Chapter 8

FIGHT!

Kris ran towards Francis. He jumped and swung his right fist at him. Francis blocked with his left arm but the impact made him take a few steps back. His arm stung a bit. Kris closed the gap and struck Francis's face with a left hook. Francis' eyes widened with surprise but he stepped and leaned back just in time to avoid contact. Kris dived in with a right power swing aimed to knock down Francis but Francis caught it with his left palm and squeezed against Kris. Kris glared in shock at the ease at which his punch was stopped. Francis struck at kris with his right fist but Kris blocked with his left arm.

"Tch..." Kris groaned at the slight pain. Francis dragged Kris by the hand he caught and kneed him in the gut. Kris' eyes widened and he coughed out. Francis lifted him by the waist, into the air and slammed him onto the ground.

"Gaaahkkkk!" Kris screamed out as he felt the impact across his body. The crowd went wild with an "ouuuuuuuu"

"Come on Su! I don't want to waste my turn. Come down here and let's have our rematch!" Francis exclaimed as he turned towards Su. She laughed and pointed at Kris. Francis turned his face to be met with a right high kick from Kris.

"Bold of you to turn away during a fight!" Kris fumed. The kick made Francis take two steps back with his face down to his right. Kris was surprised. He expected the kick to knock him down.

"This guy is strong. My body still aches from that last slam. I guess there is no point in holding back." Kris thought to himself as he clenched his fist.

"Are you mocking me?" Francis glared at Kris.

"Huh?"

"If you had hit me with your source energy, I might have lost right there. So why didn't you?"

Kris remained silent as he wasn't really sure how to answer that, but to Francis, it felt like Kris was looking down on him, which pissed him off. Francis closed the gap between them.

"This guy..." Kris hissed silently as he tried to back off. Francis struck twice, a right jab then a left, which Kris dodged and replied with two of his that connected but seem to not affect Francis. Francis launched a straight jab at Kris' face but Kris used his left hand to direct the punch away and struck Francis in the nose. As Francis leaned backward, Kris stomped his right foot forward and punched Francis twice on his chest (a right, then a left), switched his stance to make his left leg the leading leg and he did a roundhouse kick to Francis' neck forcing him to fall on his right Knee. Francis rose back up with an uppercut from his right hand which kris blocked with his left but the force pushed  Kris' hand to his chest tossing him to the side. He landed on his side but rolled back to a crouching position. He was panting as he watched Francis adjust his neck while walking closer to him.

"Kris is fast and his moves are intentional, barely wasted. But he is using human strength to fight against source boosted strength. He's never going to win that way." The mediator noted to Su. She smiled and kept her eyes focused on the fight.

"Your energy is weak. You could hit me all day and all I'll feel is the impact of a newborn punch to a grown adult. You will lose because you are nothing more than a novice." Francis declared as he took his boxing stance.

"SHUT UP!" Kris roared as he charged at Francis. Francis moved quickly towards a running kris and before Kris could stop his momentum, Francis appeared sideways to Kris. He stomped Kris' leg as he bent into a horse stance and elbowed him in the guts. Kris coughed out saliva but Francis used the base of his right palm to hit his jaw, shutting his mouth, then he twisted rightwards and punched Kris directly in the face forcing him to the ground. Kris bounced on the impact on his back then spun over to land on his face. He was down at the centre of the arena. The crowd went wild with cheers and claps.

"I guess that's all." A spectator sighed.

"Yeah. I don't know why he refuses to use his energy. He really shouldn't underestimate his opponent." Another retorted.

The mediator walked towards Kris and asked. "Can you go on?"

"Yyy...yeah..." Kris stammered as he tried to get up. He squeezed his fist on the floor as he pushed to stand. His nose and mouth were bleeding and his head was spinning. His breathing was difficult but he felt he could manage.

"I'll give you points for resilience. But you should have stayed down." Francis smirked.

Kris rose to his feet and placed his hands on his knees to gain balance. He had felt being superior in strength to most people all his life until his confrontation with James. Now he was being tossed into a world where his strength is basically meaningless. This realization made him frustrated as he smiled.

