Codename: Freedom - Book 4 - Chapter 54

I woke up to find a miniature holographic Destiny sitting on my chest. She stood as soon as she saw I was coming to and held her finger over her lips. “Don’t you dare say a word and just watch.”

She took over the entire lenses of my headset so that the only thing I could see was what she wanted me to see. Then it began to play. She was thorough. Playing the last part of my fight with the Manticore King starting where I’d jumped off the ceiling, she made sure to jog my memory of what I’d just done. Then she began to show me to reactions. There was Mara, Mel, and Barrell. Then she showed me the reaction of the Real Major and several my competitors. She even showed me Mia and the panel’s reactions. But then she showed me Victoria.

I saw her tears and how the last stretch of my fight was having a physical effect on her. Then I’d died and she did something completely nonsensical. I was the one that was supposed to do inane things. She started to heal me.

I was angry and delighted at the same time.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Destiny demanded.

I snickered. “It can’t be helped. She’s crazy about me.”

“Idiot. You’re lucky I’m already shielding you from external surveillance devices. Do you have any idea how much more difficult it’s going to be to excuse your relationship with her? The entire meta is speculating about the possible secret relationship that exists between you.”

Closing my eyes, I grinned. “It’s all thanks to big sis taking care of me.”

“I’m big sis, now, and not little sis or drone-head?”

“Don’t worry. I owe her a talk. In the next day or two she’ll be chewing me out, so you can get some of that footage and leak it.”

All of a sudden, one of Kline’s psionic rocket hammers appeared in her hands and she slammed it into my chest. It was all augmented. She was just expressing how she felt.

Sucking in a deep breath, I filled my lungs to the full. I sat as I let the air out. I was in the recovery chamber and most of my energy had returned. There was only one thing to do.

“Hey. Where are you going?” She said, her master drone chasing after me as I headed for the exit.

“Training sim. There’s something I need to try.”

“Victoria wanted you to contact her as soon as you were awake.”

“I’m sure she did, but I’m still a bit scatterbrained. Let me wake up, then we’ll do it.”

She continued to object, but for some reason she went along with it. In a sense, she was still my AI and supposed to obey my commands. I certainly didn’t think of her that way any longer, and I wasn’t sure she had to follow a word I said.

Arriving in the bandit training sim, I had a request. “I want a wall-size punching bag made of the same substance the Manticore King’s hide.

“I should’ve guessed,” Destiny complained. “And guess what? I already had.”

In the courtyard of the bandit fortress, a new wall appeared. It was as thick as Kline’s torso, reached a few feet overhead, and thirty feet long.

I thanked her, then set up near the wall’s center. Thinking back to my battle with the Manticore King, I found that same thought pattern returned without much effort.

Dragon Slayer’s greatest limitation had to do with my own ability to execute each layer quickly enough. If I was able to change that, not only would the technique be much more powerful, but I’d be able to execute it in more time sensitive situations.

Punching out, I threw the technique at its typical speed. The impact felt good. Of course, the wall didn’t budge, and neither was there a mark left on its surface.

First, I need to find my limitation. Throwing it a little faster, I drew near to the limit of how fast I could summon the final layer Apotho. It felt more powerful, but still there was no mark.

I didn’t back up or take a running leap at it. I was fast enough with help of my aura just standing in place to challenge the technique’s execution. And so I did. Each time I threw it, I inches closer, until I finally pushed just a little too hard and the tips of my knuckles ran into Akonizo. The solid, wrathful energy chewed up the surface of my fist. It was a gnawing pain.

As I healed my fist, I visualized what had just happened. The sweet spot to the technique became clear in my mind. I was clear to its limitations.

Once ready again, I threw out my fist and pushed just past the limitation again, willing my body’s energy to move faster. That same biting sting I felt again.

If I couldn’t will my energy to go faster, than perhaps the feedback of pain would drive my body to instinctively act faster. I healed and tried it again.

As painful as it was, pain was something I had grown accustomed to—familiar. With the help of the cube, nanobots, and my healing psionics, it was as much as tool to me to speed my advancement as something to fear. So set out to used it for its most logical purpose. To push past my body’s limitations.

