1 Chapter 1: Prologue

No matter how far humanity has advanced… some things never change.

Even with all the innovations and technological advancements, conflict is still a constant. There are those who do not abide by the status quo, those who wish to carve out their own destinies, away from the control of the governments and their politicians whose lust for power is unending and unquenchable. They view the world as nothing more than a chessboard, where the pieces they move are the lives they willingly sacrifice for their own personal gain. Whatever obstacles they see, they destroy them with little to no remorse.

"LEFT FLANK!" a voice barked as explosions rocked the area. "WE GOT INCOMING ON OUR LEFT FLANK! WHERE THE HELL IS DECKER'S UNIT!?"

"THEY'RE GONE!" replied a soldier as numerous crackling sounds passed by with others dropping dead with their heads now having holes. "THEY GOT OVERRUN!"

Reloading his assault rifle, a boy in his early to mid teens took a peak and saw the heavy tanks coming straight for their position.

"We can't hold this place much longer!" the boy exclaimed as he clutched his weapon tightly.

"Our orders are to hold this position!" their leader growled. "And that is exactly what we're going to do!"

"With what!?" another soldier yelled. "We're out of anti-armor munitions!"

"I DON'T CARE HOW! WE HOLD THIS POSITION AND TAKE OUT AS MANY OF THOSE BASTARDS!"

It was already clear that the unit commander was insane. They could all see it in his eyes. He was going to get them all killed.

"PREPARE TO CHARGE!" the unit leader. "FOR THE GLORY OF THE RE-"

BANG

They then saw their commander drop dead with a bullet hole to the back of his skull and a massive exit wound on the top. They saw the boy with his weapon raised and smoke coming out of the end of the barrel. It was clear who killed their commander.

"I don't know about you all..." the boy spoke as he lowered his weapon. "But I don't plan on letting that idiot get us all killed. I'm not sorry for what I did. As second-in-command, I'm now the commanding officer."

They all nodded as they lowered their weapons.

"Make for the pass." he ordered them all. "Head for the river. There are boats there. Whatever you do, do not stop running. Those tanks are slow so we should be all able to make it. GO!"

As they abandoned their posts and left the dead body of their former commander, it was revealed that the unit was comprised of nothing but child soldiers, children forced to fight for the faction that 'owns' them. They were expendable troops, taken from their homes or from orphanages as conscripts to fight for the 'Glorious Revolution'.

Most of them never wanted to fight but it was either that or be executed for 'treason'.

Hours had passed as the battalion of child soldiers made it through. They knew the terrain at least. They've been fighting in this place for years so that gave them an edge. But a unit of commandos was just suicide. Not unless they could fight them on their terms.

"They're sending out commandos!" one of the children reported as they made it out of the pass.

"They'll be right on top of us once we're through the pass!"

The boy cursed to himself, completely forgetting about the enemy's elite unit. "Have all the youngest ones and wounded keep pressing forward! The few of us including me will remain here at the pass's exit and hold them off."

"Is that really a good idea?" one questioned.

"You have any better ones?" he retorted. "Either way, those commandos will slaughter every single one of us. We need to buy time for the young ones and wounded to escape to the port. This world was lost from the beginning. I just wish I could do more for you all."

The other shook his head. "You did more than enough. You bought us time."

"Go with them." he told his friend. "They need someone to lead them and take them to the Red Cross refugee camp past the border. You still have a family and home to go back to. I don't."

"But-"

"Go."

Four remained to buy the rest time. Four brave young souls who had nothing else to go back to, deciding to do one good deed before they die.

They felt no fear as they took their positions.

Just four against an unknown number of the enemy's best of the best.

They felt no fear… just excitement.

"We can finally see how good they are." one muttered, grinning and gripping the machine gun.

"Don't get the distracted." the boy, their commander, told them all. "All we need to do is buy enough time for the others to escape. How far out are they?"

"They should be able to make it in ten minutes. I'm already hearing commando light vehicles in the distance. If they get past us, they'll catch up and slaughter everyone."

"Then we slaughter them first. Are the mines ready?"

