Codename: Freedom - Book 4 - Chapter 52

“Did he spell Prodos wrong?” Mr. Rachet said tentatively.

“No,” LeLisa chided. “Prodos is the transliteration of a Greek adjective that means first or foremost. Próodos is also a Greek transliteration. It’s a noun that means progression or to advance.”

“So those characters in the drop shadow of his tattoo are Greek?”

“Yes.”

“Why exactly did the Centurion ask him if he was Ekseliksi, then?”

Opening her mouth to respond, LeLisa pointed her finger at him without answer. Ultimately, she said, “I don’t know.”

Mia reminded them. “Lucius mentioned he has been spending a lot of time studying the Ekseliksi.”

“You think he was brainwashed into joining them?” Bolt asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s fighting them isn’t he.” She turned back to the screen and mumbled to herself. “What are you up to?”

***

Stopping in the tracks of the trench she’d practically created with all her pacing, she called on her mobile headset’s lenses to slide up and out of her view. They had set up station for the intelligence team at the base of the hill. She found Peter already standing at his seat and glared at him. “What is he doing?”

“Watch, Victoria,” he replied, holding her gaze without backing down.

She looked scatterbrained as she tried to figure it out. A second later, she recalled her lenses, found her seat, and plopped down.

***

“I’m a student of the Ekseliksi,” I finally responded. As much as I wanted to come out and say it, I knew how the wrong soundbite could be used against me. There was no reason to give trolls or my would-be enemies ammunition. “You are my enemy, so I’ve sought to understand you. Technically, you could say I even meet the requirements to be one of you. As shallow as my current understanding of immortal progression might be, what I’ve come to understand of it matches my own philosophy.”

Inclining his head, the Centurion sniffed the air. “There is more to being Ekseliksi then philosophy.”

“I’m well aware.”

He squinted as if trying to peer at my genetics to see if I’d been altered.

I continued before he could formulate his next question. “There is much about the Ekseliksi I find appealing. However…”

I began to circle him. The cool stone under my bare feet after a long day of fighting and hiding was so pleasant it was slightly distracting. “I’ve sampled three thousand eight hundred and ninety-three recordings of events depicting the Ekseliksi attacking Earth’s people over the last five decades. Many of them were military installations, but some of them were civilian.”

He moved his tongue over the front of his teeth. “We have not attacked civilians unless your soldiers were hiding behind them, or, on the rare occasion, our intelligence was wrong. Those who do so willingly have dishonored themselves and are executed.”

I nodded, conceding the point for argument’s sake. “I would even acknowledge your Teleios’s right to rule—over those who are willing. What I can’t support is Ekseliksi conquest.  Three thousand eight hundred and ninety-three conflicts ending in death. I watch them daily. And these are just the ones where the security footage survived. None of it had to happen.” I came to a stop and faced off with him. “I stand with humanity, both those of Earth and the Ekseliksi dissenters, against the Teleios’s expansion. Regardless of the reasons.”

He brought up a big lob of gunk from his throat and spit it at my feet. “Fancy words. But how meaningful will they be when you’re bloodied and looking up at me from the ground.” Holding out his arms, he covered his blade-like claws in silver energy.

“So, as long as I win this fight, what I’m saying is true?” I asked, revealing my spite for the first time.

He ignored me and turned his full attention to the duel. Looking back at the footsoldiers just standing there, he commanded them. “Get lost.”

They scurried toward the stairway leading downward to a much larger force that would assure their deaths.

“Since you have decided to face me honorably, I will grant you the first assault.” He fell back into a readied stance.

“Very well.” I’d said what needed saying, so I began removing headset.

Before I could finish, I heard Victoria’s voice. “Lucius…”

With a sigh, I replied, “We’ll talk tonight.”

“Are you confident in winning? If not—”

“Victoria… Watch me.” Without waiting for a reply, I removed my headset. Placing it on one of my shadow drone’s hooks, it flew off.