***

A familiar blond woman in military dress appeared in the corner of Victoria’s vision. Prodos’s expansion had continued like normal after yesterday’s loss. She’d estimated Lucius to wake within the next few hours, so seeing the girl wasn’t outside of her expectations. However, the AI’s creased brow was cause for alarm. She had grown to know the AI’s personality quite well by now. It was the lack of a more exaggerated expression that was out of place.

“Destiny, what is it?”

“He’s punishing himself,” she replied with distress. “Please, you must hurry.”

“Show me.”

An image of Lucius facing off with a wall took over her vision. She watched the energy form on his fist, then spring forward as his physical momentum propelled it faster. Then his hand landed solidly before he could cycle the energy to protect himself against it. It wasn’t just skin that fractured, but also small fragments of bone and cartilage. He then healed himself, but not entirely. When he could close his hand again, he threw the technique again.

“I’m coming,” Victoria said.”

She unstrapped herself from her headset and haptic gloves.

“Let me go,” Peter insisted as she removed the last piece of gear. “I know you’re needing to talk to him, but he’s not in the right state of mind. I’ll handle it.”

“No,” she replied. Moving her eyes in a circular pattern, she waited as he caught her meaning and surrounded them in microdrones. “You said it yourself, I should’ve been the one to support him directly.”

He took a step closer, offering her a placating grin. “Don’t be too down on yourself. You’ve tried to do the right thing by him. There are many ways to support someone, and if you want to take a more direct, hands-on approach, it’s not too late.”

When she looked up at him, he didn’t see saddened expression he’d expected. Her glare was sharp and direct.

“What would’ve happened if my mother would’ve given you her full support?” She let the question linger but held his gaze, so he dared not to respond. “You have killed Vasileia, Peter, and yet you’re not even Krato. Most Vasileia themselves can’t even make that claim, yet if you were to join the Ekseliksi military, honor scout is the highest rank you could achieve. But this crippled Ekseliksi convert dedicated himself to what no other Ekseliksi would. You made yourself invaluable to the point of being given responsibility for the security of an entire people’s spiritual leader. A people that despise you.”

He smiled kindly. “She’s given me more support than you know.”

“I don’t doubt that there are things between you that you’d never share with me but answer me honestly. Why did you never pursue physical enhancement when you gleaned your psionic talents were insufficient.”

He looked at her for a long moment, but didn’t look away. “By the time I had the resources, your mother and father were already married. But—”

“And if you would’ve had the resources? Would things be different?”

“You know that they wouldn’t.”

“No, I don’t. And even if you’re right, Lucius doesn’t have the same limitations. He will reach Krato on his own. If he can continue with the same drive, becoming a peak Krato powerhouse isn’t out of the question. And that’s without my help. With my support? With my full support?”

He’d guessed that she might be thinking something along these lines, but it was too farfetched for him to seriously consider it. Not from her, yet here they were having this conversation. “What are you saying, Victoria?”

“As a member of the house of the Epithumia, I have many responsibilities. I’m finding one of these obligations contradicts its original purpose. I have seen it play out between my mother and my father. There is a respect between them, but not love and yet they are supposed to be the prime example of marital love to our people. They are together purely due to obligation—to the law. And yet the person who loves her the most, who she loves in return, received dishonor for honor. It wasn’t meant to be this way. The original Teleios and Epithumia were married before the stations even existed. Their relationship was genuine and the bases for everything we do.”

He drew as near as he could to look deep into the eye. “Do you understand the implications of what your suggesting?”

He felt the breath steam from her nostrils before she replied. “Is it even possible for me not to understand?”

He stumbled as much as stepped backward. She wasn’t wrong. He still forgot at times because of who she was to him. He’d been called a genius after many of his achievements, but since he was stationed in the Epithumia’s palace surrounded by real genius, he knew how far from the truth that really was.

He didn’t look at her but said it anyway. “Not only could this bring dishonor to both houses, but bloodshed will likely follow if you’re found out.”

“I know, but what if we fail here? You’ve thought of it, Peter. Of course you have. How many millions will die? This plan was always a long shot. The Ekseliksi will understand far better than Earth ever will. But if it’s one of them… He’s giving everything. Does he not deserve the same from me? I know mother questions my commitment to this cause. I am committed.”

