Chapter 20: To Master the Hunts
The crate maze was not as hard to navigate as Jaden initially guessed as it was merely a single linear path right to the centre of the area. She and her party stood around the meeting area patiently for Tareshah and her lieutenants to make an appearance.
“So, the bounty hunters are allied with our enemies. Do you know any of those bastards by any chance?” Reed said to Jaden, attempting to strike up a conversation to let time fly.
“No. I normally isolate myself away from people outside my family, although I do have a friend outside my family.”
“Really? Why don’t we look for this friend of yours?”
“She’s not a trained fighter. I do not wish to drag her into this. I bet she had no idea that my family is wiped out, save for myself.”
“Wait, your friend’s a she? Hmm, how old is she? Mind taking me to her?”
“Reed…”
“Alright alright. I was merely curious. But really though, how old is she?”
“Much younger than I am. If I am correct, she’s only fifteen now. She had a younger brother last time we talked.”
“I see. That’s nice.”
“Well, don’t you at least want to see if they’re alright?” Gavin asked.
“Maybe. Once we have the time, we could visit them.”
Just as Jaden was done talking, Tareshah and a few tall men, all armed with rifles, walked into the makeshift meeting room. Tareshah was still dressed in the apparel that she was wearing when Jaden last saw her; a red trench coat over a black t-shirt and white pants with boots, child-sized of course. As Jaden watched her enter, she began to feel amazed that a child was able to carry something as large and heavy as a rifle. It made her wonder how she would shoot with its sights considering her size. Her lieutenants that followed were dressed in gang clothing, notably leather vests and black jeans.
Everyone gathered around the table that held several maps, one of which happened to be a map of Qurrentine. Tareshah, being too short for the table, had to place a stool next to the table and sat on it just to be at a height tall enough for her to look at the table’s content s. This amused Reed, who chuckled slightly as Tareshah was getting help from her lieutenants to sit on the stool. She noticed his laughter, but paid no attention to it.
She pulled out the map of Qurrentine and placed it on top of the other maps. “Alright, as I mentioned before, the bounty hunters are a huge problem to us Salvager remnants. Despite of our best efforts, we failed to discover their hideout and when many of us left to go hiding, we lack the manpower to actively search them.”
She then pointed her index finger and on the map, circling around the city’s heart. “But, we do know that a large majority of attacks on my men occurred in this huge area. Their hideout is around there.”
“But, we don’t know their hideout. You can’t really expect us to scan that entire area for something secret.” Reed retorted.
“I’m not asking you to search the area.” Tareshah replied. “If my scouts were right, there is an agent of Dark Viper living around the area, possibly sent there as an ambassador to show the truce between the two groups. My scouts claimed to have seen the agent cast spells and sense a high Energy level on the agent. We believe that the agent knows where the hideout is. We could capture the agent and hold a nice little interrogation session.”
“Oh? That sounds easy enough. Problem is, who the hell is this agent?” Reed exclaimed.
“It’s a fairly young individual. Quite powerful too. She blends in well with the crowd, properly disguised as one of them. My scouts claimed that she had blood-red hair and violet eyes but changes apparel very often.”
“The agent’s a she too? This is my lucky day.” Reed said with a smirk.
“Back to the matter…you idiot…we know for certain that she lives around the area.”
“You know, you could’ve asked your scouts to capture her.” Gavin suggested.
“I did. They never came back. Considering what Jaden has accomplished, I believe you guys can handle this powerful Magic user.”
“Um, what I have accomplished?”
“We know Jaden. We know that you defeated Dark Viper in a duel, survived something many thought was impossible. One of our scouts was watching your duel with him from a distance. Your victory brought some hope to my people, especially the ones who stayed and never left. I bet this group would’ve disbanded without the knowledge of your victory. Be grateful that not everyone in Qurrentine knew, especially the cultists.”
“Why don’t the cultists knew?” Reed asked.
“I’m assuming that Dark Viper did not tell his men, embarrassed by such a defeat.”
“But, earlier on, you asked me what I did to piss Iblisan off? I assumed that you had no idea that I defeated Viper in a duel.”
“Iblisan and Dark Viper don’t actually get along. Hell, I believe that it amuses Iblisan to see Dark Viper getting defeated by a younger, female Energy Bladesman. So, you merely amused him and we all know that. What we don’t know before was what you did that riled Iblisan enough for him to place a bounty on you. Also, back then, our scout had no idea who you were. Now we know; the connection between the duel and the massacre on the docks is fairly obvious. The Jaden Highland that people are talking about these days is the same woman who defeated Dark Viper one-on-one.”
