RECON-5.238k

I never actually show anyone my push daggers.

For the most part no one can see the engravings on it, but it is mostly suspicious to normal people.

Although swords do not seem to be a big deal in town.

I finished breakfast a few minutes ago, so I was ready to head out to start my morning training as always.

Ned and I always go train in the forest even though they say it is illegal.

I doubt any more of the military will be patrolling these parts of the woods for a while.

I walked down the same path that I walked when I got my hand impaled by an arrow.

That freaking hurt, but a healer and a surgeon together made the wound heal faster.

Soon enough my hand was back to normal again.

I reached the puddle of dried blood on the ground.

Just like it was before there was a trail of blood going in the direction of the river bank.

I started to walk in the direction I went last time as well.

The faint sound of flowing water gradually became louder.

The same dirt I walked on before was still covered in footprints that were nearly filled in.

I kept going further into the forest.

The river was up ahead, the sound getting slightly louder.

Ahead was the large dried stain of blood partially washed away from the water.

I can't believe that after that, I still have not reached my breaking point.

I pass the blood and the river.

There was a path that led right to the training grounds.

It takes a while to get there from the normal path, but with this one that Ned made, I can reach the training grounds faster.

Past the dense forest area, is the training grounds.

It is just a clearing that was made a few years back by a group of people who wanted to try to inhabit the forest.

They learned pretty soon that these woods were the breeding ground for Rogue Summons.

From the name, it may seem obvious where they come from.

According to some legends, Rogue Summons were sent to Atomerud by the supposed "Ghoul Lord" in order to wreak havoc on society.

Also according to legend, attempts to destroy humans were mostly a failure.

Every time they send a huge invasion just to get destroyed by so called "Heroes".

These events happened time and time again.

The last invasion depicted was from nearly 300 years ago.

Currently the Atomus Empire holds 1st squad as the best defense against ghouls.

Everyone there is a Soul And Weapon holder.

Though, they were all killed somehow.

To join I have to become tougher.

I need to become stronger to help people, just like my brother did.

"Hey, training here too?" Ned questioned.

"Yup, I need you to see something."

Ned is taller than me by a little bit and he looks more buff than I am too.

He also has brown hair like his sister.

Other than that he looks like a guy I can trust.

"Alright straight to the point." I say, "I am officially in the military as a zero star recruit."

"Did you join the counterintelligence?"

"Yeah.

And I thought it would take more experience to get in."

"I figured as much.

But I bet you met my sister and she thought it was a good idea."

"What do you know about it?"

"What I know is that they rely on people with a rare skill to join them voluntarily.

That almost never works so they have only 20 or so members.

They do have a large amount of weapons they do not need."

"Why do they not sell them?"

"It is illegal to sell weapons from the government.

The counterintelligence was formed as a side branch from the military.

As long as you stay in the military all weapons made by blacksmiths serving under the monarchy cannot be sold on the market.

That may be a problem because the financial situation of the empire is not ideal."

"So does that mean that this sword that I have cannot be sold?"

I grab the handle of the o-katana from the right side of my hip.

I slanted the sheath a specific way so I can grab it easier.

The sword came out of the sheath surprisingly easily considering it stayed in place really well.

This must be some stability enhancement to the sheath that gets disabled by transferring soul energy into the blade.

I let Ned take a look.

"Wow this thing is a little thinner than my o-katana.

It is also slightly shorter than my blade too.

It weighs a lot less as well."

"Okay…"

"Yeah this is a pretty good blade, though you have to wipe it every so often and sharpen it."

"This blade also has the military emblem and also the white line to indicate that you are part of the counterintelligence.

My blade is made with 1060 steel.

A good mix of flexibility and solidity."

"Good to know, mine is made with 1075 steel." I say.

"Interesting, I don't hear a lot about 1075 steel."

"As far as I am concerned, as long as the steel is able to protect people, I don't care too much…

Anyways, wanna spar?

I need to get used to this weight and balance then I can use Soul And Weapon at my best potential."

"Alright, you got your sword expert on the job!"

"Show me what you can do.

If you beat me, I will pay for our dinner today."