"Grenades too! We're good!"

The commandos never expected such a surprise attack. One thing that was easily exploited was their arrogance and overconfidence. They were made to believe that they were the best and that nothing could stop them and yet four children barely into their teens were able to do so out just sheer willpower. A unit of fifteen commandos were stopped dead in their tracks and got themselves boxed within the pass.

The boy aimed straight and true as his rifle loosed a volley of high velocity armor-piercing incendiary munitions. But even then, the commandos training and weapons still had them at a disadvantage.

He yelped in pain as his left leg was hit, a magnetically accelerated round going straight through, prompting him to take out a medical syringe and inject it to where the wound was.

He roared and unloaded the rest of his magazine and reloaded, not once did he stop firing.

"RAAGH!"

He was caught off guard when a commando tackled him with a knife in hand from his flank. Both fell quite a distance but he recovered and drew his sidearm, unloading the entire contents of the weapon into the enemy soldier's head, blood splattering all over his face.

Panting heavily, he grabbed the commando's rifle as he lost his and ducked down to cover, grunting in pain as he noticed that his abdomen had been shot.

"Shit." he muttered. "Kallo, you there!?"

"Kallo's dead! Gut shot!"

"I'm not going to last much longer, either." another reported. "But we already knew we weren't gonna make it out of this alive."

The boy chuckled. "But it was fun, wasn't it?"

"Hell yeah it was, boss."

"Let's send them out with a bang, huh?"

And that was when they set off the explosives.

By the time the battle ended, the commandos were defeated. But so were the four. The last one, the boy, made it out of the pass with blood all over his body and more wounds than he could count, both arms missing as they were torn off from the explosions. He wheezed out a pained breath as he found a rack and sat down, leaning on it.

He could no longer find the strength to move further as his eyes turned the boats full of children, disappearing into the fog as rain started pouring. At least the others made it.

He then went limp, a smile on his face.

~oOo~

U??own ???atio? ????

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"Did you send the biological samples to Site Omega?"

"Of course! I hope that they can crack it. Could you imagine it? Its unique properties and untapped energy, once properly harnessed and replicated, would be a bridge for an entire new frontier we've never seen before. This endeavor is only the beginning."

"And the subject?"

"His healing properties have been improved."

"How is this possible to begin with?"

"The best thing we could do was use the nanite serum to augment his entire body. Now he will be as strong as any military cyborg as his entire bone structure is harder than even the strongest tank armor."

"Full cyberization was not possible?"

"No. The subject's accelerated healing made that impossible. Besides, he is an anomaly compared to most subjects we have acquired. Turning him into a full cyborg would be a waste of that potential. The best thing we could do was give him our newest and experimental cybernetic augmentations. A normal brain cyberization is out of the question. Using the new augment would be a better idea so I went ahead with the procedure."

"One of our new augmentations? I wasn't informed of this."

"The new cerebral implant grants basically a tiny cyberbrain that is implanted into the subject's cerebral cortex. With this, the user's brain will turn into a more 'natural' cyberbrain, allowing all the functions today's cyberbrains have without having to go through the cyberbrain conversion process. It is a revolutionary design. And we can't possibly convert his brain into a cyberbrain, it would be waste of such a fine specimen."

"What else?"

"That was the easy part. In order for the project to work we also had to replace his entire spinal column. THAT was the hard part. As for both of his arms, they were damaged beyond repair when we found him so I took the liberty of installing our latest military grade bioprosthetic arms since he lost his original ones from that fight with those commandos. They are made from the densest synthetic materials and yet they look like flesh and blood. Quite the magnificent prototype we have created."

"This is a lot of our expensive and experimental hardware you're using, doctor. Especially our most advanced ones. And on a mere child no less. You've been working on this project for quite a while and I'm only hearing this now!?"

"This project is going to be the future for Protogen! His accelerated healing has made the project a success!"

"What of his name?"

"We just call him Prototype V-401."

"Do you think he is a good investment?"

"Oh absolutely! Wherever he and the others came from… I would like to think there are more of him."

