight. Kind of a high risk high reward type thing. But it's a method I can't particularly explain to you. You'd have to figure it out from a simple statement." Oumar noted.

"Alright... what is it."

"Excited are we? Well then... Everything strong about us comes from within." Oumar stated

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean? There are literally a lot of things that could come to mind with that vague statement!"

"Exactly! It was so vexing when I figured it out. But that's by the way. Of course you wouldn't be the first person to ask me this, not even from your set and as you've figured there are many possible translations to this. But only if you figure out the right one, the one which this statement is actually attached to, would I help you further your practice with it."

"The fuck? That doesn't tell me anything or give me any clue on how to tackle this." Kris face-palmed.

"I feel ya bruh. Then again, it is a high risk high return method. Of course it won't be that easy. Plus there is a purpose to finding out on your own." Oumar stretched his hands into the air.

"How many people can use this technique?"

"Well, Colonel Louis, myself and the man who formulated the style if you count him as alive, Captain Edward."

"The former captain of your squad? What happened to..." Kris felt a slight surge in his head. He fell to his knees as images flashed through his mind. They were flashes of the fight between James and Edward from James POV. Kris began to sweat.

"Are you alright?" Oumar asked as he placed his hand on Kris' head and poured a little energy into him. Kris calmed down after.

"Your energy surged out of control, what happened?" Oumar questioned.

"I don't know. But I guess I am okay now... What did you do?"

"I relaxed the energy flow in your head with my energy. It's how we prevent mind manipulation in battle."

"Wow..." Kris got to his feet and noticed the two spheres were still in the air.

"What did you plan on doing with those?" Kris probed.

"Oh yeah..." Oumar chuckled.

"I wanted to show you how much of a high return this method brings. Although if you are not feeling good, we could do this some other time.

"No. I am fine, just a minor headache..."

"Sure..."

"I am good okay, You don't have to worry so much"

"Alright, alright then." Oumar laughed as he rubbed Kris' head. Kris was confused at this gesture but before he could react.

"Pick a sphere and punch it as hard as you can." Oumar said as he flicked his thumb towards the spheres.

"Okay..." Kris walked up to one of the spheres. His right hand glowed and source energy leaked out of the glow. He punched the sphere and his fist pushed in against it a bit before it shot across the bay and through the red sea( moving and causing the water to rise after it) for a while before dissipating.

"Ouuu Nice. You almost got to the halfway point. That's some power. But..." Oumar spoke as he got close to the second sphere. His left eye glowed as he squeezed his fist. He punched the sphere and his fist dug deep into it seemingly folding the sphere into a crescent before it shot from his hand. It lifted large waves that circled round it as it tore through the full length of the red sea before dissipating. Oumar dug his fingers into the ground and spread his yellow energy across the beach. He lifted a wall of energy and waited. A wide tsunami flowed back and crashed against the wall for a while before it relaxed.

Kris was speechless. The fact that Oumar could produce even more strength if he had his armor on further deepened the importance of figuring out what this unconventional method entails. Oumar placed his hand on Kris shoulder and said,

"Do you still have complaints about the method?"

"Hell no. I am going to figure it out, just you wait."

"That's the spirit! Now let's go back to eat, your roasted lamb might soon get cold"

AFTER THE MEETING with Oumar and the legion squad, Kris walked back towards the dorm in deep thought. He was already trying to figure out the meaning of the statement as the display of Oumar strength flashed through his mind. He stopped suddenly and yelled as he scratched his head!

"There are too many answers! How would I figure out just the right one!" He wailed.

"Calm down! You are not going to just get it immediately." James mentioned.

"What do you think about it?"

"Well... from the context, I assume that any answer you are looking for will come from yourself?"

"Meaning what exactly?"

"A compromise you know... between ermm..."

"Maybe I'll ask someone else.

"Yeah you should."

"But who?"

"You could ask Su... She is similar to Oumar in the sense that despite being a yellow source she's the top of the set."

"She is a yellow source?"

"Yeah... Abubakr mentioned so."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Well excuse me..."

Kris dashed for the dorms. He looked through all the names of the doors in the dorm till he found hers. He knocked on it but there was no response. He knocked a second time and still no response.

"Could she be a deep sleeper?"

"Stop knocking so loudly! You'd wake everyone up you douche!" Francis called out as he opened the door to his room. Kris ignored him and knocked again.

"Why you... How dare you ignore me!"