There was a pleading in her eye, but after what she’d just said, he couldn’t help but to laugh. “In that you’re wrong. Your commitment is the only things she never questioned.”

That put the glimmer back in her eye. “The truth is, I already left. Weeks ago… I’ve just taken the long way to get to him.”

“You know I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

The smile in her eyes brightened, then she did something completely unexpected. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. “I know.” Then she whispered in his ear. “Father. Patéras.”

She was gone before he completely recovered. It only took one look at Oliver for the Ekseliksi to understand. The man hurried after her. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, a silent bomb had just gone off. It’s true effects couldn’t be known, but its ripple effect could spell disaster for two worlds and billions of people. Disaster wasn’t the only possible outcome. He’d fight for another.

***

I ignored the pain and the execution of the technique, focusing only on the miniscule amount I’d been able to force my energy to move faster. Nothing else mattered, so Destiny reaching out to another was completely out of my purview.

“Lucius,” Victoria called out.

I stopped, glancing in her direction, but I didn’t turn. “Hey, Victoria. I’m emotionally drained right now and don’t have anything to give. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to go. I promise I’ll come find you later today.”

She began walking toward him at a slow but steady pace. “I’m not leaving.”

I’d wanted to restrain myself from say anything stupid. I’d tried to warn her. Turning, I let loose. “Why did you heal me, Victoria? You’re far too smart to not know how stupid that was.” I got a grip of myself, but it had already slipped from my mouth.

She didn’t answer right away but came up and took my hand. I’d been healing it for another go. With her psionics suddenly added to it, my hand was fully recovered in a few seconds.

“Answer me first,” she said. She didn’t sound angry, but then she continued. “Why did you do—” She grabbed the collar of my ballistic suit, then with a surge of aura ripped it right down the middle. “This.” She stood there staring at my tattoo. Glaring at it.

“You just ripped my suit,” I said. I wasn’t mad or fearful. An ounce of my sense of humor slipped through, but only for an instant. “You could’ve just asked.”

Her eyes reached mine in challenge. “Why did you practically declare yourself to be Ekseliksi before the entire world then renounce the Teleios’s crusade in the same breath?”

I stepped up and met her challenge. “Because you couldn’t. You can’t make a stand for what we believe in, but I can. And why are we yelling?”

Her voice then came mild, but she hadn’t softened. “That’s why I healed you. You’re right. I can’t say and do the things I would like, but I can make a stand by putting my support behind you.”

Looking up, I searched the midday clouds for information I knew wasn’t there. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to flirt with you in public now without it causing a mess.” I glanced down at her. “And don’t think for a minute I’m taking back what I…”

She ran her fingertips over my chest where the Prodos and Achilles logos were combined. Her lips came with a more relaxed approach this time. Passion had driven her last time, but this time she seemed sure of what she was doing.

I was far too worked up to just let her have a comfortable time of it, so I bent over slightly and grabbed the back of her legs at the thigh. Scooping her up, I pulled her to me.

She squealed in surprises but wrapped her legs around my waist and didn’t stop.

Spinning, I pressed her back against the newly created wall and took the initiative as my own.

A few minutes later she was tapping me on my back as if tapping out. She arched he head backwards as she heaved it take in air. “I forgot to breathe,” she admitted.

We both ended up laughing even as she struggled to catch her breath.

It had only been a few minutes, but my normal state of mind had returned. “Does this mean you plan on teaching me how to dance?” I teased.

Seeing her escape into herself, I was sure our exercise sessions would soon be over. But then she said the last thing I could expect. “You promised me ‘a life you can be proud of that’s lived with the people you love’. Do you still mean it?”

I leaned back as far as I could without letting her go. “I do. What are you getting at?”

“I’m yours.”

The implications fell on me like hurricane force winds from above. A small portion of the Ekseliksi population practiced polygamy, and other forms of lifestyles weren’t unheard of, but the house of the Epithumia had no such freedom. What’s more, I know how sacred marriage was to Victoria personally. There was no commitment, except the one to her people, that she would take more seriously.

Finding her forehead, I pressed mine into hers. “I’m already yours.”

She nodded that she understood my meaning, then her eyes drifted down to my chest. “Work now. Player later.” She pushed me away from her and slid off me. “Come. You’re just weeks away from a better understand of your psionics. Let me help you.”

