Mercenaries

At the other side Yamato was busy following Tila with no idea that his footpath was guiding two dangerous people to his Master's house.

In front of him Tila went deeper into the forest her pigtails swaying left and right as she walked. When she finally reached her destination Yamato was surprised, because it was the clearing his Master trains him in.

The wide clearing was filled with cut down tree stumps. During footwork training Yamato is expected to balance atop the tree stumps and not touch ground. Then Katrina will send all kinds of trouble his way to keep him moving on his feet. The faster he dodged her attacks the more keeping his balance becomes harder.

At one side of the clearing was a giant tree with long vines drooping down it's thick branches like an old man's beard. The vines are tied to weights which comprised of old furniture and thick wood. Katrina would usually swing the weights in a particular pattern and Yamato would be expected to weave through them while dodging the weights swinging at him from all direction. This training didn't only test his footwork and balance but also his reflexes.

In the center of the clearing was a round space with no tree stumps or obstacles which Yamato uses to shadow box or spar with his Master.

Tila walked to the center of that clearing. Wearing just yoga pants and a blouse, she was dressed ready for a workout. She picked up the pole on a tree stump at the side then looked into the forest.

"Come out, I know you are here idiot!" She said.

Yamato was surprised. Forget that this girl is rather vocal all of a sudden, what surprised him was that she could also tell that he followed her. But then he noticed that she wasn't looking directly at his hiding place but far to the right, so she wasn't actually sure where he's and was just guessing.

"You were staring at the wrong direction," Yamato scoffed and stepped out from behind a tree.

"Hmph It doesn't matter, I knew you'll come," Tila said smugly.

Yamato shrugged. "Tila is very wise,"

"Don't patronizing me, I'm not a small kid," The girl glared at him.

"Sure," They stared silently at each other for a moment before Yamato spoke again. "So you came to practice?"

"You think I'll sit idle like you?" Tila scoffed then placed her hands on her waist and sneered. "I don't know why mother will instead waste time on a loser like you than to teach me,"

Yamato lifted an eyebrow. "Is that why you hate me?"

Tila just scoffed and said nothing. She righted the pole in her hand and started practicing. Her pole art was extremely beautiful like she was performing a ballet dance as she waved it around in the air. Her footwork was also on point. To Yamato she appeared like she was a different person altogether both from her behavior and her martial skills. Thinking that he's supposed to look after such a two faced troublesome brat he couldn't help but sigh.

Yamato let her do her thing and walked to a giant tree by the edge of the clearing that he decided to use as a punching bag. Since he's already here, he decided to practice too.

First Yamato summoned his Astral gauntlet. The red metal covered his hands instantly, they were both snug and warm as they wrapped his hands comfortably.

Yamato took his stance then started his breathing technique. After he constructed the undying flame in his mind he threw the air resistance that slows his body, and the gravity that holds him to the ground into the flame. He immediately felt lighter.

Well, Katrina told him that in the future once he masters this breathing technique he could use it to momentarily float in the air. That way he could descend unharmed from high places. But his master said he's a long way from that, but he's improving daily so he'll get there one day.

His preparation done, Yamato lifted his hand and punched at the tree. A loud boom came followed by a sharp sound. The surface of the tree showed some cracks. The next moment the giant tree leaned to one side, on the verge of breaking, but it didn't actually fall.

'Failure...' Yamato took a deep breath.

This is a method Katrina gave him to test his explosive power. If he had succeeded on snapping the tree in two then Yamato could advance to an higher rank of training. His Master told him real experts can turn a tree into dust with a single blow.

She herself couldn't do it, after all she wasn't a body cultivator. That's also something she taught him. Apparently unlike humans that only strengthen their body to fight physically, Alrers and many other races in the Cosmos has more options because of the abundance of Chi in their Realms and also unique body constitution.

Other methods of cultivation beside body cultivation includes Energy cultivation, Spiritual cultivation, Reverse cultivation, Dharma cultivation and more. Katrina herself is an Energy cultivator, the most common kind of cultivator in the Cosmos.

Seeing his failure Yamato withdrew his hand and sighed. It seems I have to train more! At the side Tila scoffed as she looked at him then continued her practice.

Meanwhile at the other side, while Yamato and Tila were practicing, Luka and Saldo already followed Yamato's footpath to the wooden house.

The two mercenaries stood in the woods outside the courtyard and observed the house. "Strange, really strange," Luka said. "There's no one at home but this place looks well lived. Moreover, there are traps scattered all around the place,"

Saldo nodded. "This person seems to be an expert in traps. But to experts like us it's nothing,"

"Hehe hehe, we are the Silver Eyes group after all, this is nothing in our eyes. How many forbidden zones have we gone and returned?" Luka said proudly then continued. "However this is really suspicious, it seems we might have found the hiding place of the target. After all who will hide like this if not a fugitive?"