I was already plenty warmed up, so I ignited my aura and fell into an aggressive stance.

“I thought you might want to know before you get started,” Destiny voice sounded. One of her microdrones was buzzing by my ear. “Major Jeff Wright was able to defeat his Centurion, though it was a desperate fight.”

“Good for him.” It really was impressive to be able to beat a genuine Ekseliksi Centurion your first time facing one. Major Wright was a true to life fighter, but Psionics were knew to him. I hoped to get to train with him in the future.

“As expected, this one seems more deadly than the one he fought. Without a weapon, that one was unable to use weapon enhancement on his limbs like this one does.”

I glanced again at my opponent’s claws. “It’s nothing we haven’t seen.”

“Just be careful.”

“You got it drone-head.”

I felt no mirth as I prepared to attack. What I told my opponent about the footage I’d watched was true. Even this morning, I’d had Destiny play me a few of the harder to watch scenes to remind myself why I was here.

I also recalled Victoria in the early days of Freedom. She wanted to sneak out after Peter had forbid it because she was desperate to make a name for herself. It was necessary for her to start her guild off on the right foot, and to have enough respect from others for them to take her seriously. I remember how determined she was to get every little thing right once the guild was formed, and then when she really came into her own during the siege for the goblin city. All that time, I didn’t know what she was fighting for, but I was ignorant no longer.

With only my aura, I rushed in. I teased different angles, then jabbed with a fist of shielded energy.

He flicked it aside.

I sidestepped, changing angles, and assailed him with a combination.

His speed was at the peak of rank E psionic users, but he didn’t waste energy. With each change of angle, he reacted appropriately.

Our exchanges began in earnest. He kept his hands extended and claws out to increase his reach—and the challenge.

I fell into a rhythm of attack and defense. I used shielding for both. Even with his claws psionically enhanced, they couldn’t pierce Apotho.

His speed increased as he quickly found my rhythm. The advantage was his, and soon he was pushing me back.

In the next instant, I broke our rhythm, thrusting my foot forward and driving it into his gut.

His grunt turned to howling glee. His rhythm changed, then the angles he attacked from became unnatural. Ever aspect of his fighting style changed.

It was as expected—as it should be. A genuine Ekseliksi Centurion was the highest level a soldier could reach without special psionic talent or reaching rank D.

I found myself backpedaling despite using all I’d learned from Achilles and my thousands of hours of training. His reach because of his claws were just too much of an advantage. That, and he made no mistakes.

It was then that he kicked at me from the side. I felt his energy spike as the psionic bolt formed low on his shin. It was to be a surprise attack. One that would stun me enough to end the fight.

Lifting my leg to block the kick, it was already covered in shielding energy. I took it as easily as if it were just another attack.

Whether it was planned or in response to my defense, he slashed out at my neck.

Leaning back, his attack missed its intended target, but his claws extended and raked into the flesh of my chest.

I gained some distance and he let me. As surprised as I was by the extension of his claws, he was more so by my response to his tricks.

I dropped my aura and sent Therapeia flooding into my wound. Blood still escaped, but the shallow cut began to close.

“You’re plíris?” Realizing I might not understand the term, he clarified. “Complete. You have unlocked the full spectrum of psionic abilities?”

“Yes,” I admitted.

“To be able to heal… Then that explains your skill in combat and why you look so young. Are you one of their founders?”

“I’m not.”

“And your age? How long have you been practicing psionics?”

“I’m eighteen. And I’ve been practicing for a year and three months.”

He smirked. “A prodigy then.” He bowed his head. “That will make killing you a much more honorable achievement.”

“You cannot kill me.”

Cocking his head to the side, he gave me a wistful grin. “Oh. You’re obviously well trained, but you’re still just a boy. I’ve been killing your equal for longer than you’ve been alive.”