When he opened his eyes he saw several strands of information being gathered. He could understand it for some reason.

"Ah!" The doctor smiled at him. "Welcome back to the land of living, my boy."

"W-What?" The boy asked. "Didn't I die?"

"Your questions can wait." The doctor told him. "All you need to worry is that we are moving to the next phase. We have brought you here and… improved you."

"Improved?"

The man beamed as he showed the boy what he meant. In front of them was a computer screen on a tablet and what appeared to be an image of his body.

"We have improved your bone structure and muscle strength using a serum mixed with nanomachines. You will now be able to move as fast as any high grade military cyborg. Perhaps even faster thanks to your 'uniqueness'. I implanted a special cerebral implant into the rear part of your brain, allowing it to function like any other cyberbrain, allowing to see all kinds of incredible things through your eyes. The chip will also let you learn at an extreme pace without stressing your brain. In other words… we made you even greater than ever, and at no cost to your natural capabilities. You will be able to-"

But before the man could finish, he was interrupted by the sound of an alarm.

[ALERT! SUBJECTS ARE LOOSE! ALERT! SUBJECTS ARE LOOSE!]

"What is the meaning of this!?" the doctor demanded.

"I don't know!" the guard frantically replied as he checked the systems. "Someone's hacked into every system in the facility! We don't have control!"

The man barked as he began to relay orders to the guards outside. "If we lose the subjects we lose our chance at everything! Stop them! I don't care how! We didn't work on them for nothing!"

The roars of the 'subjects' became loud as the entire facility erupted with gunfire.

"You." The second man turned to the doctor before heading out. "Get him out of here. Head to the hangar with your men. We need to retreat and salvage this. This facility is compromised."

The sounds were like those in the simulations they put him in. He used weapons that were given to him, killing targets that he was told to do. There were others just like him, fighting alongside him in battlefields. It was both incredible and terrifying.

When the locks of the stretcher he was strapped onto was loosed, instinct then drove him to grab the holstered weapon on the guard's thigh.

"Wait, what are you-"

He pulled the trigger and sent a bullet straight through the guard's head. He sat up and fired a few more rounds, killing more guards that were flanking him. He couldn't explain how he was doing this so easily. It ultimately didn't matter. He killed them without feeling a semblance of remorse. He looked down and saw an assault rifle, picking up and checking it if it was loaded.

"Don't let that subject escape!" The man ordered the other armed guards. "He's our most successful prototype!"

A firefight ensued and he dropped to cover, making sure he didn't get hit. He took a peak and fired, ducked back, repeat. Just like the simulations taught him.

"NO!" the doctor screamed as more guards were taken down with frightening precision. "It wasn't supposed to be like this! Someone stop him and secure him!"

"Too late." he told the doctor as he emerged from the smoke victorious. "Just you and me."

"N-No..." the doctor stammered, trying to crawl away. "Think of what you're doing. I created you! I made you strong! I made you better!"

"You did." he nodded at the older man's words. "But what makes you think I would have obeyed you? What makes you think you could control me? You should have just kept me dead."

"It wasn't finished!" the doctor cried. "We were going to install the control chips on you until all of this happened. Now be a good subject and- AAAAAAH!"

He didn't even let him finish as he crushed the doctor's leg beneath his foot.

"What the hell did I tell you about not being able to control me?"

The doctor just kept on crying. The bone of his left foot being reduced to powder from the crushing force of the augmented boy was just too much for him to bear.

"P-Please..." the doctor pleaded. "I… I'll do anything. Just… no more."

He felt no pity for the crumbling man before him. He just stared at him for a moment before his free hand reached forward with blue veins appeared all over his skin. The doctor gaped at what he was seeing before gasping in pain as his entire chest began to become crushed by whatever power it was. Before the doctor could realize what had happened, his internal organs had been crushed from within.

Grabbing the gear from the dead bodies, he restocked in whatever ammunition he could recover and continued on. He joined up with his fellow test subjects, his brethren, and fought through what was left of the facility's armed guards. For them, it was a walk in the park. They were better trained.

