Chapter 189 - Field Trip

Keith frowned as he waited in his office, pacing the room frantically while his eyes continuously glanced towards the arctech radio placed on his desk. The moment a call came through, Keith picked up with haste. “Adrian, update?”

[I’m getting reports from the patrol guards and the observers that Niko and Damian are still at the site.]

“Have they talked to you directly?”

[...No.]

“That doesn’t make sense. Niko would never miss his drinking session at this timing. And why would the investigation take more than twelve hours?” Keith furrowed his brows.

[I’ll check up again with my observers. Should we tell Kyle?]

“Yes. There’s a non-zero chance that our observer network has been compromised.”

[I’ve vetted all of them personally]

“Everyone has a price, Adrian.” Keith shrugged it off. “People change over time.” He did not believe that the Seven Snakes was truly unified, especially with the insane rate of growth that the gang had experienced over the last few months. It was almost inevitable that there would be traitors or double agents within the gang – Keith was only afraid to what extent.

[Alright, I’ll let Kyle know.]

“Where’s Sasha right now?”

[She’s still out in the other districts fighting remnants of the Ardent Cretins.]

“Fine.” Keith ended the call, going through his notes for the last three days, trying to figure out if there was a traitor among the Seven Snakes leaking the information of Niko and Damian.

He had a sinking feeling that Niko and Damian were already caught or kidnapped by the Tul’e Da’li, a similar situation to how he was kidnapped by the Ilysian Punks prior to their conflict. “Get more men out to the outlying districts on patrol, I want any single suspicious activity to reported back immediately. Any signs of the Tul’e Da’li should be escalated right away.” Keith ordered a few of his clerks, who relayed the command down.

Soon, the arctech radio rang again, this time being Kyle and Adrian, both of whom were now in the observation tower at the Culdao Peaks. [It seems our gang has been inflitrated.] Kyle remarked, though he did not sound fazed or surprised. It was as though he had been expecting such a situation to eventually happen, only just a matter of when.

[Do we know the last location of Niko and Damian?] Kyle continued asking.

“Yes, at one of the outlying districts, where most of the thugs seem to be concentrating at. We are not sure whether it is the Tul’e Da’li yet, but we’re working on it.”

[Don’t bother, if our observer network has been compromised, any information you get cannot be trusted. I’ll personally bring one elite squad to flush them out. Adrian, get one aerial observation hovercraft up over Raktor. I want you to personally do it.]

[Yes sir.]

At the Culdao Peaks, Kyle got up from his seat, returning to the Oracle Chambers where Mari was fighting tooth and nail against two elite squad soldiers in a training room, ducking and weaving between metal plates that served as temporary cover. “Progress?” Kyle asked Orisa.

[Significantly better than she was a week ago. She is learning extremely fast.]

Kyle watched as Mari leapt from behind cover, slinging three arcia bolts rapidly with a single swing of her arm, the bolts even emerging from her forearm rather than just her arms. He examined the flow of arcia, noticing Mari was far more competent at wielding arcia energy and controlling it, albeit only within her body.

The mages he recalled like Ares or the Elder from the Nona cult could control arcia energy far beyond his body, something that he wanted to learn. The sheer learning speed of Mari made his arcia training sessions with her even more effective, improving Kyle’s own ability.

He had yet to break through to the next stage of Arcia Reinforcement, but it was looking promising, especially when he could directly observe a natural talent do it. If I can replicate her control, I will be able to not solely rely on my System skills during battle. Perhaps I can even modify them at will.

Theoretically, Kyle could already influence arcia energy beyond his body with Intimidation Aura, This is My Turf and Negation Field, all of which manipulated external arcia. However, they were automatically casted by the System rather than by himself consciously, which Kyle felt was a bit limiting, especially during his fight with Ares. Ares seemed to be able to control the hands indefinitely, given enough energy.

Kyle knew that eventually he would have to let Mari out to experience a real life-or-death battle. Perhaps I can bring her along to the outlying districts. It would be a good way to harden her even more to the world and make her less naive.

The problem was he did not know anything about the situation. For all he knew, Niko and Damian being kidnapped could be a trap to lure him out in the first place. He decided to wait and see the results of Adrian’s aerial observations to get a rough idea of what he was up against.

Just as he was contemplating the next steps of training, he watched Mari get hit right in the arm by an arctech pellet, sending her spiralling onto the ground, blood gushing out from the wound. The two elite soldiers quickly moved forward, immediately surrounding her with their rifles aimed as she was groaning on the floor.

[End of training.] Orisa’s voice echoed through the chamber, prompting the two elite soldiers to immediately relax and retreat.

“Fuck!” Mari cursed as she gingerly plucked the pellet out her wound, wincing slightly as her fingers dug into her own flesh. She had refused to do it the first time, only being forced eventually by Kyle to do so. Kyle wanted her to be fully independent, able to survive a fight on her own.

She drew a health potion vial from her belt, pouring a bit over the wound to heal it slowly while she got up, walking out of the training hall towards the viewing gallery, where Kyle was already waiting for her.

“I thought they were reloading!” Mari complained immediately, pre-empting Kyle’s incoming advice.

“You should’ve counted the number of pellets being fired. I would have forgiven you if there were more than four of them, but with only two and a known number of pellets per magazine, it’s rudimentary.”