"This is the end newbie." Francis prattled on as he dashed forward at Kris. He clenched his fist and attempted to give a right hook to Kris.  Kris burst out his red source energy. The entire hall was shocked. He held Francis' right fist and with a roar gave Francis a right hook to his cheek. Francis spat out a tooth and blood as he turned rightwards and took a few steps till he fell to his knees.

"Shit." Su cursed silently.

"He's done for," The Mediator facepalmed.

"Well... that was a good punch. Too bad you don't know how to utilize your power." Francis mocked as he stood to his feet.

Kris' eyes fell with despair. He put everything he had into that punch and still Francis was up and well. So many thoughts ran through his head as he took a few steps back. All he felt were danger signs from Francis. Francis' body glowed and a light green aura covered him. Just a few centimetres away from his body.

"Regardless, you broke the rules. Now..." Francis was suddenly behind kris.

"It's over." He murmured. That was when Kris realised that Francis was behind him. As he turned, Francis punched his face. The pain and impact knocked Kris out before spinning him in the air from the centre of the arena till he smashed into the wall at the edge.

"Winner! Francis!" The mediator roared and the crowd screamed along. He whispered to Su to help take Kris to the infirmary. When she got close to him, his face was bloodied and his hair fell to cover his eye.

"Yeesh...Let's get you to a doctor." She muttered.

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Kris felt himself sinking in a dark area again. This time he reached the floor. He couldn't see much except for a red line from his feet leading into the darkness directly in front of him.

"Twice in a day and you finally reached the base," James muttered.

"Where am I?" Kris questioned.

"Deep within your core, kinda like a subconscious but not exactly."

"How do I get out?"

"That depends on when you wake up. Of course, I can wake you up... but you would have to learn how to drift in and out of here on your own eventually."

"Okay... so where are you?"

"At the end of this red line."

Kris got to his feet and took two steps before falling back to his knees.

"You can't get here unless you can sync more with me."

"What? Really? And how do I do that?"

"Learn to utilize your power more. Don't ask me how, the how is something you already know."

Kris took a deep breath and let out a gentle sigh.

"Fine."

"Was that so hard?" James laughed as he flicked his fingers. Kris woke up. His face was bandaged and his body ached a lot.

"You shouldn't try to move yet." Su cautioned. He gave a deep sigh.

"Where am I?"

"In the infirmary. You were out for six hours."

"Six hours... wow. How bad did I do?"

"To be very candid, she thought you would do poorly. You overcame her expectations... she is impressed."

"Tchh... Why exactly did you take me there? I am sure it wasn't for some friendly hangout." Kris hissed as he turned to her.

"It actually was."

"Really?"

"Well... not entirely." she covered her face with her palms and looked away.

"Then why?"

"She wanted to show you that power without knowledge on how to use it is pointless. She sees that you are strong and you try to be independent. But hopelessness, when you assume you have strength, is the most traumatic experience ever. She wanted to break that delusion of being strong so that you could truly acquire strength."

"Why?"

"Because she was the same when she first came here."

Kris's eyes widened as he looked at her and she smiled gently at him.

"Sorry..."

"Don't be. I understand." Kris's face became remorseful.

"I have a lot to apologise for." He added.

"Yes, you do." Su smiled. "Once you have learned how to use your power, she can help you get up to speed on the 'practical' application." She jeered.

"I look forward to it... ermm"

"The name is Su. Ming Su"

"Well, I am Kris, Just Kris." Both laughed.

"Nice to officially meet you. 'Just Kris' " She chuckled. Abubakr entered the room and she stood to salute him.

"Could I have a moment to speak to him?"

"Yes sir!" Su turned to Kris and waved before taking her leave.

"Don't let that cute and gentle smile fool you. She's the current top of this set of recruits and known to be utterly ruthless." Abubakr reckoned.

"Wow... I don't even have the strength to be shocked anymore," Kris sighed.

"I heard about the beating you took. You look much worse in person."

"It was just... You know what, forget it. I need to pay him back for this."

"Hoo... And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Sergeant Abubakr. I'd salute but I can't feel my arms. Regardless, I would like for you to instruct me on how to use my powers. I have realized my flaws and I am sorry for how I treated you...and called you one-armed. So would you help me..."