“No. You haven’t,” I replied with little joy knowing I was about to make him eat his words. Othisi pushed me into the air, and I hovered their watching him. He was a real person that probably had a life in Ekseliksi space. Maybe he had a wife, or wives like Krato—even kids. He’d worked tirelessly to improve himself and reach the level of Centurion. He was amongst the best, however...

Destiny hadn’t been playing around when she took over the bandit simulation Achilles had gifted me. The three thousand eight hundred and ninety-three records of Ekseliksi attacks were thoroughly scanned by her. Each battle. Each exchange. Every possible ability, both physical and psionic, she’d dissected and filtered into the training AI. When she created a simulated rank E psionic opponent for me to face, it wasn’t at the level of the officers or even the Centurion standing before me. Just as the bandits had been superior to human sparring partners, the opponents I fought against on a daily basis were superior to all but the greatest rank E Ekseliksi that we had the data to reproduce. I died often, but after almost three months of fighting them, I won far more.

I begun to move in a circular pattern around him while not touching the ground. Starting at a steady speed, I approached from his flank so he could get a grasp of what was coming.

As I neared, he readied for a melee exchange. My fist flew out far too early, then the Apotho’s shielding exploded from it. A Shield Blast flew from my fist.

He blocked it with both arms.

I was gone before he could recover. My speed increased. I circled behind him as he got his bearings. When he spun to face me, I was already there.

Shield Blast struck him on his upheld arm and drove into his face. I pushed from one flank to the other, pulverizing him with blasts from a yard outside his range.

He drove toward me, swinging wide to try and catch me retreating, but I’d already appeared behind him and blast him low on the back.

I widened my arch so that he could better follow my movements.

Staring me down, he threw out his arms to the side and once again extended his claws. They now extended three inches from his fingertips. Being able to retract them was a neat and deadly trick, but against me he’d lost all advantage.

He dropped enhancing his claws all together and threw up his aura to give him top speed. He surged forward.

I met him head on. A hook with a Shield Blast angled me to the side.

He slashed out with his extended reach.

I smacked it downward with a shielded hand, then closed in and launched a Shield Blast a few inches from his face.

***

The four game-casters were speechless and had been for over a minute. Even Oren had forgot to say something just as had the other producers.

“What’s going on?” Bolt said, finally breaking the silence. “Was his movement ability always this overpowered?”

“He wasn’t always this faster, was he?” Mr. Rachet asked.

“It might just not have been that obvious,” Mia said keenly. “All of the top rank E participants can kill officers and overlords fairly quickly. This is the first opponent that even the Real Major struggled with, so now Lucius’s strengths are really showing.”

They watched as he circled behind the Centurion again. Even after being battered to the ground, the enemy had jumped to his feet and hadn’t hesitated to rejoin the fray. Lucius struck out with his energy attack, only to retreat before he was touched.

“Why all the guesswork?” LeLisa said, rolling her eyes.

A second screen appeared beside the one showing Lucius’s battle that had taken over almost all the panels. It was a smaller one with his fight against the overlords a few weeks ago. LeLisa was messing with an invisible menu and little counters popped up on both screens with speed and acceleration meters.

“Give it a moment,” she said.

The recording of his performance from two weeks ago played through at an extreme rate and was over in an instant. Then there was a flicker on the main screen as it did the comparison without forcing them to rewatch what had already happened in the fight. Results appeared on the screen.

First fight.

Top Speed Reached: 84 mph

Top Acceleration: 0 to 60 in 1.27 seconds

Current fight.

Top Speed Reached: 53 mph

Top Acceleration: 0 to 60 in 1.19 seconds

“The speed difference is likely because he’s fighting in a smaller area, but his acceleration has actually been faster today,” LeLisa confirmed.

“That’s how fast, exactly?” Bolt asked.

“The fastest land animal isa cheetah… It can reach a top speed of 75 mph and accelerate from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds. But…” She brought up another panel that analyzed the Real Major, and then compared to the Centurions.

Top Speed Reached: 58 mph

Top Acceleration: 0 to 60 in 2.01 seconds

“The Real Major and Centurions are almost even.”