"Hoo...  Hello there, I'm sorry... It's hard to pay attention to things that are insignificant." Kris retorted with a smirk. Francis grinned his teeth as his energy rose. Tension rose in the hallway as Kris' energy rose in response.

"Quit it the two of you. Su is in the C1 training block with Fred. I saw them on my way back" A person mentioned as he came from behind Kris. Kris' eyes opened wide as he didn't sense the person coming. His aura was threatening and Kris muttered to himself, "This guy is strong!"The person walked and entered his room.

The slight tension diffused. Francis hissed and returned to his room. Kris left soon after and headed for the training block. As he opened the door, he saw a person landing and dragging against the floor till he reached his feet. A dust screen covered their field of view. Su dashed out of the dust screen with her eyes glowing yellow and her body covered in a golden-rod energy as she came straight for the two of them.

"Woah!" Kris stepped in front of the guy to try and stop her but she stopped just before she could hit him.

"Kris?" She asked as she suppressed the energy and calmed down. She was sweaty and breathing heavily as she fell to her bum.

Kris turned to look at the person on the floor. All bruised up and exhausted.

"You guys are training... right?" He questioned.

"Yeah... We were going all out" Su replied.

"More like a one-sided beat down." Fred retorted as he rolled to his right side coughing.

"Okay... Anyway, I have come to ask you something." Kris mentioned.

"Oh good... she also had something she'd like to ask you." Su responded.

"Oh really? What?"

"Would you like to team up for the graduation ceremony?"

"Team up?"

"Yeah... You weren't there for the details of the ceremony, so she'll give you a summary. There are three stages to the ceremony. The details of the next stage would be given to those who succeed in the previous one. We are to work in groups of three's although we are judged individually. So if someone from your group drops out, it doesn't affect the other participants except strategically, since you do lose comrades in battles and that shouldn't hinder your success. Although the entire group is dropped if we sacrifice a member of the  group to push forward. On the D-day, we are going to be told what the first stage would be so train hard and look forward to it."

"Well that's messed up." Kris hissed.

"She's currently in a group with this guy and we need one more member to complete our group. Would you join us?" Su asked.

"Why me? I'm a complete novice and you've never seen my abilities. It would be hard to make plans with me. Plus I prefer to work alone. So if I am in a group, I'd definitely do my own thing."

"Well... It's precisely because of that she chose you. You are a wild card. Initially you were seen to be a novice who was tossed around by Francis but in no way did we see you as weak, If you have trained and gotten adept... You could potentially be the difference to ensure we all reach the final stage."

"Or...You could be the reason why we fail miserably but Su is being optimistic." Fred said as he sat up coughing.

"If anything, I should be worried if you will drag me down. Look at you, beaten up and all." Kris scoffed.

"Come on man. It's Su I was fighting."

"Right... about my question. How are you so damn strong despite being a yellow source." Kris pointed at Su who let loose her hair and waved it around as she got up. Fred, who was looking at her, began blushing until he turned away.

"She'd answer your question... But she'd have to be sure that you won't be an enemy first. So join our team first and she'll tell you" She said with a cute smile.

"Sure, I'll join. So what's it?"

"Really? Just like that? That fast?"

"Yeah. It's not like anyone else has asked me."

"Ah..ha..."

"For someone usually optimistic, you do have trust issues."

"It's not trust issues... It's just sudden."

"Would you prefer I delay and probably get asked by another group?"

"Someone thinks he is a hot shot." Fred muttered before getting kicked in the head by Kris who was expressionless.

"Oh no no. That's great! Welcome to the team Kris!"

"Hurray... So about my question."

"Oh yeah, well.. she met someone for advice on how to get stronger. He is someone who she admires a lot. They call him the strongest of the weak."

"Oh Oumar?! You got the right answer to Oumar's statement!" Kris grabbed onto her shoulder with so much excitement. It was so sudden that she didn't know how to react. Her face blushed as she began stammering her words. Fred stood to his feet as he saw what was happening.

"Wow! So you can get this flustered?" He spoke out. Su got out of Kris' hold and punched Fred away while saying, "It's not how it looks!"

"What did I say now!" Fred yelled out as he rolled on the ground.

Kris was left dumbfounded at what was going on. Su looked at him then turned away. She cleared her throat and continued what she was saying.

"She did meet him and he did give her the statement. But when she found her answer, it wasn't the same as what he had in mind. So he gave advice on how to go about her answer. It still made her very strong."