I found myself sitting with her next to me. She ran her finger down my arm as she explained. “Your energy uses your muscles as pathways to exert itself into the world. That is why being in physical shape is so important. It also uses bone, tendon, nerves, and even your blood vessels as a conduit on which to travel. It takes years to normally be able to observe this reality through your own self observation, but I’m convinced you would’ve touched on it through your systematic approach quite soon. I want to help give you a push in the right direction and help you understand why it’s so significant.”

She turned my hand over and traced the tendons in my wrist. “Until now, you have been moving your energy through then entirety of your natural physiology. If you want to execute your fist techniques, you send each layer through every part of your arm—the muscle, tendons, bone… It may seem like a high-speed tunnel with multiple lanes for traffic, but that’s not necessarily the case.”

The thought hadn’t escaped me that this could be as much foreplay as her trying to show me something. Still, I didn’t doubt her psionic ability for a moment, so I focused as much as I could.

She held my hand up and spread my fingers with her own. Then she pointed to my palm. “Can you use an attack as powerful through your palm, as you can through your finger?” He fingertip touched mine.

“Yes…” I answered, but though better of it. “But the maximum amount of energy would be different, so a bolt from your palm would be more powerful.”

She didn’t disagree but asked. “Why?”

“Because the amount of energy that can travel through your finger is less than your arm?”

“Exactly. However, the intensity, or the maximum power, would remain the same. This is because your Psionic Power rating measures the density of the energy leaving your body, not the total amount of energy. A palm fired bolt, especially an overcharged one like Mel’s, could easily break four hundred units of energy a second, but that still doesn’t make it a rank D attack. If the energy isn’t concentrated enough, it’s just the expenditure of more energy. So let me leave you with some questions to think about. What if you used less energy on some of the layers of your techniques while keeping them just as potent? What if you channeled energy through a smaller path in your body, like let’s say your skeletal system instead of your muscular system? Would it move slower, the same speed? What if you used your muscle’s naturally shape to channel and compress your energy? And there are many more questions we haven’t even touched on.”

I forgot about her touch completely as I theorized exactly what she was asking. If I could use less energy on the first level of Dragon Slayer, it would take less of a push to get the enhanced energy moving. Less energy meant I should be able to move the layers through my system even faster…

I looked up at her in wonder. I’d even tried enhancing less of my fist in my own experimenting, but if what she was saying was right, I could maybe just enhance a single knuckle to greatly reduce the energy I had to move. My push could be even less than it already was, and Apotho would come much faster. That that was only the beginning. What she’d said about using the shape of my muscle like a funnel to compress my energy was something I couldn’t wait to experiment with. It was possible I was already doing it to a certain extent because of how my body was designed, but that should also mean I could improve it further.

When she realized she’d lost me, she stuck her nose in my face. I blinked away what I was thinking and stored it away. “What…”

Those silvery eyes stared back at me. “One thing I ask, while we are together, put me before your training. We will have limited time each day as it is. Since I’m also teaching you, I’ll be sure to remind you.”

“Does that mean work times over?”

Her smile was all it took. I didn’t even let her get to her feet before I was upon her.

***

I’d never felt so awkward and yet determined at the same time. She had a much more thorough understand of eros because of her upbringing than I did, but I led the way as the two of us experienced what it was all about for the first time. It was the shyest I’d ever seen her. I don’t think I’d ever been so gentle with anyone in my life. The reason wasn’t just because I didn’t want to bring her pain, but because she would have to heal herself every time we finished. Only after I defeated her false-fiancé would such inconveniences be passed us. We also had to keep up public appearances, and be careful with her cycle, but I think we both had enough imagination to keep thing interesting.

I customized the ground she’d fallen asleep on even further. It looked like concrete but was springy and as soft as cotton. I fully changed it to that of a mattress and covered her form with sheets made of the top-quality fabric Destiny could find on the meta and layered her in them.

I finally had Victoria all to myself. Once again, I was struck by how complex emotions could be. I felt like I was floating with Othisi without the exertion, while also have a feeling of contentment that allowed me to relax much more than I could normally manage even after a long stint of problem-solving meditation. But of course, there was a contradictory feeling that my real purpose had just begun. My ambition and desire to create a future with this girl were welded together in fire.

