Chapter 2

"Anyway. Now I'll explain to you about this world so you won't be confused," Cade moved on. Roy was of course curious about his parents, but he didn't hang on to it.

"We have a system to measure power and danger. It goes from d- rank. The weakest, and s- rank. We use it on both chimera and human. d-rank is at the level where you can kill a normal civilian with no weapons with ease. The S-rank, Well they can destroy an entire city by themselves."

Roy swallowed hard. "And the creature I saw? What was it?"

"A d-rank." Cade replied, pushing off from the table. "Not exactly what we call a danger, but for normal civilians they are a big danger."

Roy absorbed that, realizing just how lucky he'd been to escape with his life. "And me? What am I now?"

"Probably d-rank as well." Cade pulled out a cigarette pack from his jacket pocket. "We haven't yet measured your power so it can possibly change."

Elliot laid a hand on Roy's shoulder. "You'll improve with training—and experience in the field. You're already progressing faster than most."

"Training, huh?" Roy rubbed his arm where the needle had pierced it, a dull ache still lingering there. "What does that involve?"

Cade grinned—a feral, eager expression. "Everything you can imagine and then some." He tossed Roy a sleek metal baton. "Welcome to boot camp. Your gonna like it." He lit up a cigarette and took a puff.

He flicked open a knife, rusted and mean. "Or not."

Roy caught the baton, it wasn't heavy, felt more like a toy stick than a real baton.

Elliot stepped back, giving them space. "We'll start with basics. Hand-to-hand. Field ops. Weaponry."

"And then one day, if you're real lucky," Cade said around his cigarette, "you might get to lead an op yourself." He lunged suddenly, knife flashing.

Roy was quicker than he'd expected. He blocked the strike clumsily with his baton, with the metal clank sound, it didn't feel like a toy anymore. "Is this how you treat all your new recruits?"

"Only the promising ones." Cade twisted away, striking again.

They moved trough the basement. Cade attacking leisurely while Roy retreating and blocking every strike. Both of them moved at a speed that normal humans couldn't even keep up.

Roy twisted his head to the side as one of the strikes went past his cheek. Then another one past his waist as he jumped back. "Is this all were going to do?" He panted.

"We'll switch it up," Cade said, breathing easy. He flicked the knife back into his pocket. "But you need to survive this first."

Roy was gasping, his heart hammering in his ears. Even with whatever had changed inside him, Cade was leagues ahead. But he felt the thrill of it, the rush that came with knowing he could at least contend.

Cade leaned against a table lazily again, giving Roy a moment to catch his breath. "Day one and you're already dodging like that? You're not bad, Roy."

"Not bad?" Roy wheezed. "Does that mean I'm done?"

Elliot chuckled, already heading back upstairs. "You've just started."

Cade dropped his cigarette and ground it out under his heel. "We've got some work to do before you can show your face on an op," he said, looking over the training room. "But if you keep this pace, you might actually survive your first mission by the first week."

Roy bent over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

Cade tossed him a water bottle from across the room. "Keep hydrated. It's easy to forget during the first week."

Roy uncapped it with shaking fingers and took a swig. "So what's the plan then? You just attack me until I get better?"

"Pretty much," Cade said with a smirk. "We'll crank up the difficulty every day."

Elliot lingered at the top of the stairs. "Rest up when you can. You'll need it."

"I don't exactly have a place to crash," Roy admitted between gulps of water.

"Here's fine for now," Elliot replied. "There's a cot in the back room."

Roy glanced around, taking in the cold, concrete expanse of the basement with its humming machines and scattered weapons. The place had an industrial feel, but it was better than any of the foster homes he'd bounced through.

"Rest times over." Cade suddenly stood up and threw a precise knife that stuck the wall next to Roy's cheek, only inches away from cutting him.

'Its going to be a hell of a week isn't it.' With that thought, Roy also stood up and picked up the metal baton. Their spar continued.

Just like that a week passed unknowingly. Roy fought Cade all day. Only long stops were eating breaks, that Cade provided him.

Just as they promised, Cade switched up their training every day. The baton became an extension of Roy's arm, striking and blocking with the precision of a steel cobra. They moved on to firearms, then to tactics—Cade's knife switched for guns, for grenades, for things that exploded in ways Roy couldn't have imagined.

One morning after the week passed, Elliot casually dropped a new set of clothes next to him during breakfast. "You've earned yourself some field time."

Roy blinked at them—dark combat gear with the Order's insignia stitched on the sleeve. He felt a strange sense of pride mixed with apprehension. "I'm ready?"

Cade shrugged, already strapping on his own gear. "Time to find out."

They drove into the city; Roy rode in the back of an armored van, adrenaline buzzing through him like static. Elliot briefed them en route. "A swarm was spotted near Buyan city. Lower d-rank chimeras. Some bastard fused an ant queen and a human."

"Is that… common?" Roy wasn't sure what to take of this. It was quite surprising hearing about this.

"The chimera, or how ugly it sounds?" Cade smirked. "The answer is yes."