"Ah shit..."

"Sorry, If she had figured out his real answer, she'd probably be the strongest in the set."

"You are not the strongest?"

"Yeah, she's the top of the set because she is an all rounder. The strongest in the set is a guy named Salim. Blue source, has a very intimidating Aura." Fred replied this time keeping his distance from both of them.

"It's probably that guy..." Kris thought to himself.

"We've fought five times, she's lost four and drawn once. She only drew because she managed to hold out till time was exhausted. But this time she will win! she has a hidden card for him." Su stated as she clenched her fists.

"Another powerhouse. This graduation ceremony is getting me even more excited. I guess... this will be fun."

"Right!" Su cheered as she lifted her hands into the air.

"You still haven't told me your answer to the statement." Kris reminded her.

"Oh yeah... that everything strong about us comes from within. In essence, the strength you have already resides within you. You just have to find it."

"Go on..."

"To find it, you have to believe in it. Since he was living proof that it's possible, she had that part of belief down. So she meditated a lot to strengthen herself mentally and slowly her source energy began to change from just a light yellow color to a golden-rod color and now recently..." She explained  as she closed her eyes. Once she opened them, a very dark yellow energy burst out of her body. The energy was intense and intimidating. Even James(from within Kris) could feel a slight chill from the energy.

"I can always switch from one shade to another to conserve my stamina." She took a deep breath and dispersed the energy flowing out of her.

"Wow."

"Thank you"

"Not just about the energy, the fact that it also changes your third person speech pattern to first person. I guess I can actually tell when you get serious." Kris teased as he and Fred began laughing.

"Stop that! She doesn't speak like that intentionally!" she protested while covering her face in shyness. Kris and Fred kept laughing.   

"Kris you idiot!" She yelled out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the demon's world. Edward is seen meditating at the center of a field. He was shirtless, his fists together as he maintained a spinning yet calming emerald energy around his body. A light breeze lifted wilted leaves around. Everything went still for a short while and a blade imbued with blue source energy came closer to his neck. It shattered on impact. Two spears, one of yellow and another of green came at him from his sides but shattered on impact. He opened his eyes and moved closer to the yellow source orc slamming his fist into its guts. It coughed out blood and fell to its knees. The others cowered as he stared at them. The green source whistled and twenty orcs rushed at him, bursting through the ground moving with one another in formation as they attacked him.

ANDRAGO was heading to the field when he saw an orc fall from the sky at him. He caught the orc and saw it was knocked out with blood dripping from its head. He sighed as he hastened his steps to the field. All orcs were defeated and wounded badly and he saw Edward holding up a green source orc choking the life out of it.

"That's enough Azaskiel!" Andrago called out. Edward threw the orc aside.

"They are improving. I am a bit impressed." Edward responded.

"That's not what it looks like though." Andrago sighed.

"Trust me, they were by far more pathetic than they seem now. It's no wonder their lives have been thrown away on multiple occasions."

"You know you could really share your teachings with other tribes and strengthen the Heilimaw forces..."

"I only care for my own."

"What about those of relation to the human. Don't you also feel a strong enough connection to call them your own also?"

"You don't trust your best friend Andrago?"

"Trust is for the weak. I value results and as such I remain skeptical till it's shown."

"Same old, same old. I admit I have those that I can't help but feel attached to amongst the humans. But don't underestimate my resolve. If they hinder me..." Edward brought out his blade from his wrist.

"I won't hesitate. The least I could do is make it painless." He added.

"That burning desire. What exactly drives you."

"They took Sirena, my wife, from me. This body took her from me alongside a human named James. I will not rest till I kill him. She had dreams of our world prospering and was the type to act on it. I will carry on her will. It's that simple."

Edward retracted his blade and took a deep breath.

"Now that's the Azaskiel I know... But to think that the humans could always predict when we were going to strike. They even gave it a fancy name like Blood Moon. How far exactly have they gone with source energy."

"It matters not. We strike them hard this coming Blood Moon. I know the locations of all the devices used to predict our arrival. It will be relayed before we attack. We are going to destroy them all and cut off their ability to sense us coming. That would be enough for now."

"Finally we would get a step closer to victory."

"Yeah..." Edward muttered. Andrago turned around and began to take his leave.

"How about that other Plan?" Edward questioned.

"The LADY is overseeing it. It's still in its development stage."

"Good... Once that's done, it truly will be over. For Humans that is..."