Chapter 9: New start after new start

Edwin struggled more intensely as the time passed. He clawed, growled, kicked, punched and spat at the old man. No matter what he did the old man suppressed him.

He couldn't breathe no matter how hard he gasped. A darkness surrounded him. Soon Edwin found himself in the abyss but there was something different this time, The fog had finally reached him.

Something from the depths of the fog seemed to be calling out to him, just inches away the swirling clouds moved around.

He swiped at the fog only to find out the fog was still further away than he thought.

'I'm dead now, that crazy old man clearly betrayed his words, to think he'd play me like so despite having more than enough power to crush me. If there is one last thing I can do, I will reach that fog, that is my last goal.'

Edwin began to run, to sprint as fast as possible tirelessly moving towards the fog.

...

Hellion stood above Edwin's lifeless body. He pulled out a small device that looked like a bug. Alongside it Hellion pulled out a screen that displayed Edwin's information.

[Edwin

ODSI ID Number: 1,029,991....

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Status: Deceased]

Hellion closed the screen and put it away then released the small bug like device which crawled all over Edwin's body before going near his neck and sticking out a probiscis like extension that sucked something out of Edwin's body.

Hellion collected the bug like device before crushing it into a dust and letting the strong winds blow it away.

He pulled out a tiny gun looking device and put it right where the other device removed something from Edwin's neck. He pulled the trigger and pulled out the screen again.

[Edwin

Citizen ID Number: 326,482,116...

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Status: Deceased]

Hellion then hit a few acupoints on Edwins body. Edwin gasped but remained unconscious Hellion smiled as he saw Edwin's chest gently rise and fall before throwing Edwin over his shoulder.

As Hellion turned around a small shuttle flew from over the horizon and landed next to them and Hellion climbed aboard.

...

Edwin kept running, slowly keeping count of time as he went, before he knew it 7 days had passed, the fog slowly inched closer and closer at the same time. He felt as though an infinite distance had separated him from the fog.

He had no idea what the driving force for the fog was, he mulled over it as he ran, he always found that the fog always seemed significantly closer after he had absorbed energy. He resisted the idea initially.

The biggest flaw with this logic was that he had no abilities, then why would the fog appear every time he fell asleep. Was he still awakening? It would be incredibly strange if he was, he also couldn't imagine how powerful his ability would be once it awoke after taking such a long time.

...

Hellion guided the shuttle through space, glancing at a clock and the map on the side every so often. 4 days had passed since him and Edwin departed from Epsil, he felt slightly tired, it wasn't because of the lack of rest though, it was the sheer boredom.

'Flying has always been my least favorite part of my job, I wish I could just teleport and be done with the trip.'

Very few people could manipulate space to allow themselves to teleport, let alone be able to teleport as far as they had traveled. The pair had practically crossed the whole of the human controlled zone.

Even though it was over 10 thousand light years across modern technology allowed them to use warp gates to speed up the process.

The journey was also safe as long as the followed the Federation monitored paths.

The goal was to reach a city led by a large sect, there Edwin would be able to grow and develop away from the watchful eyes of the Federation.

After all, Edwin should be dead now according to the records the federation had on him.

The city was called Highfel, and the leading sect was simply called Fel, it was widely regarded as a lawless system, the Federation actively avoided this whole region of the human controlled zone because many tyrannical lawless powers resided here.

The Federation would not be bothered if an enemy race suddenly appeared and blasted everything there to pieces. Sadly, that'd probably never occur.

The lawless region quickly grew into a hub of trade for the many different races surrounding the area, the lack of regulation made for easy commerce in the region. Even the federation used the surrounding "Grey zone" to do many unsavory things in the shadows away from watchful eyes.

As Hellion saw they were getting closer he couldn't help but feel just a little excited as he finally navigated the shuttle away from the Federation monitored route. A wide toothy grin appeared on his face as the likelihood of being attacked grew.

...

As Edwin continued to run, he was amazed at his stamina, even though he knew it was already extremely high before it still exceeded his expectations significantly. He had been running for 37 days.

He hadn't felt even a little tired, instead he felt like he was picking up speed, getting faster and faster.

The fog of course grew closer and closer as he ran straight towards it, it didn't seem like it was moving towards him, but only like he was moving towards it. He began to ponder the reason, it always seemed to be approaching him before, after a while of thinking he finally concluded that it was because his body had no special energies in them anymore, or maybe because he was dead right now.