We shared a fistbump and started training.

←→

"Awwww crap!" I shouted "Fine, dinner is on me tonight!"

I was lying face first on the grass.

I never knew the cool sensation of dirt was actually so calming.

"That was a closer one than I expected." Ned exclaimed.

"I never knew that Soul And Weapon straight up gave you a 3 hit combo!" He coughed.

I flopped over and I was now staring at the sky.

My arm moved in front of my face.

->

Skills: Mind Pierce, Soul And Weapon

Abilities: Stick-7, Needle-14, Push Dagger-5(timelapse), Namefinder, Sword-3

<-

"Hey wait a minute… why… where did your sword go?

I thought you sheathed it a moment ago!" Ned asked.

"Huh?

I can see it just fine."

"What the hell?

Is this some kind of power you picked up?"

"Hold on, it may be an engraving."

"How come you can get one —"

"Counterintelligence ;

I was correct, an engraving, not on my sword though."

"An engraving on your sheath?

Is that even possible?"

"It is possible, it just is hard to buy services for it.

Most of the time when you want an engraving, you get it from a blacksmith with an enhanced soul energy tool to physically engrave it onto your sword.

Other times, there is a very rare option that someone will split your weapon into tiny thin slices and engrave them into the center and assemble them with Soul Energy." I say.

"I heard your brother did the thin slice one.

It makes the engravings invisible until you run your soul energy into them.

Damn, that must have cost a lot." said Ned.

"In fact, he did not pay for it.

He saved a guy from being dragged off by some greedy noble who wanted his services and ended up having his engravings done there.

I wish he was still here; I want to also meet that guy who did his engravings."

"He really is some kind of savior for many people."

"Yeah my sheath is like the ones they use back during times of war.

They would deck themselves up with every single move they can possibly get their hands on.

The sheath is carefully engraved with a soul torch.

The only thing that can cleanly engrave things on leather or wood."

"I read about that in many books about heroes and ghouls."

"Alright I can't help but notice something odd, but I never wanted to bring this up."

"Spill it, I don't mind."

"You see, I was not able to see your sister's star rating on her ID the other day."

"It is not much, but it is pretty secretive.

What I heard is if you form a contract with counterintelligence, say like accepting a sword as a gift, you can erase some details from your ID card legally.

You can erase anything but your name and age, as long as you imagine it and use your soul energy to transfer it onto your ID card."

"Hold on, let me try."

I slowly sit up.

My entire back was just about as dirty as my front.

My tunic turned from light brown into the color of shit.

Well my pants were the same as they always were I guess.

I pull my untouched ID card.

"Here goes!" I shout.

A bright glow illuminated everything around it.

Now the card looked something like this:

Ivan Chuan

Age: 16

Skills:?

Rank: 0-star

Yeah ID cards do not include your abilities because they change all the time.

"That is cool, now I can keep up with the vibe of counterintelligence." I say.

"Yup you would stick right in, no doubt."

"Am I really that shady?" I laugh.

"Alright Ivan imma head to the deeper woods to find and eradicate more rogue summons."

He picks himself up from the ground.

"Yeah same, might as well go deeper now I got permission."

I started standing up too.

We start to walk towards the tree line on the other side.

"This will be great practice for you.

Maybe give you an edge during the testing."

"The first part starts in a couple of days."

"Alright hunting time I suppose.

Take one of these."

I hand Ned a liquid solution I bought at the store.

"What is this?"

"Use it when you get hit by those summons.

It helps us not get killed."

←→

Dodge, slash, jab, slash.

"Alright!" I shout, "Get a hit or two on its head, I will cover for taking the damage!"

The giant boar shaped creature lowered its head and snorted.

"Ready!" Ned called out.

It came towards me, getting larger and larger then…

BOOM!

"RGH!"

I blocked just in time with my sword.

Now the summon is held in place.

"NED!" I called.

Slash, slash, cut, jab, slash.

"If you hold it longer I can land another combo!"

Slash, slash, cut, jab, slash.

The creature finally slowed down a little bit.

It started to push back less and less during each hit.