"NO!" Abubakr responded sharply with a straight face.

Kris looked lost and confused.

There was a brief awkward silence and Abubakr burst into laughter. Kris rolled his eyes and wanted to bury his face in his pillow.

"Oh my God! You should have seen your face! An arrogant twat as yourself can actually try to be polite? I did not expect this," he kept laughing as Kris kept mumbling to himself.

"I heard you'll be discharged in two days. We shall meet in the lecture hall by then."

Kris didn't reply. He just looked away and scowled till Abubakr left.

TWO DAYS LATER, Kris and Abubakr were in the lecture hall. Abubakr flicked his fingers and holograms appeared on a large desk. There was a portal and demons of different origins including humans shooting at them. It was like a mini video playing along as Abubakr explained.

"To understand source energy, you need to start from the basics. Humanity was introduced to source energy in the second world war when the first portal in France opened up. We were stormed by troops of demons and creatures only thought to exist in books and fantasies. They spread all over Europe. Our weapons were useless against them. Even shells from tanks couldn't penetrate their armours. Thousands were murdered in hours. Luckily, The U.S had developed a nuclear bomb and was en route to Japan. They diverted their course and brought the bomb to the site of the portal. After nuking the area a large withdrawal of energy sucked in both the radioactive elements and the creatures. The portal reduced but did not completely vanish. Three demons were left behind at death's door from the attack. They were captured and studied by the most brilliant of minds from all over the world. Humans had finally found a reason to unite." Abubakr narrated.

"Well hate to break it to you but we were already taught this in history classes and a seminar held by you guys," Kris interjected.

"Shush. Don't interrupt. This is where the main part begins." Abubakr cut him short.

The holograms displayed six types of cores, spherical with rings around them. They varied in size and colour. Yellow being the smallest core, green the next, then blue, red, white, and finally black which was the largest. Abubakr continued his narration.

"The first core to be retrieved by humans was the blue core. That's when we realized that only living demons can have their cores extracted. The core itself had a special ring. The ring allows it to pull in energy from the surrounding. Not just any energy though, outer-worldly energy that when processed by the core takes colour to indicate its strength. We call that energy, source energy. Through countless experiments and invasions from the demons, Humanity discovered more about the demon cores and source energy. The core itself has a clear colour and a basic size but once it begins to convert the source energy, it changes in size and colour. We still don't know what fully determines the ability of a core to produce the various colours and grow in size since at a neutral state, they are all the same size and clear in colour, but at least the colour of the energy and armor of a demon determines its type or rather class of energy."

"So the bigger the core, the stronger its energy..." Kris chimed in

"Exactly and also the particular characteristic colour as you can notice. Yellow being the weakest and black being the strongest. The colours divide the cores into classes and those of a higher class are significantly stronger than the classes below them. That's not all, the difference in classes becomes greater the higher you go. The difference between blue and green is far higher than the difference between green and yellow and I'd still say it's almost impossible for a yellow class to defeat a green class. Based on raw power alone."

"So mine is the third strongest on the list... Interesting. Wait, how come I don't see many red sources around?"

"That's due to two reasons. The first is that the stronger the colour, the more difficult it is to defeat the demon without killing it. The second being, those that have red sources and above are mostly taken to France, the area of the first portal and the most dangerous of the big three."

"The big three?" Kris asked and the hologram showed three expansive portals in three different locations. France, Egypt, and the U.S.

"Yeah. The big three, although now there are only two, are the largest portals that caused havoc over the years. Really powerful demons usher out of these especially during a blood moon." Abubakr clenched his fist. He stared directly into Kris's eyes.

"Twelve years ago, during the bloodiest blood moon till date, the U.S portal suddenly vanished. Demons were not sucked back in and everywhere was littered with corpses. The biggest achievements were made and the majority of cores we use today were gotten from those at a near-death state on that day. That's where the current commanders got their promotions from as those with the highest contributions. Also where humans attained the first sets of white source soldiers."

"What? Humans didn't have white sources? You mean the commander wasn't always white?"

"Nope. She was formerly a red source. So also was Major Louis, another prominent white source soldier who turned down the opportunity of commanding a base, and the current commander of the O.W.A.D in France."