...

Hellion smiled. The last few days had been the most exciting few days in a while for him. He loved fighting and thankfully in this region there was more than enough morons who tried to rob or kill him.

Every time a new enemy appeared Hellion would quickly leave the shuttle and move through space with nothing but his own body. It seemed illogical, but Hellion was more than strong enough to destroy space craft with nothing but his fist, a true superhuman.

The closer he got his goal the more pirates and vagabonds appeared, after finally being close enough to barely see the few planets rotating around the star in the center of the solar system he was no longer attacked.

Hellion gently guided his shuttle to a green planet. Lush vegetation and a very light fog covered the planet at all times, it was called Green Hell.

The plants were violent, they ate the various creatures who weren't strong enough to escape or the plants got eaten by the terrifying monsters lurking around. The land not covered in plants or water was burned by a bright green lava. Rivers of lava flowed year-round carving ravines in the towering mountains of the planet.

Originally prisoners were sent to the planet when it was first discovered to live out their life sentences meekly while being preyed upon. The prisoners grew better adapted to the planet eventually able to carve out their own little piece of civilization on the hell hole of a planet.

Later rare minerals were found on the various planets in the solar system and Green Hell. However, the Federations plans to exploit them was completely ruined by the prisoners who overthrew them and then used the resources the Federation brought to establish a terrifyingly strong base of operations.

Later the prisoners used the rare resources to trade with foreign races allowing them to obtain more materials and gave them the ability to seize control of a few of the surrounding solar systems.

It was an embarrassing loss for the Federation, but they bit the wood and let it happen as this benefited them by giving them a theater of operations for their own evil deeds.

Hellion landed his shuttle on a tower in the middle of a large city. Not long after another old man walked onto the landing pad and greeted Hellion warmly.

"Sir Hellion, it's been a long time since I've seen you. How have you been?"

The old man bowed slightly in greeting.

"Enough with the pleasantries Randulf. I don't have the time. I'm cashing in my favor. I have a boy with me, I want you to watch him for me. I plan to have him grow on this planet and get stronger."

Hellion sent some files on Edwin to Randulf's communication device.

"Ha, old man Hellion you must be crazy, cashing in a favor from the strongest man in the few surrounding solar systems to babysit a young lad. Many would call you insane or a moron for this."

Hellion grumbled and gnashed his teeth contemplating if he should punch Randulf's head off his shoulders.

"No, my conviction remains, I'm sure this boy is worth it, he's quite unique."

Randulf smiled widely, a gleam passed through his eyes, he knew he'd maybe be able to curry a little bit of favor with Hellion if he played his card right.

'This old man wants to use up his favor on some trash, I'll use this opportunity to wring him of every cent he owns and still curry favor with him.'

As if he could read Randulf's mind Hellion glanced at him with stink eyes.

"Don't be silly, I said watch, I don't want you tainting him with your dirty little nubs scum. I want him to develop on his own. If he is going to die or the situation is impossible for him to handle, then I want you to take action."

Hellion paused as he saw Randulf's stupid grin leaving his face.

"This is my favor I'm demanding from you. If all goes well, I'll come to collect him in 10 years. If he doesn't match my needs by then, you can have him. But when I come back in 10 years, if the boy is destroyed, I'll treat you with the same curtesy and destroy this little rock we're standing on."

Randulf gulped, time definitely didn't seem to work its magic on Hellion, he was just as intimidating and terrifying as before if not more so.

"Of course, of course friend Hellion. Your request will be met, relax most assuredly that the boy will be fine when you come back in 10 years."

Hellion turned around boarded the shuttle before throwing a picture to Randulf.

"This is the boy, I'm dropping him off in an alley somewhere, his training starts day one obviously."

Hellion laughed as the shuttle door closed behind him. Randulf couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the young lad, at least he wasn't being personally tutored by Hellion, that in its truest sense would be pure hell for the young man.

Randulf smiled though, the young lad was quite lucky in his opinion, one of the strongest humans ever was his silent supporter, looking at the picture of the young man he could tell he was a fresh graduate.

To be taken in by Hellion was truly his fortune. This was like getting awoken for the second time. The first time was life changing, it determined everything for one's future.

But surely, being taken in by Hellion was no less, it was a new start right after a new start. Just like opening a book only to find it's a different one every time you read.