Chapter 50: Building Up
Heavy beats were pounding in his ears, driving his thoughts, guiding his will. Marcus took a deep breath and focused, pushing his body and mind one last time to the limit. Sweat was running down his half naked body, dripping on the paved ground, under the Italian sun. He unleashed his attack combo, a set of strikes and kicks each with full power and with no regard to his own health. His fists and feet hit the massive granite block in rapid succession pushing it back and one last straight from Marcus’ right hand made it topple over and break apart. Another one down, Marcus thought while his body had already repaired most of the damage he had caused to himself. He took off his earphones and allowed his pulse to slowly return to normal.
Marcus looked at the remains of his training target and sighed, replacing it would take time. The granite blocks were not very expensive, they got them from a nearby quarry. They were about the only thing that could withstand Marcus’ training at least for a while but removing the debris and putting up a new one was a hassle.
Marcus took a towel and a bottle of water and got himself cleaned up and refreshed. He was only wearing short pants for his training and only now he put on a long shirt and some sandals. He walked over to the obstacle course further behind the villa and watched Achara and Kou train. Over the last months their teamwork had improved greatly. Achara was running and jumping while calling out various orders and Kou was following along.
This has been the solution to make Kou more effective, he no longer makes moves by himself, the team orders him. This was far harder on Kou, and only possible because he was able to quickly analyze any situation, but it had let to an impressive improvement in capability. “LIFT” Achara’s voice echoed over the land and she jumped more than ten meter high, landed on a small platform and shouted “STOP” and her movement stopped dead. The new tactic allowed the whole team to move much more freely at the cost of pushing Kou to his limit. Kou himself was much happier compared to the often unclear combat situation before. This together with his new area effect ability made him a true support powerhouse.
After Kou went on a little adventure together with Achara he came back strong enough to unlock his third ability. He was now able to affect some space nearby and make it influence all movement inside. He explained it like putting invisible direction arrows inside the space and everyone going with the arrows can move faster and easier and everyone opposing the arrows feels like treading through mud. The stronger Kou would get the larger and more powerful the effect would get too. Marcus was already slow compared to the rest but when he tried to go against the arrows he felt like a snail.
That did not mean he had not made progress himself. The opposite, he had gotten more used to full power attacks that damage his own body, focused attacks and fast combos. But maybe most importantly he had created the Jack Hammer. After pushing for faster combos for some time he finally realized he did not have to throw several punched to unleash several Impulse Hammers. It was kind of obvious but he could pump out several in a row as long as he has contact to his target. The damage potential was massive, as is the endurance cost, when he pumps ball after ball of red energy (only in his head) into the target. The problem was that it was a niche application. As powerful as it was, it demanded that his target stayed in contact even after he blasted it over and over. Marcus hoped it would turn into a nice monster killer eventually.
Achara had become much better with her fighting style and she was getting ready to include her next ability. She would need a lot more training but once Phase Walk was part of her style, she would become even more lethal than she already was. The other women of their core team, Janette, had been working hard too. The speed at which she can use Hunter Sight had greatly improved to the point that once she sees you you will never get away from her again. Talking about her, Marcus turned around and walked towards the large villa where Janette and her wife were basking in the sun, drinking cocktails with little umbrellas. Now that they had a HQ Cherry came by every few weeks and stayed for at least a week. They all had gotten used to it. Marcus just waved at them and vanished inside the building to go shower.
Marcus wanted to take it slow but right after the “hell hole” situation things had gotten even faster. Kou did incredible work and in only two weeks they had found and bought a large villa in southern Italy. It was only half built and was sold by the government for an apple and an egg. It was slightly away from the public and it came with a large piece of land. Marcus had the feeling there was a deeper story to this but he was happy enough for the lucky find. They paid for the renovation and build some training facilities and had a grand opening party, that included only Colors of the Wild and Cherry.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
It was about that time that Kim’s promised reward reached Marcus. How the man had found out where he was so quickly, he did not know but one morning a heavily secured transporter showed up and delivered a package and a very large box for him. The box contained a large gray wall like he had seen in Kim’s training room. The thing ate a lot of power but was incredible for analyzing and improving attacks. He and Achara used it all the time. Marcus had tried to find out how expensive this training tool was but could not even find out who built it. It was most likely something that would hit the markets only in a few years.