"Don't jump to conclusions quickly," Saldo shook his head and said. But he also feels the same way, however he is too professional to start celebrating early. After all in Kreal city there's a lot of fugitives, even if a fugitive lives here there's a big chance that it is not the one they are looking for.

Luka snorted in contempt. "Really old miser, must you see a bird before you know some things can fly? An old house in the middle of the forest surrounded by traps, if this is not the place then write my name backwards,"

"Even if it is then it's no use being hasty," Saldo said.

"Damn it, I can't stand your righteous facade. Why don't we just storm in?"

"No, if we go in we might alert the tar... the person," Saldo said. "Let's just hide and wait, if it's really the target we'll take him out when he returns,"

"Very well, we'll do it your way this time," Luka replied. Although he felt that this place belongs to the target 100 percent, deep down he knew that Saldo's way is the most professional and efficient method.

"Good, let's draw back and inform boss about everything then we find a place to hide,"

Saying that the two withdrew.

xxx

Yamato and Tila trained separately for hours until it was evening. As the sun started setting Yamato looked up and withdrew his fist. Looking at the side he saw Tila still swinging her pole.

"Let's return" he told her.

The girl ignored him and continued her practice. Which annoyed him greatly. "Didn't you hear me? Since that's how you want to play it we'll see when you stop!" Yamato sneered and found a place to seat and watch her.

It irritated him. If she wasn't his Master's daughter would he care about her? For someone like him with no siblings, he didn't have patience for children.

Tila swung her pole five minutes more before finally putting it down. "Hmph, I thought you'll stay here over night," Yamato sneered rising to his feet. The next moment seeing her reach out for the pole he added coldly. "If you start again I'm going to knock you out and carry you back,"

Tila gave him a glare then stormed away to the path back home.

xxx

"Some one is coming,"

Hiding atop a tall tree Luka whispered into the radio.

"Do you have visuals?" Saldo asked from the other end of the line,

"Not yet,"

"Okay," Saldo said preparing his sniper rifle. Soon he looked through the scope and aimed towards the wooden house. He was perched on a hill top far away from the wooden house but had an unobstructed view of the compound from the vantage point. However because of the foliage beside the clearing of the courtyard he didn't have a clear view of the forest. That's why Luka is keeping watch inside the forest to cover for his blind spot. This way no one can easily evade to two of them combined.

Sure enough a few minutes later, before Saldo noticed anything, Luka's voice came from the com's. "I... I have visuals,"

Hearing Luke's trembling voice Saldo's heart skipped with hope. "Is it the target?"

"The target? What bullshit, it's two kids. Fuck, it's that boy that boss went on a date with and the girl is an alien!" Luke's voice was filled with excitement even though he was whispering. One could see why, It was because you could get a lot of money by capturing aliens and selling them.

"We still have a mission, don't be impulsive," Saldo said. He understood where Luke is coming from but the mission is more important now.

Thinking of the money he could get by capturing this little girl Luka couldn't stand still. "Shit," Luke cursed suddenly.

"Don't worry they won't go anywhere, we can just track them later. Just keep on watching the house,"

"No no not that," Luke said as he realized he was being understood. "They are going towards the house,"

"What?" Saldo looked into the scope. Soon two people came into view. One was the Street Fighter kid called Yamato Armor and the other is a red haired girl with twin ponytails. The problem is she has grey skin.

'Really an alien,' Saldo thought. 'But why is she heading into the house? He watched two of them walked to the house, opened the door and went in.

Could it be that they live here? Suddenly Saldo understood, that's why this place is riddled with traps, it was not just any fugitive living here but an alien fugitive! There must be an adult alien here somewhere, the same one that set those traps. Maybe it's even a family of aliens.

'But what is this kid doing among them?' Saldo thought not understanding where Yamato fit in everything. 'Is he perhaps their contact in the city? The one helping them hide?' Thinking of it it made sense; without local support it is hard to imagine how a group of aliens stayed here unnoticed.

"How interesting," Saldo muttered.

"What is it?" Luke asked also having his thoughts.

"There's a change of plans," Saldo said. "Even though we didn't find the target we found something good. Let's move in and capture that alien girl!"

"Sounds good, what about that Street Fighter?"

"We silence him!"

Saldo was ruthless. After all this can't be done sloppily, they must take out any eye witness. Because selling free aliens as slaves is a crime punishable by death in the Yunjhu empire, so no one must know of this thing. Once they capture the alien girl they could use her to set a trap for the rest of the aliens.

Luke thought for a moment then nodded. "Fine, but for this one boss must not know right?"

"...Yeah, not yet,"

With that they came to an agreement.