It was over before anyone knew it. Everyone in the facility aside from the escapees had been massacred, right down from the guards to the unarmed and helpless scientists and staff. Every corridor and hallway was covered in blood.

The augmented children on the other hand were soaked in it.

He felt no satisfaction or any pleasure from this. He was the only one of his four friends that were revived. A part of him now wishes he remained dead. It would have been simpler.

And he wasn't surprised that UN Peacekeepers as well as a few PMC operators came in and started evacuating the children. It was already clear who hacked the facility's security systems.

He just sat there and watched as the children boarded the transports. From the looks of things, a lot of the children are probably North American and European. The Middle Eastern children, may of them Kurdish, were being helped by the Kurdish troops.

Close to two hundred children were here, being experimented on by an unknown organization.

"You know, those transports will be leaving soon." came the voice of a man.

Gripping his assault rifle close, he turned to see a man with pale white hair. He didn't say anything.

"You're not going?"

"I got nowhere else to go." he told the man.

The man smiled and took a seat beside him. "I read the records. You and three others took on a whole unit elite soldiers."

"We died though."

"Yes, you did."

"Would have been better if I just stayed dead."

"Don't you have a family to go back to?" the man asked. "I know where you're from."

"Why should I?" he retorted. "My brother is the one that they adore. I'm just… there. At least here I'm good at something."

"How long have you been fighting?"

"Two years now... I think. I don't even know how long I've been in this place."

"From what I can tell..." the man mused. "About a few months. They subject all the children into some sort of sleep and use dreams filled with combat. In short, those dreams were in fact combat simulations."

"Huh."

"So what do you plan on doing after this?"

He shrugged. "I think I'll just take my chances."

"Then why don't I give you an option?" the man offered. "I own Volkov Group. You could come with me and make a life from there."

"How do I know you're not just going to use me as a guinea pig?"

"I certainly don't blame you for being wary. I would be as well if I were in your shoes. But I'll tell you right now, the benefits are good. Pay is good. And you also get free education. Someone your age still needs to go to school."

He chuckled bitterly. "Education huh? Can't say I have good memories about that. I was always behind."

"Don't worry." the man reassured. "You'll get private tutoring. My company has the best private tutors money can buy. All of them are patient and know how to properly teach someone depending on even your kind of pace. You have nothing to worry about. Instead of trying to surpass whoever you want to surpass, be something else… become something greater and something that they can't reach. That is what I am offering you. So what do you say?"

He thought about it. He thought hard. It certainly beats going out alone in the war-torn wastelands. He raised his hand and offered it to the man. "Then you got yourself a deal, old man."

The man let out a laugh as he shook it. "I'm not that old, boy! I'm Magnus Volkov. What's yours?"

"Adrus. My name is Adrus."

~oOo~

A Few Days Later

Istanbul, Turkey

Magnus certainly took a liking to the boy. Talented in the art of war, cunning in his tactics, and resourceful, having survived all those years with those skills.

Now with a powerful super soldier for him to cultivate without the need of brainwashing or control chips. But first, education. More specifically, the history of the world.

In 1966, the 86GV1 Prometheus asteroid was discovered by scientists in an observatory in France on the orbit of Jupiter, and was designated as a Jupiter Trojan by its Lagrangian positioning relative to the planet. Between its discovery and 1973, a rogue asteroid later denominated Baldr entered Jupiter's orbit and struck Prometheus, shattering it into thousands of fragments that formed an asteroid cluster with a long elliptic orbit with the Sun that was set on a collision course with Earth that was discovered by scientists in 1984.

The discovery of the "Prometheus asteroids" caused a global uproar following the end of the Cold War. As diverting the individual trajectories of every asteroid was impossible, the world's nations developed the Agnus Dei nuclear interceptor systems after the revelation of the cluster under a desperate megaproject conceived to minimize the human losses caused by the impending impact. A prototype was erected in North China, paving the way for the creation of five other systems across Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Americas.