Walking toward the Manticore King inspired punching-wall, I whispered to Destiny. “Is there something you can do to keep me from waking her?”

She hadn’t appeared in her normal form here because she’d thought it would be a distraction, so she popped up in my headset peripherals. “I’ll muffle the sound and limit the psionic pressure from reaching her.”

“Thank you, Destiny. I feel bad for forcing this on you, but I must do everything I can to keep her safe.”

“Bonehead. What makes you think I’d feel this was forced on me? You’re both foolish for doing it, but I’d be screaming in delight if it wouldn’t startle her. Peter said something similar to what you just did, by the way. He has already contacted me. He wants my help setting up new protocols in here and out that will allow your relationship invisible to the outside world.”

“So he knows?”

“Do you think there’s anything that man doesn’t notice. You’ll be telling me next you didn’t know he was aware when you both snuck out in Freedom.”

I gave my own memory a serious scan. “I had no idea.”

She giggled. “I keep some snippets to myself just for times like this. It must be said. You’re dealing with the highest level of players in the galaxy, Lucius. Maybe I should’ve given you one last warning before you went through with, well, you know… But I don’t think your answer would’ve changed.”

“So you’re going to help me then?”

“You don’t have to ask, Lucius. You will.”

“Thank you, big sis.”

“That’s a nickname I could grow used to.”

“Don’t push it,” I chuckled. “Now, I know you’ve been calculating the possibilities since her explanation. I’m going to begin with trying to shrink the size first layer of Dragon Slayer. I’m thinking middle knuckle alone. Instead of Phantom Fist, we’ll have to come up with a new name.”

“Already on it.”

Stopping at wall, I practiced channeling energy to just the one knuckle. When I’d lessened its size before, I’d taken it from covering my whole fist to just the hitting surface. Making it any smaller had seemed like it would be digressing rather than advancing the technique, but I threw out that way of thinking entirely. It took a few tries, but once I had the feel for it, I was ready to fire a few off.

I didn’t throw a full technique at first. Even if Destiny had thought I was just beating myself up before, that had never been my intent. I used the same amount of push has I had originally, and the knuckle sized spike of energy darted off at an even faster rate. That by itself may have just made my Phantom Fist more powerful, at least on a smaller surface.

Next, I practiced with the amount of push I might need and fine tuned it. Trying to limit my energy to just the bones or certain muscles was something I’d experiment with later. This was something I needed to find out now.

I seemed to have found the right amount of energy necessary in the push and went through the motions. Just as she’d said. It took far less.

Finally, I turned my full attention to my target. I didn’t take a cautious approach any longer. Using the same speed that was faster for my technique to keep up, begun the movement with my aura empowering me. Then Akonizo covered my knuckle. With less energy than ever before, Othisi pushed up my arm followed immediately by Apotho. When shielded energy connected with the knuckled-sized spike of energy, I held my arm extended in place. There was still no mark on the wall, but I hadn’t missed the feeling.

“Destiny?” I asked.

“Much better,” she stated. “The smaller surface area also makes it more devastating.”

After a few mental calculations, I threw Dragon Slayer again. This time I drew closer to the limit of how quickly I could cast it without once again ruining my hand. And again. When I saw something change, I didn’t stop, but continued the process as I’d done just after I’d awoken from my psionic sickened comma.

This time, when I felt the surface of my knuckle crack open, it kept myself from throwing another even after I healed myself. I studied the wall and the couple dozen shallow marks I’d managed to leave. It still wasn’t enough to defeat the Manticore King, but just one conversation with Victoria and I’d already taken the technique to a different level.

I glanced over in her direction. She showed no signs of waking. What she had said about being just weeks away from figuring this out myself was probably true. But what of the rest of what she’d revealed to me? In time, it wasn’t just marks I’d be leaving on psionic rank D level armor, but real damage. I would’ve walked over and kissed her if she wasn’t sleeping.

Instead, I turned back to the wall and fined tuned the sweet spot of this advanced version of the technique.

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I'll have a Marvel credits style final scene ready for you guys tomorrow.

Cheers!