Elliot glanced back from the front seat. "It's a good first op. You're ready for this."

The car drove out of the city and into the outskirts. Buildings gave way to fields, and the horizon simmered with heat.

They arrived at an abandoned industrial site—rusted structures leaning like weary giants against the sky. Cade and Elliot moved with practiced ease, unloading gear and checking weapons.

"We'll hit them hard and fast," Cade said, handing Roy a compact rifle. "Stay close, and don't try to be a hero."

Roy nodded, eyes scanning the landscape. They moved into one of the abandoned factories, a rusty fence surrounded its complex. Elliot stayed behind, leaning on the car and watching the two of them.

It was quiet—too quiet. The air hummed with tension, and Roy's skin prickled. He could feel something watching them.

"Up there," Cade said, pointing at the railings overhead, where shadowy figures flitted in and out of view. Chimeras. Insectile bodies with too-long limbs skittered along the beams. "They know we're here."

Roy followed Cade's lead as they moved deeper inside, ducking through doorways and over debris. The buzzing grew louder, a low thrum that set Roy's teeth on edge.

"Get ready," Cade said, his voice steady.

A screech tore through the air as a swarm descended—dozens of creatures dropping from above. Roy fired in quick bursts, the recoil jolting up his arms. Chimeras fell from the sky, but more replaced them.

Cade was a blur beside him, each shot precise and lethal. "Keep moving!" he shouted over the chaos.

They dodged back as the swarm broke trough the fires and reached them. Cade took out his long blade and started slashing apart the creatures with ease. To Roy, it was like Cade wasn't even trying, his expression bored. He heard he is B-rank. The level where one can take out an entire building by themselves.

Roy swung the baton, crushing exoskeletons as they closed in. It was frantic—his heart a wild drum—but he was holding his own. He moved like he had in the basement, faster than he'd ever thought possible.

"Left!" Cade called, and Roy spun to see one closing in, jaws gaping. The butt of his rifle smashed it mid-leap.

Sweat dripped down his forehead, stinging his eyes as he tried to keep up with Cade's pace. They made their way through the maze of metal catwalks and concrete walls, the swarm thinning but relentless.

As they neared the center of the factory, Roy noticed something—a pulsating mass near the ceiling, webbed with steel beams. It throbbed with life, chimeras spilling from its writhing surface.

"Is that—?"

"The queen." Cade finished his sentence, then pointed his blade forward. "Let me show you power of B-rank so you can seek it." He said before leaning forward.

And jumping forward at it, one swing of the sword and the queen was slashed in half. The massive slash from Cade's sword didn't just cut through the queen—it carved through the factory wall behind it, creating a gaping hole that let in blinding daylight. The building groaned as support beams, severed clean through, began to buckle.

"Holy shit," Roy whispered, staring at the destruction. The queen's body split perfectly down the middle, both halves sliding in opposite directions before crashing to the floor. The remaining chimeras screeched and scattered, their hive mind suddenly severed.

Cade landed gracefully back on the catwalk, flicking ichor from his blade with a casual motion. He turned to Roy, his expression still bored despite having just cut through steel and concrete like it was paper.

"That's B-rank," he said simply. "Something to aim for."

Roy nodded, speechless. He'd spent a week training, feeling his new strength and speed, thinking he was becoming something special. Now he understood just how far he had to go. The factory's remaining structure groaned ominously.

"Time to leave," Cade said, already heading for the exit. "Building's coming down."

They sprinted through the maze of catwalks and corridors, dodging falling debris as the factory began collapsing around them. Roy's enhanced reflexes were the only thing keeping him alive as he vaulted over a fallen beam and slid under a collapsing doorway.

They burst out into the sunlight just as the main structure imploded behind them, sending up a cloud of dust and debris. Elliot was waiting by the van, arms crossed, looking completely unsurprised by the destruction.

"You know. There was no need to destroy the thing" He remarked dryly.

"Need to show off for the newbie somehow." Cade grinned. "Also its a good thing to know what truly powerful can do. Makes you more cautious." He said the last part more seriously.

"Fair point," Elliot acknowledged with a slight nod. He turned to Roy, assessing him with those penetrating eyes. "So, how was your first field operation?"

Roy was still trying to process what he'd witnessed—the swarm of chimeras, the queen's grotesque form, and most of all, Cade's casual display of power that had literally cut a building to destruction.

"It was…" Roy searched for the right words. "Educational."

Cade snorted, already opening the van's rear doors. "That's one way to put it. You didn't freeze up or get yourself killed. Better than most rookies on their first run."

Coming from Cade, Roy suspected this was high praise.

"You handled the rifle well," Elliot added, climbing into the driver's seat. "Your reaction time has improved significantly over the week. The S12 is integrating nicely with your system."

Roy flexed his hand, still marveling at how different his body felt—stronger, faster, more responsive. "How long until I could do something like that?" He gestured at the collapsing factory.

Cade closed the van doors after they climbed in. "Don't get ahead of yourself. B-rank takes years of training and field experience. Most agents plateau at C-rank. It requires talent and hard work."