In July of 1990, the Prometheus cluster crossed the Roche limit and initiated a mass impact event with Earth, killing millions of people and causing massive damage to infrastructure in a short timespan, barely contained by the efforts of the Agnus Dei network. The devastation caused a brutal collapse of international stability as the global economy descended into a universal depression triggered by loss of finances and land, reshaping the entire world economy in the process.

Later feared as the "Prometheus Disaster", the catastrophe led several countries to divert the entirety of their military budgets to reconstruction efforts, leading "revival budgets" to constitute a total of 60% of the global economy in the early 21st century and pushing military expenditure to a meager 3%, out of a total of $1.845 trillion US dollars in circulation. The threat of economic breakdown forced countries in South Europe and Asia to form regional federations. One such example being the Alliance of South East Asian Nations Federation, or the ASEAN Federation.

And by the 21st century, few could imagine the consequences sparked by the myriad of violent events spanning every corner of the world. Europe was overwhelmed by refugees, tens of millions fleeing from conflicts fueled by anger, greed and years of financial crisis and stagnation which started in the least stable regions, spreading rapidly like a virus.

Germany's complete economic collapse triggered a chain reaction that flung the rest of the continent into chaos. Much of Eastern Europe took the worst of it as major financial institutions collapsed alongside Germany. The entire Balkan region and all the way up to Eastern Europe was swept into a maelstrom of havoc as well, ruining countless lives and destroying any semblance of a status quo, but providing opportunities for those unscrupulous enough to exploit the situation. The remnants of the European Union were paralyzed by the growing gap between the governments and their people, and violent anti-government protests became commonplace, giving birth to numerous anarchist movements. Weapons caches from the crumbling governments of the third-world became the armories of the insurgencies.

In the Middle East, the crisis spilled into the entire region, shattering the region with militias attempting to carve their own territories out of the chaos, frequently clashing with various government forces in a conflict that rapidly became a full-blown war for dominance.

Europe found itself at a crossroads. Its economy never truly recovered from the massive financial crisis, the impact of which was made considerably worse by European Union governments being completely detached from their voter base and the reality of daily life in most European cities. While the United States adapted to the situation and leaned more towards isolationism, Europe chose to keep its borders open, leading to the arrival of millions of refugees from the war-torn Middle East, despite warnings from all major militaries and police forces.

Unwilling to accept the reality of new security risks, the passivity and indecisiveness of European governments led to the worst series of terrorist attacks in history, culminating in the detonation of two "dirty" nuclear devices on the outskirts of Paris and Berlin. While the casualty rate was relatively light, the sight of massive atomic-like explosions and the subsequent news reports of victims dead or dying from radiation sparked a revolution of the kind Europe had never seen in its modern history.

In the wake of the attacks, the European Union became completely paralyzed as all traditional political parties virtually collapsed overnight, burned away by the rage of the populace. Populist leaders rose to power with promises to end corruption, solve the constant state of crisis and make Europe safe again.

Backed by unprecedented popular support, a massive hunt for the culprits began. By the time it ended two years later, thousands of formerly "untouchable" political figures, bankers and/or businessmen had been found guilty of contributing to the state of the world and executed or sentenced to life in prison. But for all their momentary support, the revolution leaders could only ride the popularity wave so far and the economic situation just kept on deteriorating. Many economic structures had been damaged beyond recovery, factories had been looted and closed down, the infrastructure suffering from years of neglect. While most European countries avoided complete collapse, practically every advanced country in the world saw its situation worsen with the biggest burden of funding cuts crushing the weakest members of society – the sick and the elderly.

As Europe falls into a crisis like never before, the newly elected American president decided to turn towards isolationism by bringing home most of the troops serving abroad, fearing "another Iraq" would happen if American soldiers were further involved in the Middle East. This was supported by new technologies that allowed the USA to be energy independent. The new American strategy of providing military support to U.S.-friendly countries relied heavily on the use of American-backed PMCs, as demonstrated by the 2018 Autumn War between Israel and its neighbors. This strategy had major repercussions, leading to the loss of direct influence in many parts of the world, especially South America. This in turn led to the rise of numerous South American cartel factions that immediately took control of the more vulnerable countries in the region. The cartels funded guerrillas all across South America, starting multiple civil wars and profiting immensely from the turmoil. South American governments were powerless to stop this well-funded criminal organization without assistance, and lawlessness south of the American border gave rise to many American nationalist militias that gradually gained influence across the South.