The other reward was a special black mobile phone with Kim’s personal number. The letter in the package made it clear that he can only use this phone to call him and nobody else. Marcus got the feeling that Kim’s life was more complicated than he thought. You did not need these measures against monsters or some crazy fans. This is something you prepare when governments and intelligence services come after you.
Marcus had talked with Kim about what happened to his arm and even he was speechless. He promised to look into it and also indicated that he wanted to make some experiments in the future. Marcus was fine with that if it meant he would learn more about his ability. A few weeks after their call Kim announced officially that he had found the fourth Paladin ability, “Light’s Mercy”. As predicted it was a form of full restoration but it needed time to recharge by sucking away a part of your endurance. Depending on your crests it can take a day to a week to recover.
The announcement was meet with great hype, which only increased when Kim said “I was only able to unlock this ability through the help and support of my disciple.” in the press conference. Kim never revealed Marcus’ name, but Kim had also never told Marcus anything about that, and the whole team looked at Marcus with big eyes, when the news hit.
Of course the internet went crazy and for weeks every hopeful Paladin was handled as the secret disciple including Grace Taylor, who made it clear it was not her. Marcus dreaded the day this secret would get out. He would be eaten alive by the internet and the media.
Marcus finished his shower, put on light clothes in his sparsely decorated room and took out his normal phone. There was something he had been pushing back over and over, but he had to finally work up the courage to do it. He called the number in his contact list and waited. He was truly afraid, not of the chat but that nobody would pick up the phone. 5 times, 6 times the phone rang and Marcus’ heart started to tighten, then “Hello?”. A familiar woman’s voice answered the call. Marcus closed his eyes and his heart returned to normal “Hello Ms. Russell, it is me Marcus.” he said and the woman on the other side laughed with delight. “Marcus! Good to hear from you, I was just in my garden, so it took a bit to answer the phone.”
They exchanged some nice words and Marcus came to the point of his call “Ms. Russell I know this is not exactly in line with your plans but I would like to invite you to join our clan Colors of the Wild.” Marcus quickly explained a few things about the clan and what it meant for her to join. Ms. Russell stayed silent for some time before she gave him a long answer “When I came home after our adventure, I felt like I had done all that was left. But once I was home, I found my garden in front the house had gotten wild and needed work. The fruit trees behind the house also were in bad shape and I have been hard at work to get everything done. Before I knew it months had gotten by and I was still busy making marmalade for the neighbors. As it turned out there is still more life in these old bones than I thought. The idea to join you youngsters on such an adventure delights me. I will gladly accept your invitation.”
Marcus nearly jumped to the ceiling and cheered what made Ms. Russell laugh with joy. After they discussed some details Marcus finished the call and ran through the large building informing the whole clan that they would soon have a Priest in their clan. All were happy about the news with the exception of Janette. “Noooo. That means I have to behave again.” she said with great pain. It seemed that nice, old ladies are the kryptonite of Janette.
In a different place, another young, blond woman had a worried face as she looked over various digital information displayed on a large screen in front of her. The room looked like a study filled with many documents and books. A second woman joined her, she was much older and in contrast to the blonde did not exude the air of a warrior. “We are getting close to finishing the preparations. But you do not look too good, Grace.” Carmen said to her expedition leader. “I had not foreseen how difficult it would be to find enough class holders for the protection groups.” Grace said and furrowed her brows. “We can not bring some dumb muscle to this mission. This needs tact and the ability to think before acting. Not to talk about trust, keeping all of this secret is absolutely vital.” The younger woman looked exhausted and Carmen touched her arm in support. “I might know somebody. I have personal experience with them and they have proven to be trustworthy and capable.” Carmen said and Grace looked hopeful. “Anybody I would know?” but Carmen shook her head. “No, but I will call them and see if they are available.” She left the room with a faint smile, took out her phone and searched the name Kou Saito in her contact list.
