Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 7

“Was that really necessary?” Peter asked.

Aeneus Raptis had descended after severing the boy’s head from his body and returned to hovering a few inches off the ground. The unopened tub of ice cream appeared in his hand. He began to undo the seal as he answered, “What could be more necessary? Are you afraid it might discourage him?”

“No.”

Flicking through a few screens with his finger, he found what he was looking for and summoned a spoon into the artificial world. As much as he despised the technology, he carved out his first spoonful then took a bite. After swallowing and enjoying the cool sweetness, he asked, “Then what are you objecting to?”

“Could the same point not have been made a different way? I don’t believe he’s in danger of becoming discouraged, but no one is unbreakable. Why push it?”

Aeneus took another bite and only answered after he finished it. “First answer me this. Does the boy have a Vasileia bloodline?”

There was hesitation. So many questions remained unanswered, but eventually the man replied, “No.”

“No?” he let the confusion reach his face. “Then why the effort?”

“Victoria needs Kratos if she’s to stand a chance against other Ekseliksi.”

Stabbing his spoon into the ice cream, he objected, “The boy is talented enough he would reach the level of Krato on his own without our help. So why so much effort on him? As talented as he is, his only truly exceptional trait is his desperation.

“I was speaking the truth when I said he struggles with discouragement more than anyone I’ve ever trained. He reeks of it. I don’t know whether to be depressed or inspired just being in his presence.

“You say you’re not worried about him being discouraged yet fear he might one day be broken? Are you lying to me, Petros? The boy is already broken. Like an old warrior, he’s fallen off that cliff, picked himself up, and found his way back to the top.  Now he’s staring down at the chasm below as if challenging brokenness itself to an all-out war. No, he’s already at war with it every waking hour. You expect me to believe you didn’t do this to him? If not, then what did?”

For a long moment there was no answer, but then the migás appeared across from him in the simulated world. The man was small in stature with no physical enhancements to speak of. He wore a dull silver shirt and black pants. Despite his unimpressive stature, Aeneus knew who this man really was. The Epithumia’s assassin of assassins. He didn’t just break honorable combat’s every rule, he invented ways of killing that would make the most dishonorable men blush. His only truly redeeming quality was that he was as loyal as a dog.

But what was such a man doing here worlds away from her Majesty’s side? Appearing before him to discuss the training of a young Ekseliksi recruit no less.

Peter didn’t look at him. The man interacted with an invisible panel when the world around them started to change.

He commended, “I first saw Lucius on the first night of Freedom. I was more impressed with the man partied with him than I was with him.”

They were suddenly surrounded by green monsters the size of children that were dressed up in ragged medieval armor. There were dozens of them mobbed together, swarming like beasts to get at the lesser armored humans lined up against them. Then Aeneus spotted the young man. He was running around the outskirts of the goblins with a dark-skinned man and knocking the monsters over as they went. Those that they could finish, they did.

“He had a good head on his shoulders even if he sorely lacked strength. But then he did something that surprised us all.”

The giant blue hobgoblin bound out of the forest. Lucius and joined with Peter, Oliver, and Victoria.

She screamed, “Incoming.”

The young man knocked a goblin to the ground and thrust his spear through its chest with awkward precision. The moment he looked up, he saw the giant’s heading and placed himself between her and it, pushing her to the side. Meeting the monster’s mass, he was flung to the side.

Their group was knocked aside, but then people flew broken under the hobgoblin’s swing.

Then Lucius came to his feet. He scanned the injured and those who would soon join them as he returned to grab his spear. As if possessed, the young man ran at the giant, launching his spear. It was an ugly throw that only landed because of the creature’s size.

The hobgoblin turned.

He ducked under the monster’s tree-club but met its mace with his shield.

Despite having a broken arm, Lucius saw the opening and lunged. His downward slash was far more impressive than his spear throw. It bit deep.

Then the tree-club flew again, clobbering the young man in the back.

The rest of the group took advantage when the hobgoblin was down and finished it. That was when it really began.

They watched as the young man suffered. Peter let him see Victoria at his side. “It pained her deeply that she couldn’t heal him without giving away who she was.”

“Of course,” Aeneus Raptis said as if it was to be expected from the Daughter of the Epithumia.

“He was conscious while he suffered six out of the eight and a half hours while his body repaired itself.”

Peter continued his commentary as the scene changed to Lucius charging through the defensive line of a much larger and better armed version of the goblins before running at another one of the blue giants.

“If I’m honest, I’m not exactly sure what did this to him. I can’t take credit. His injury seemed to be the major event that propelled him down his current path, but I had my doubts then. We helped by giving him opportunities to develop, but… It never seemed necessary. As you said. I think whatever path he took was always going to lead to Krato.

“You say he’s already broken and has pulled himself back together. Perhaps that’s the best explanation. Perhaps he’s insane?” the man laughed. “But I still have my doubts. Then there is his mentor. You’ve heard of the Combat Master Achilles?”

He nodded. “After his career? He’s one of the few humans known to everyone, and what an Ekseliksi he would’ve made.”

Peter chuckled, shaking his head. “Krato, you’re training the man’s spiritual successor and didn’t know it. That’s why Victoria wants us to train him. She believes he deserves our support. To reach his limit. And maybe, just maybe, he will do for the rank of Krato that only Achilles has done for Earth’s combat sports.”

Aeneus Raptis narrowed his gaze. “You think he’s capable of becoming an honorary Vasileia? Of fighting the Ekseliksi nobility with only rank D psionics?”

“I wouldn’t dare. Victoria just wants to give him every opportunity. If he can one day reach the peak of Krato, then like Achilles, he might be able to push the boundary further than it has ever gone.”

“The difference between Krato and those at the peak is further than the heavens are from the earth. Who knows what his body can take? He’s just as likely to kill himself while trying as so many others that have come before him.”

“Of course,” the assassin of assassin conceded. “Reaching his genetic limitations is enough. There is another with more talent that looks up to Lucius like an older brother.”

“He has the same tenacity?”

Peter shook his head. “No. He is fairly typical for his age in that sense. But without any tricks or special circumstances to speed his advancement, he has unlocked every psionic ability and is a natural at overcharging.”

Aeneus wetted his lips. “Has his bloodline been tested?”

“That’s not currently possible. He also doesn’t know who we are. But if he continues to advance and mature as he is, the time will come soon enough.”

“Understood.” He lowered his gaze with a bow of his head. It wasn’t done to honor the migás but as a customary gesture. “So when will the insane one return?”

“Oh, I’ve been holding him back from returning while we spoke. He would’ve returned a few seconds after you killed him if I hadn’t.”

“Then he remains unbroken?”

“Or broken and put back together so thoroughly that he simply doesn’t care anymore,” Peter replied with a shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Aeneus actually grinned. “Send him in then,” he said, taking one last bite of his ice cream before resealing the lid. He was sure to return it to the sim’s storage before the boy returned.

The instant he did, Lucius pushed himself into the air.

“This time when I command you to prepare yourself, actually do it,” Krato scolded.

“I’m ready,” the boy replied.

Aeneus knew he wasn’t, but after dying a few times he’d begin to grasp the true difference between them. And so, he launched himself into the air, but this time at a diagonal. He let this young Ekseliksi find him before he moved.