“For you. I’ve only been at this for a week! Cut me some slack!” Mari bristled.

“Will the enemy aiming for your friends cut you some slack just because you ask them to? Don’t be so naive.”

Mari wanted to retort, but decided not to, keeping her anger to herself. I swear one day I’ll beat his face in.

“Good, put that anger to use. It’ll help in your training.”

“Training this, training that. It’s been nothing but training since I woke up here! When the hell am I gonna get a break?”

“Depending on what happens in the next hour, you might get a break soon.”

Mari’s eyes lightened up immediately. “Really?! That’s awesome! Can I go play with my friends?”

“Not the kind of break you’re thinking about.” Kyle shook his head. “Remember our agreement? You still have to work for me. It’ll be a good training experience.”

Mari’s initial excitement was immediately doused in cold water, her face dejected. Is this really going to be the rest of my life? All work, no play?!

“You already have eight hours a day as a break, I don’t understand why you are so upset.”

“I spend most of it sleeping!” Mari shot back. “Nothing happens then!”

“Then just sleep less. It’s simple.”

“Simple for you maybe.” Mari scowled, though she wondered when did Kyle sleep. It seemed like he was forever awake, always putting out fires everywhere.

“Don’t look down on yourself, or sell yourself short. I can look down on you, but you can’t look down on yourself.”

“What?”

[Sir, I’m right over the site now.] Before the two of them could continue bickering, Adrian’s voice was relayed to Orisa’s system. [I don’t see any signs of Niko and Damian, but I do see signs of a fight. It seems Niko and Damian has indeed been captured.]

“By who?”

[Not sure, but it doesn’t seem to be the Tul’e Da’li. Most of the thugs hanging around the district are all small fries, no big mercenaries companies either.]

“You’re saying a small ragtag group of thugs managed to capture Niko and Damian?”

[I wouldn’t say small – there’s close to fifty of them.]

That’s more than double what the Seven Snakes were when I first took over, I should’ve heard about this gang before.“Any obvious signs? Emblems? I thought the Red Lions and Wretches were subsumed under the Ardent Cretins.”

[That’s the thing: None of the big shots from either gang is in this district, all of the thugs are former associates of the two gangs or outsiders.]

That’s even weirder. “How are they organized?”

[I’ll need to do some more observations to track their movements, but I’ve already seen a few of them scavenge for war equipment and weapons from other districts.]

“Got it, keep me updated.” Kyle turned back to Mari, examining her. Her face was bright as day, her face showing signs of realization that it is related to the ‘break’ Kyle mentioned before.

Despite her obvious enthuaism, Kyle felt that she might be more of a liability than a boon. He would need to constantly keep an eye out for her and protect her. Furthermore, revealing her in a public mission might draw even more eyes and attention to the Seven Snakes.

However, it could also serve as a potential deterrent against the Tul’e Da’li, forcing them to stop their entry into the controlled districts of the Seven Snakes. Kyle was certain he was considered stronger than Ares now by the other major gangs, and by showing a second successor under him, it could scare off any potential enemies with an even higher effectiveness.

Kyle contemplated for a while, while Mari couldn’t stop thinking about the break, already excited to go see the city. The idea that she would have to fight thugs hardly registered in her mind – she has been fighting elite squad soldiers continuously as well, and if the thugs were as small-time as Adrian had said, it would be like a walk in the park. “That sounds fun! Is that my work assignment? I get to leave Culdao Peaks?”

Should I bring her along? Kyle eventually settled on yes, as the potential experience and subsequent deterrence far outweighed the reveal. If the Tul’e Da’li was truly behind this they would then think twice. Either way, Mari would return to the Culdao Peaks, making it impossible for her to be kidnapped as well unlike in Raktor.

She needs the experience – she can’t be cooped up forever. “Suit up. It’s time for your field trip.” Kyle relented, with Mari punching the air in celebration.

“Whoo!” Mari cheered as she ran off excitedly back to her room, enthuasistic about being able to see a new place, leaving Kyle alone in the viewing gallery, smiling to himself at the sight of Mari running off.

“Adrian, I’m bringing two squads and Mari over.” Kyle reopened the arctech radio communication channel as he walked out towards his own personal armoury.

A sudden coughing sound erupted from the other end. [...waitwaitwait... you’re bringing a twelve-year old kid to a active combat zone, where a major gang is most likely using it as a trap? What?]

The door to the personal armoury slid open, revealing the two exosuits: Version 0 and Version 1, while all the weapons he had collected over the years were displayed nicely as well on wall-mounted racks. Weapons like Riker’s metal pipe, Lionel’s hammer, the pulverizer and a few dozen detonation spears.

“What’s the worry? I’m there personally too. And don’t worry, I’ll give her protective measures. She’ll have a personal shield relic.” Kyle assured Adrian as he put on the Version 1 exosuit.

Adrian did not know what to say. By Yual, he’s giving everything to her. Is she some long-lost daughter or something? Naturally, he did not say that out loud, keeping it to himself lest he earned Kyle’s ire. [Yes sir, but that may not be enough. The trap may have already accounted for the use of such relics.]

Kyle picked up his Spear of Defiance, spinning it in his graps before checking the damage from the war. “If it’s a trap, it better be stronger than Ares.”