"Here I go!" I shout, "Execution!"

I let the summon go, then I strike.

Decapitation.

"Whoa…"

"Ow"

"That was a pretty tough one considering it took so many hits to the head." I say.

"That smell of blood is disgusting.

I never had one smell so horribly before."

"That is what everything in the deep forest is like.

Mysterious and strange."

"I need to head back for lunch now.

Killing so many summons really was the exercise."

"Same here, I kinda wanna go back and play with my sheath ability some more."

←→

That military sword is my proof of contract with the counterintelligence.

It has only 1 physical engraving.

Ghoul Burn; it is activated when I call upon it.

That is similar to my sheath ability which turns invisible to other people by my will.

Pretty handy.

I can enter the tavern without taking off my sword.

If any more unsavory drunk people walk up to me again I will beat their ass.

I smirk.

Also gives me the ability to sneak past enemies without too many problems.

I angled my sheath as much as possible because carrying a sword that has a blade that is nearly 1 meter long is a pain.

Although the curvature does make it a little better.

In the end it is about as long as a longsword and I have to carry it behind my waist.

I need to be careful about the size.

Well I trained for the last half of the day in the forest before I headed to the tavern for dinner.

We were both underage to drink so I asked Ned what he wanted.

"Water." Ned told me.

"Okay then, we get water and dinner." I said, "Just watch out for shady or aggressive people."

"Gotcha.

Drunk idiots; we just have to make sure we do not get into too much useless crap all the time."

"Exactly.

The real reason I did this bet was because I wanted to see what information people have heard from around the empire."

"Seriously?"

"Because I have a feeling something is up."

We walked down the street of the town towards the tavern.

"Imma see what is up."

I put on my hood and walk into the tavern.

"Whoa there are a lot of people here.

Good time for some juicy intel."

"So, is this supposed to be intentional?"

"Yep, I also have an expert on the job."

"Let's go.

We need to find a seat" I say.

Ned agreed, "Alright, we happen to have an open table."

He may be a pretty good partner later on, so we can make a squad one day.

Probably wishful thinking.

I sat down, "Today is a busy day for the tavern, we must pay close attention to other conversations as well as enjoying our own discussion."

"So then, tell me about that 'professional'.

Did you hire them?

And what are they professional at?"

"I will just be straight up about it.

They were the people who shot me in the left hand.

So they volunteered to come over here.

Yeah they are very high ranking officers as well.

He was on a day off so I just thought I could talk with him."

"So what exactly is he really good at?"

"He is pretty good at swords in general.

He also is insanely good at team strategies.

The cool thing is that I heard he makes up strategies during a battle.

He sets up the battle how he wants it and he plays it out how he wants it.

Everything the enemy does is countered by his quick wits."

"Okay I see this guy is probably a good card to play during a battle.

But what does he do during peacetime?

Hell, he is in squad 10, one of the high class criminal hunting squads."

"Okay."

"Now I think I heard something about ghouls and their recent appearances."

We both fall silent.

"The recent appearances of the ghouls are kinda freaky.

I heard that 3 ghouls wiped the floor with the units near the Norhonan village."

"Damn" I tell Ned.

"Norhonan village is located 23 miles north from Soiole town, where we are currently located." I continued.

"Ghouls are extremely fast and can move at an average speed of 12 miles per hour."

"Well we need to keep an eye on our guests.

He is a probable target for the ghoul assassins that killed my brother and almost all of his squad.

There is a high chance he will be bringing in the 5 star for many possible reasons."

"I heard she has a pretty face if you know what I mean."

"That is true, but her eyes tell me she is ready to kill whenever she likes.

For our first encounter, an arrow very nearly became impaled in between my eyes."

"Doing something illegal very rarely ends up being a good thing.

The worst enemy you can make is your future comrade.

When you're in the same team just value having a half and half quad."

The door to the tavern opens.

"Young man, we are here like you asked."

"Right on time, Luki."

→←

"Ah, it is good to see both the brother of Reed and also the brother of Olivia here."

Me and Ned stood up and put our hands to our necks, and moved our hands 90 degrees to the right and lifted our hands upwards.