Mr. Rachet drummed his fingers into the table. “So, unsurprisingly rank E psionic users using their aura are quicker than the fastest land animal, but maybe not as fast at top speed. Not that they’re sprinting all out. So Lucius using his push ability is almost twice as quick as they are?”

“You guys are missing it,” Mia warned.

The Centurion had stopped holding back his psionic bolts and was throwing them with abandon. It looked like he was trying to overcome Lucius’s reach advantage. It seemed to be working.

“Is he just going to run from him?” Bolt sounded annoyed.

“No,” Mia said with confidence. Earlier, she’d doubted him, but not any longer. “He’s just playing with him.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“You’ll see.”

***

I blocked some of his bolts, but most of them I let fly past.

His aim was as good as expected. Yet, his limits were clear.

I had nothing personal against him, but he was the enemy—and today, I had a point to make.

Cranking my energy to full power, I funneled all of it into my movement technique. Even as the circle I was skirting around him widened, so my speed increased.

He was soon struggling to keep up. When he turned his head to keep his visual, I cut my energy for just an instant. I’d had to angle my stance to the ground to create such speed which left me nearly parallel with it. From a crouched position, I erupted toward him.

He saw me coming, but his position was all wrong.

My fist propelled Shield Blast knocked his bolt casting hand away. Another battered his ribs. With the rest of my momentum, I leveled one right to his check.

He spun as he fell but came to his knees within seconds, chuckling as he did. Spitting out a mouth full of blood, he taunted me. “All of that to spill but a drop of blood. Your lack of bio-enhancements makes you weak, soft-skin. I could keep this up all day.”

I let Akonizo cover my fists. The silver enhancing energy was the same that had covered his claws, and some easily cut open my chest.

His expression darkened, but he dared me to come.

With a single push forward, I flew at him. A Phantom Fist shot for his head. He ducked below it.

With my aura shining, I dipped low beside him. And then I cut it. Silver energy overtook my fist as I slipped it between his guard and slammed it into his sternum—exactly where he’d pierced Handshake through. Before contact, push added velocity and Apotho followed up to hammer it home.

He didn’t fly back or stumble. He simply slumped to the ground.

Blood was already pooling on the ground from where Dragon Slayer had left a hole in his chest. I could tell he no longer knew where he was.

I found Handshake’s dagger, then returned to the Centurion. Closing his eyes with one hand, I finished him with the other.

Mara, as well as what was left of Vector’s platoon, popped up from the stairway and ran toward me. There were cheers and compliments, but they were mostly muted to my ears.

“Is it over?” I asked.

“Almost,” she replied. “They’re finishing them now.”

She waved me closer. Even reached for me, but I ignored the gesture.

“Let’s finish it,” was my only reply. I found the corner between walls and jumped up from one to the other until I reached the last courtyard.

When it was over, we had lost four hundred and sixty-seven people in total, almost half of our force. Defeating the Centurion gave us a little boost to our placement, but we ended up eighth. We’d just lost too many people. I was feeling it, even if I’d succeeded in what I’d set out to do.

The scoreboard appeared on the arched doors of the main building. Below it, a countdown was displayed with just over twenty minutes remaining. Many of the others watched highlights from the other battalions, or those still participating in the event. I sat there with my back against the wall. Mel was next too me with Olivia at his side. Kline stood amongst a group of his men, pole-hammers in hand, and spreading that infectious positivity of his. Barrell was there with me. So was Hwan.

I had redressed and was resting my eyes. That way others didn’t bother me. I was actually considering my actions from the day, questioning whether I’d handled things as I should have or not. Victoria had contacted me after it was over, but neither one of us knew what to say. At the moment, our conversation wasn’t private enough for us to say it anyways.

We assumed the countdown was holding us there just to give the judges enough time to adjust their scores. When it hit zero, I wasn’t even paying attention, but the volume of voices around me shot up. Opening my eyes, I saw everyone crowding around the doors of the main building. I didn’t have to get to my feet to check it out. Destiny brought up a screen with a clear view of what was happening.