Asia's largest superpower, China, entered the late 2010s with a series of economic spasms caused by currency fluctuations, oil shortages and increased separatist tendencies in several of its provinces. The Chinese government enacted policies in place that bordered on martial law, with extensive crackdowns and brutal methods of control. They managed to keep the situation in hand, but just barely.

In Europe, NATO, now in decline, was put to test for the first time in years as nationalist guerrillas appeared in Estonia. The entire Baltic region plummeted into conflict and the chronically underfunded NATO was petitioned to respond. Due to the lack of resources, lack of American backing, and fear of starting another global war, armed response was vetoed and NATO for all intents and purpose ceased to exist as an effective structure by 2020.

The global tensions also spurred violence between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Amidst the chaos, a global pandemic had spread across the world, hitting the densely populated cities of Europe and the Americas as well as major hubs in Asia, Africa and small parts of the Middle East. It was a disease that came like a thief in the night. High fevers and dizziness were the initial symptoms, and then the coughing of blood, then literally blood coming out of eyes like tears. Some mutations had occurred but by the time the governments tried to combat it, it was already too late. Close to two billion died until and that number is still slowly rising.

"And since then..." Magnus concluded. "Private military companies like us have poured into the world's hot spots, especially the craters and contaminated areas that have now been dubbed the Red Zones. The governments were simply ill-equipped to combat the chaos. Smaller nations fragmented into warring factions while the 'superpowers' tried to hold on to a world that no longer exists."

"What about the UN Peacekeepers like the ones I saw?" Adrus inquired.

"Most of them were actually contractors dressed up as peacekeepers just to make the UN look good and relevant." Magnus explained. "Nowadays, the United Nations is nothing but an old 20th century relic."

"So it's up to the PMCs to pick up the pace?"

"In a manner of speaking." Magnus shrugged. "But more often than we could count, we would clash with government forces. No matter what, the world still sees us as nothing but greedy, warmongering mercenaries. Not that we care about what they think of course. We get the job done and get paid well. At the end of the day, that's all that matters."

"I think I got the gist of it all."

The man smiled. "That's good. So how are you finding your accommodations?"

"Hell of a lot better than sleeping in a hole." Adrus nonchalantly answered. "Kind of feels like being normal… just a bit."

"Well at least you got something out of it." Magnus remarked. "You're fifteen now, right? Well at least you got some time off before you are allowed to be sent back to the field. You are free to use the simulators as much as you want. I know you don't want to lose your edge."

"Right."

~oOo~

Five Years Later

Five years went by pretty quickly but Adrus certainly loved every second of it. The simulators felt real thanks to the technology the people here use, it felt real enough for him to just use it on a daily basis. Every scenario the simulator had, he used it. It shocked the operators in how proficient he was. He was rough around the edges but the operators were more than happy to help him and iron out his skills. They even took a liking to him. Their new 'little brother'.

From a child, he had become battle-hardened and yet still lighthearted.

But all of them could see that he has suffered. Even before he became a child soldier. Magnus of course knew what it was but stated that it is not his secret to tell.

Whenever he's not in the simulators, he's hanging out with the operators, learning their ways and the Tier 1 culture. But he also offered a lot to them. Even in this day and age, it's hard to find someone who was trained and specialized in mountain warfare. Most of the battles he's fought in was in the mountains. While the senior operators taught him how to fight in other climates, he would teach the newer recruits and those inexperienced about mountain warfare.

At least they don't need to teach him how to use a gun like many of the aspiring recruits.

He certainly did not hate teaching. The job's pay was so good it got him a house by the beach.

But ever since two years ago, since he turned eighteen to be precise, he was finally able to go back out into the field.