"You said it was impossible for a lower class to defeat a higher class. Then how were they able to beat a white source if they were lower?"

"Awakening." the holograms morphed into a group of white source soldiers facing a portal. "Although not so common and frankly was the first time it happened, a few red sources who stared death in the face, overcame it and awakened into the white sources we have today. Awakening allows you to transcend your class into the classes above. We've had a yellow source transcend to blue and blue sources transcend to red at most twice a year. The criteria for awakening has not fully been understood but near death during a blood moon has been a likely trigger."

"Wow. This is… a lot."

"Yeah, we will be stopping here today. It's time for your drills. Go to the C3 block at the west wing. You would see the beginner's testing room to the resistance training. You need to refine your source energy even more before we can begin the manipulation stage."

"Alright then."

"Remember we are still at the surface of what you must know, so don't forget to meet here by 0900 tomorrow."

"Yeah yeah, I know." Kris stood and walked out of the room. As he headed to the testing room, he saw a group of soldiers running towards a shelter. He met up with one of them and asked what was going on.

"Demon sighted at Dahab. Blue source." The soldier replied. "We are going to back up the source soldier deployed to take it down."

He kept running towards a shelter-like room. Kris was excited and his eyes lit up. He followed the soldier and managed to sneak into the shelter unnoticed. The soldier got fully dressed with his mask and gun. As he headed to exit the shelter, Kris gathered source energy in his hand and knocked out the soldier dragging him away quickly before others came out of the shelter. He tied the soldier up and took his gear and joined others jugging to a jeep. He entered and the Jeeps headed for Dahab.

"Really?" James scoffed after taking over Kris's right eye.

"What the ff..." Kris nearly freaked out but composed himself as some soldiers looked in his direction.

"Relax, you are in a mask, no one can see the change."

"Why are you here?" Kris scoffed as he whispered.

"Why are you?" James hissed.

"I want to see what a demon looks like in real life."

"You are a weird person. Your entire mindset is beyond me. You have very little sense of fear. It's both amazing and worrisome."

"Do you want me to pull you back in?"

"That's SUS... but I am tagging along this time. If you get killed, there is no guarantee that I'll survive. So I am staying involved."

"Is everything alright?" A soldier asked Kris.

"Let him be, he's probably new." Another responded. "As long as you remember your training, you won't die unnecessarily."

They all laughed as the Jeep moved on till they got to a small tourist village located on the banks of the blue hole in Dahab. Explosions were happening around them as the jeeps swerved to avoid them. They stopped and the soldiers got down.

"Get to positions!" A captain yelled and the men began to scatter. James released a light amount of source energy from Kris' eye in order to scan the area for a good vantage point.

"What are you doing?" Kris challenged as he began jogging away from the concentration of soldiers.

"Scanning for a good vantage point?"

"What? I can do that?"

"Probably, you are using my powers after all."

"But why are you doing that? Bruh... I don't plan on engaging the demon, I just want to see what it looks like."

"Yeah... that's why I am looking for the best place away from possible contact."

"Ohh smart."

James sighed, "Alright. I want you to relax." He added.

Kris took a deep breath and James took over Kris' right side. Then he teleported to a tower at the end of the village. He reduced his manifestation back to just Kris' right eye.

"We can teleport?! Why didn't you say that before?"

"Didn't you watch my fight with the demon?" James grunted.

"Tch... but I can never get used to the whole you taking over my body. It's freaky... Really freaky. Ughhhh" Kris shuddered.

"We have no choice unless you learn to sync better with me."

"Why don't you learn to sync better with me. You are the one more knowledgeable about the power."

"If that's how it worked... I would have done so"

"Maybe you're not as good as you think you are."

"The fuck is your Problem... where did that even come from.." A large energy blast tore some buildings to the far left. James glanced at the direction and the concentration of source energy at Kris' right eye acted like a zoom lens letting both James and Kris see the source soldier struggling to get up. His armor was shattered, bloodied. Suddenly, a large orc-like creature with blue armor(whose right side had shattered and had a deep cut on its forehead) holding a mace landed in front of him and walked slowly. 

"Where are the soldiers?" Kris quavered and James zoomed to see several units in the distance wiped out.