In place of the countdown, text had replaced it.

Bonus Round

Dungeon Boss

Manticore King

Attacks equivalent to rank D psionics

Defense equivalent to rank D psionics

Physical abilities only

No psionics

Note: Each battalion is limited to one squad of ten. Team members can leave at any time but will no longer be able to return. No substitutions.

Reward

50% of your score will be added to your total.

I didn’t even wait for Victoria to contact me. “Mel, Barrell. Let’s go.” Getting to my feet, I found Kline and gave him a firm swat on the back for once. “I still haven’t seen this surprise you promised.”

He grinned at me.

Two of our remaining three rank E psionic users were still alive after the day’s event. That left us four spaces. Barrell and Mel both chose a man and Kline picked another two.

“Can we bring that rail-cannon with us?” Barrell with a frown.

“No,” Peter said, addressing all of us through a newly created channel. “We received very specific directions. It’s just you guys and what you can carry. And no, the kind of explosives that could kill it aren’t allowed.”

“That’s no fun,” Kline gripped heartily. “Looks like I really will have to pull out the big guns.”

“How are you guys on energy?”

Everyone involved were found to have at least a third or more remaining. With all the resting I had done I had almost two thirds of my total.

“Hello everyone,” Victoria said, joining in. “We’re speculating that this bonus event exists because they didn’t have a one-on-one competition between battalions. Because of the limit in the number of people that can participate, it means only the best will be there. Also, if this boss monster really has equivalent to rank D psionic shielding, then it’s likely you won’t be able to pierce it’s hide no matter what you do.”

It didn’t have to be said that it meant that only those peak rank E psionic users like the Real Major with his overcharge technique would have a shot.

“I’m not going to tell you guys not to try, but if it’s impossible, I ask that you then retreat. Even if we lose this round, winning the rest of Vanguard isn’t out of the question.”

The other’s all answered in the affirmative, but she caught it when I didn’t respond. She contacted me privately. “You’ll retreat if it’s impossible, right?”

“If it’s impossible, sure. But we have to try. How’d I look with my shirt off, by the way?”

“I’m not going to answer that.”

“You’re blushing.”

“Am not.”

“Should I ask Destiny to show me your reaction?”

“You’re terrible.”

I paused before softening my tone. “Don’t worry about what happened today. I’ll take care of it. And if this thing really is impossible to defeat. We’ll catch up.”

“I’m not worried. Really.”

“Good. Now wish us luck.”

Any semblance of formation amongst our people had disappeared fifteen minutes ago. We waded through the crowd of our soldiers and friends, they lauded us like a squad of Combat Masters before a match. As we neared the now opened doors, I spotted Mara in the crowd and immediately felt bad for all the times I’d given her a cold shoulder the last couple weeks. I was sure she’d gotten the point by now, so I squeezed through and gave her a side hug.

Her smile was friendly, and a little sad, but she was quick to receive it.

Stepping in through the castle doors, we found ourselves in a warmly lit room of stone with nothing but a large flight of stairs in the middle of the room descending.

“It did say dungeon,” Kline said.

“I guess that mean’s we go down?” Barrell asked.

“It wouldn’t sound as good if it said basement,” I replied.

He punched my shoulder.

“Then we descend to face the basement king,” Kline declared.

“King of basements sounds better,” Mel said, jumping into the conversation.

They both smacked him on the back in unison.

And so we descended. The grin fell from my face. One day in the far future, I’d be facing a Vasileia while only at the level of Krato. To have any chance, I’d have to develop a technique capable of killing one. This Manticore King was equivalent to a psionic rank higher and would be a good test to see how far I’d come. I began cycling my energy in Dragon Slayer’s pattern. My timing was already sharp, and blood was flowing. Now it was just to see what craziness they chosen to throw at us.