It was there that he realized that it wasn't just contracts and military operations he had to fulfill but guarding Magnus during business deals. The man was also an arms dealer, selling weapons to various corporations, governments, and some more shady people. But never to terrorists. That is something that he will never do. It wasn't a moral thing, but a grudge since Magnus's mother was killed by such people. Perhaps it made him a little racist since it was Islamic extremists that did the deed. Didn't matter to Adrus though… he'll eliminate whatever enemy he faces.

He didn't really care that he was doing the devil's work.

Selling to criminal organizations, like a mafia for example, doesn't earn much profit. So it's always a good idea to deal with countries having legitimized profits, other private forces, and businessmen that like to hire private forces as their personal guard.

"It is like having a top private army." a businessman based in Israel once spoke. "Now only are they quantity, but they are quality. Whenever I go somewhere to do my business, I am in a lethal war. That's why you need to use these good bad guys."

Adrus chuckled at that memory. He was there when a journalist from some news channel from America came in to film some documentary. A lot of extremist factions want the man dead and it was Adrus's job to protect him. After that, the journalist did a short interview with him.

It was all touch and go for him.

He stowed his gear into his bags, loading his vest with magazines, and the extra ammunition into the proper storage boxes.

His rifle of choice was nothing out of the ordinary but certainly venerated for being robust and reliable. Its design family was used all around the world, and has fought in nearly every conflict of the modern era. It was so easy to use even a child could use it… and they do.

The Kalashnikov assault rifle. It was Russia's greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists.

Soren's is a heavily customized AK-103 – a variant of the AK-74M, chambered in the venerable, popular and much feared 7.62x39mm cartridge. With the new modernization kit, its top had a rail system, and the handguard had been replaced with a railed version for a foregrip and laser. Stock is also different as it had been replaced with one that folds for storage or for enclosed and tight spaces coupled with it being telescopic, adjustable depending on the user's preferences.

"Can never go wrong with an AK." he remembered Magnus telling him. In fact, Kalashnikovs are standard among the company due to the immediate availability of parts and ammunition.

It's ironic. Long ago, he despised the very word 'war' due his pacifistic ideals. Now… he lives and breathes it, embraces it as there was no other way for him to live. He was good at it.

But another was what a wise man once said.

"It is better to be violent if there is violence in our hearts, than put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence."

Those words hit him hard. It made him think.

In a way, it gave him a life that was far better than the old one. Though it was filled with bloodshed, he loved every second of it.

He turned to the television and switched to the news channel, watching as scientists examined artifacts and other items that just defied all laws of physics.

When the meteors fell, it was revealed that they were alien in origin, causing a reaction within the craters to reveal that Earth had deeper secrets than anyone thought. A whole different realm hidden from the eyes of the world. As if it was like a world within a world, like two dimensions were connected. Every laws of science and religion were broken as spots in the world near the craters revealed majestic locations that had been hidden through a supernatural force. It was clear… magic was real and it is returning to Earth.

The bigger part of the stress though was due to one factor. Adrus was once a part of that world. He was born into a noble family but was forced to go into exile due to circumstances that were not his fault to begin with. He was the black sheep of the family as he was always overlooked. His family decided that the title of family heir would go to his younger brother as well as the arrangement of marriage with another noble house. He lost it all that day.

Shaking his musings off of his mind, he just kept on watching the news with scientists trying to understand the whole concept of magic. He then felt a tugging and saw a one year old German Shepherd poking him.

"Oh, that's right, chow time."

The dog barked and followed him as he grabbed a bag of dog food from the cupboard and poured a bit onto the bowl. Taking a second bowl, he poured a fresh batch of water into it.

"There you go, buddy."

The dog barked once more and quickly dug in at the signal.

"Should probably get myself some grub." Adrus muttered to himself as he went straight for the fridge.

He didn't feel like cooking tonight so thankfully there were frozen pizzas and beer. Putting the pizzas in the microwave and heating them, he opened up a bottle of beer and started drinking.

Once his food was heated, he brought it over to the living room and placed it on the table in front of the couch with the rest of the beer. This right here for him is paradise.

"Enough of this shit."