That was the standard issue solute.

"Alright let us get straight to the point then?"

"So, do you have anything to talk about?" Luki asked me.

"Yeah, does the military have tags in place on the ghouls?"

"Currently, if you are asking about tags, which ones are you talking about?"

"The ghouls that attacked Norhonen."

"The job of the counterintelligence is to hunt and kill ghouls." Ned stated, "Or at the very least tag the ghoul before they die."

Luki looks at me, "Yes, an unknown member of the counterintelligence died nearly 6 hours ago during the fight with one of the three ghouls that were attacking Norhonen.

However the survivors reported that the ghoul was posing as a normal person before starting to attack people from inside the village."

"How many casualties were there?"

"About 50 injured and 12 were killed.

During that attack they were likely after squad 12.

Lucky for them, they finished the mission 2 days early.

I think that undercover ghouls are responsible for the attacks on the squads."

"Damn them!" Ned shouted.

"I know, and they could possibly be headed this way right now.

I know this town is the closest and also you and Kaiya are the targets."

"Speaking of which, where is Kaiya?" Ned asked?

"Here." A knife was at my neck before I could respond.

"Huh..?"

"You weren't paying attention were you?" Kaiya asked from behind me.

"Yeah yeah, now is not the time.

Although you did happen to have an engraving on that knife when activated can grant you a few seconds of invisibility.

I have never seen it before."

I studied the knife carefully.

A slightly serrated edge near the top where there was a curve, and a sharp edge all the rest of the way down.

"Also multirole; Amazing.

So… Can you not look like you're trying to kill me?

We are getting a little bit of attention."

I looked around the room, the entire place had their eyes trained on us.

"Okay, criminal."

"Are you going to make that into a nickname or something?"

"Of course."

Kaiya lowers the knife slowly.

"Does anyone want a drink of wine?" I ask.

"Nope." "Not really" "Ehh."

"Haha, just kidding, though I think Luki is old enough to drink wine." I laugh.

"I am 25 I can't not drink wine.

Whenever I go on any mission that involves fancy crap, I know that I will be swigging away at vintage wine." Luki reminded me.

"So, Kaiya?" I ask.

She pauses for a second.

"In fact, I am 15, so definitely not."

"Did my brother turn you into some kind of child prodigy?

I bet he trained you with all the methods he had."

"Basically, just torture…"

"I know what it is like.

We are the only people ever to receive his training.

An elite squad 2 member that was arguably the strongest commander that did not use Soul And Weapon ever."

"Even torture could be a privilege, is that what you're getting at?"

"Yep, torture is a privilege.

Pain is a privilege.

Existence is a privilege.

Death is a privilege.

No one leaves this damned hellhole without creating darkness or light."

"Yo what is going through your head right now buddy?" Ned asked

"My first job will be to knock out those ghouls, then I will visit the village."

"Ghoul "RECON-5.238k" will be your target I suppose?" Kaiya asked?

"Yeah, those guys.

Thanks, pretty face.

If there is anyone you want to kick in the ass for that, do it to Ned."

"Uhh…" Ned mumbled.

"Looks like Ned is an idiot." Kaiya shrugged.

Slap!

"Owww!"

"How do you trust him to tell you this stuff?" Luki asked Kaiya.

"He is the only other person that doesn't look like a brainless sack of meat."

"A hunter like her wants nothing with your compliments.

But I take it, she does look good without all my blood on her." I say.

"So anyways, do you guys have any plans on taking out this ghoul?"

"I am staying to protect the people; if anything gets hairy, my life is the one they shall take." Luki responded.

"I will make sure commander does not die, because then Mr. Shady would not have to take over operations.

He is not good at combat, but very intelligent at strategy, though nothing compared to commander." Kaiya said.

"I am here to try to make sure that only my blood will be spilt." I told Ned.

"I will not be helping you guys in this one." Ned stated, "I may be dragged in anyways though."

"I assure you, you can't miss this one, because they are coming for us." I declared.

The door to the tavern opens.

A foot steps in.

"RECON-5.238k." I speak.