"In that short time?" Kris shrieked.

"Did you really think it would be a walk in the park? The battles we fight are always life-threatening and it's nothing compared to what we go through during a blood moon." James retorted.

"Why is there even a demon in the day. I thought those things only appeared during blood moons."

"After the blood moon is over, not all demons get sucked back in. Some that are too far from the portal linger about in hiding or go on rampages. Not to mention, smaller portals do pop up although not too frequently. The blood moon is just a time where there is a large concentration of source energy and the average demon gets an unnatural boost from the amount it receives."

"This is way more than I bargained for and that guy is going to get killed!" Kris yelled as he aimed his gun at the demon.

"What do you think you are doing! you shoot and our position gets exposed!"

"So I should just let him die?"

"No, but..." James hesitated. Kris shot at the demon. This was his first time shooting a gun so the recoil messed with his balance. Rather than hitting the head which he aimed for, the bullet hit the orc's jaw. It fell rightward to its knee. It held its jaw in pain as it began to breathe heavily. Its eyes furrowed and anger built up greatly.

"I missed..."

"No shit." James cursed.

The orc roared as it glanced in their direction.

"Uh Oh," both James and Kris squealed.

It threw its mace(Imbued with source energy) at them. Kris jumped out of the tower's window and landed on top of a building. Their mask had broken on landing and Kris removed it to breathe. The mace smashed through and exploded the tower. The orc ran towards the building they were at, jumped, and attempted to smash them through it. Kris leapt out of the way as it crashed through the building. His eyes filled with terror, and sweat all over. He landed on his side, got up quickly, and began to run through, into, and out of buildings.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shiii..." Kris squealed while running and parkouring before the demon (which caught up to him by tearing through the buildings) swung the mace overhead slightly missing him with a roar."

"James! Do that teleporting thing! Please!"

"I can't. We aren't that synced yet. You would need to relax a bit so I can take over to do so."

"Fuck synchronization! Does this look like a situation I can relax! If you don't find a way, we are dead we are soo fucking dead!"

The orc jumped in the air with its mace and tried to smash them with it. Kris pulled off the belt of grenades around his waist and threw it at the demon while jumping to his right. The impact caused a massive explosion that sent the orc flying and crashing into buildings. It also sent Kris flying and smashing his head into a wall. Luckily, James had released a small amount of energy to protect Kris's head from sustaining major injuries.

"Kid! Kid! dammit ....Kid wake up! KID!" The injured source soldier from earlier called. Kris was dazed. He tried to get up but he had fractured his right leg. His body ached and he was bleeding from his forehead.

"James... you there? James?" Kris called weakly but he couldn't hear James' voice.

"You seem to have a concussion, but you are alive. Can you move?" The soldier questioned.

"Nah, my leg feels broken."

"Shit! I can't move my body! you have to use the coms to call for backup.  Try and crawl over to my side." The soldier begged.

Kris attempted to crawl but as he got closer, he heard the Orc's roar. It stood enraged. Its face and left side was burnt from the explosion. Its energy spiralled wildly as it kept roaring at the top of its lungs. Kris tried to cover his ears because of the loud sound. The other soldier who couldn't move began to bleed slowly from his ears.  The muscles of the orc bulged. Its body became bigger and so did its mace. It started running towards them leaving large foot dents on the ground as it got closer.  The mace glowed as it lifted it above its head. Kris closed his eyes and grinned his teeth. The soldier's eyes widened as sweat flowed from both their faces.

A large clank sound with a shockwave that cleared the surrounding area resonated.

"Are you guys alright?" A voice came by.

Kris opened his eyes to see a yellow source soldier with a staff blocking and struggling against the demon's mace. The soldier roared, twisted his staff leftwards to push the mace to his left, then created an energy sphere on his right hand and placed it on the demon's guts before blasting it into buildings far in front of them.

Two other soldiers came around to help the soldier and Kris up. Kris' eyes widened with relief and surprise.

"Who are..." Kris tried to voice out.

"Captain Oumar of the Legion squad has arrived." The yellow source soldier responded. He turned to Kris and smiled...

"Sorry to keep you waiting..."