He went for the remote and switched to the TV's movie app. He went on to watch a few movies and eat, ultimately falling asleep and not even noticing his dog putting a blanket over him.

By the time he woke up, his phone was ringing.

Groaning, his metallic hand went for the phone and put it over his ear. "This is Adrus."

~oOo~

"Their attention seems to be elsewhere right now."

"Then we at least have a moment of peace."

"But for how long? Their goal is still annihilating our kind."

"Perhaps we should seek help from those who do not share their goals."

"Humans can never be trusted! You know what happened the last time we tried that!"

"But that was hundreds of years ago! Times have changed!"

"My answer is still no!"

Silence then lingered in the room between the two men, puffing a few smokes from their ornately crafted smoking pipes. They had been discussing this for so many times that it was honestly getting tiring. Their enemies had been silent for a while and that has them on edge, thinking that a major strike was going to happen.

"My lord!"

The first man, the one who was adamant about not asking for help, frowned at the guard. "This better be important!"

"An Agares was sighted near a gate!"

The two men widened their eyes.

"Which one was it?!" the second man practically yelled.

"The eastern gate!" the guard replied.

"That hasn't been used in a millennium." the first one whispered. "Why is it-"

"We have been keeping an eye on it." the second replied. "Though it is not used, we still have men stationed there to guard it from potential invaders."

"A city now resides above it." the guard informed them. "A great city. I sent a scout as per usual but he ventured a little too far and nearly came face-to-face with the Agares. He at least got images with a memory crystal."

"Show us."

The guardsman laid the memory crystal onto the table and waved his hand over it, showing the image of a young man with a scar over his face. Hair as black as night but differently colored eyes. His right eye is blue but the other was purple. He also had the expression of a battle-hardened and seasoned warrior.

"It is a city called Istanbul." the guardsman said. "It is majestic, nothing like any human city we've seen. Humanity has advanced so far it feels like a dream."

"Did the Agares follow your scout?" the second man asked.

The guardsman shook his head. "No. He made sure that he was not followed. But his observations were a little confusing."

"How so?"

"The Agares didn't seem like he cared. He knew he was being followed. But he did not care.

Normally an Agares would attack right away but this one did not. He knew who and what the scout is and did nothing, just carried on with his daily routines. My scout observed him for a whole week."

"Could he be biding his time?"

The guardsman fidgeted.

"Well boy? Spit it out!"

"Well..."

"Come on boy!"

"I don't know how but the Agares managed to slip in a note without the scout noticing."

Placing the note on the table, the two men looked stunned as they read it.

[Please don't follow me again. That was really rude.]

This Agares was not someone to be underestimated.

"His behavior is like no hunter we have ever encountered." the second man mused.

"We will not make contact." the first man growled.

"That is not up for you to decide. Remember that I am the head of the family."

The first one gritted his teeth. "Fine. Since my daughter wants to make herself useful, then let's send her."

…

And that is how Eirika was thrown into this predicament. Her family cared very little for her save for maybe one of them. It was hard for her to make any meaningful accomplishments when her father wanted a son instead of a daughter. Because of this, her cousins were the better candidates as clan heir. All she is in her father's eyes is a disappointment and it only got worse during the trials. She truly did her best, being considered powerful with her spirit magic but it got trumped by her cousin's skills as a warrior and being able to inspire others.

She had little to no interaction with her cousins so she did not know what they felt about her. But because of the treatment she regularly receives, she became distrusting of everyone. The only comfort she could get was from her mother whom right now is suffering from a rare disease, now stuck on a sickbed.

And now she was face-to-face with the very Agares that was sighted in this beautiful city. Her father sent her out, telling her that if she truly wanted to prove herself then she will take this assignment.

"So..." Adrus decided to speak, his tone full of amusement whilst Eirika looked extremely nervous.

"I'm guessing you're here not by choice."

She shook her head.

"Well…" he held out his hand. "Why not I show you around? I think you'll like the Grand Bazaar."

Seeing as she had already had her cover blown and could not go back. She decided to take a gamble. She had nothing else to lose anyway.

She had no idea that she just met a kindred spirit.