Jaden was shocked speechless, surprised to hear that her victorious duel against Dark Viper brought hope to Salvager remnants that heard of her deeds. She could not believe how much her actions are influencing them.
“So, back to the matter at hand, we need to find and capture this agent. Jaden could try to sense out her high Energy level amongst the populace. My scouts claimed that she’s often alone but be prepared for more just in case. My lieutenants will stay here and monitor the Veraslag in my absence.”
“Your absence?”
“I’m coming with you. It was this agent bitch that turned me into this. I tried to capture her once myself, and look at what she did to me. I am a woman, not a child, and I intend on showing that agent what a woman will do to another once you piss her off. This is going to be personal.”
“Whoa. If this agent did this to you, do not expect me to deal with her myself. The last I need is to go through puberty twice.” Reed said.
Tareshah sighed and rub her head. She then exclaimed, “Thanks for reminding me of what will I go thought as I grow up in this bloody child form.”
“Don’t mention it.” Reed replied with a huge smile on his face.
“Alright, enough fooling around. Once we’re ready, we’ll head out.”
* * *
“Jaina, status report.”
“Pretty quiet here Jaden. No hostiles detected around you or the Crimson Spinner. Yeah, everything is all fine. No worries, well, except Vader. He’s being a bit erratic lately.”
“What do you mean?”
“He sometimes speaks to himself, saying things like completing his mission but conflicting with his current orders. Sometimes, though, he just outright shoots the open air.”
“Damn. I forgot. Vader’s mission was to protect me.”
“Oh now I see. He wants to protect you but it conflicts with the order you gave him. You better get this mission done quickly. He blasted two holes in the Crimson Spinner from the stress.”
“He did what? If I come back and find my ship broken to pieces…” Reed exclaimed.
“Stress? A robot can stress?”
“Well, not literally. What I meant was that the conflict within his programming is causing his body to overheat and his hardware to behave unpredictably. I had to constantly reassure him that you’ll be back.”
“Well, keep doing that. This mission could take some time to complete.”
“I’ll try. Crimson Spinner out.”
“You know Jaden, if we capture this agent, perhaps we can take her back to the Crimson Spinner. I bet Vader has some interrogation techniques which we humans may never think of. Besides, it might calm him down a little seeing you alright.” Gavin said.
“Maybe. We’ll see once we get our hands on that agent.”
“I’m sorry, what is this Crimson Spinner you spoke of?” Tareshah asked, eavesdropping the banter between Jaden and her crew.
“It is an old Salvager military transport ship that we are using as transport. Crimson Spinner is a nickname Reed gave the ship, mostly because the ship has a unique crimson coloring. It was…well…‘given’ to us by our ally, Vader.”
“And who is this Vader?”
“A VX Synthetic.”
“You’re kidding me right? A VX Synthetic, outside of Asimo, helping a Qurrentine…their enemies?”
“If you don’t believe me, you can meet him yourself.”
“Oh yeah. I think I’ll blast a hole through his chassis to save us all the trouble of dealing with a rogue VX Synthetic.”
“Trust me Tareshah, he’s been far more helpful than you probably would’ve expected. His aid saved my life several times. Hell, even Reed can admit it. Vader was an invaluable member of the team.”
“Jaden’s right. I never like Vader, but he’s a great help.” Reed said.
“Even I agree that Vader’s a good addition to the team. I saw him sniping cultists from a great distance back in Mannihilate, thinning their numbers swiftly.” Gavin added.
“Look, VX Synthetics may not be a human’s best friend unlike before, but this is especially not the time to reignite old hatreds when we have new ones.” Jaden told Tareshah.
Tareshah frowned and replied, “Alright. I’ll keep my gun away from him. But, the minute he display any signs of betraying us, I’ll save a bullet for his metallic head. Make me his personal executor.”
“So, now that we’re in this area, what should we do Tareshah?”
“Try to use your Magical Energies to sense for other people’s Energy level. You know how to do that I hope?”
“Yeah I do.”
“Well, do it then.”
Jaden stabbed her katana onto the ground and clasped her hands together. Unlike her previous attempt to read one’s Energy level, which was done on Kle’to Maniark, she’s reading the Energy level of the populace around the area, which requires her full concentration and powers. She closed her eyes, ceasing the use of her five senses and allowed her Light and Dark Energies to reach out to the populace around the area. She began sensing the Energy level of people around her. Sensing one’s Energy level is almost like going close to a fire. The higher the Energy level, the stronger the heat gets.
Since she’s mass sensing, she accidentally sensed her party member’s Energy level first. She sensed Gavin’s first, who was standing closest to her. His Energy level can barely be felt, mostly because, as a Mannihilator, he went through a Proving ritual unique to them. This made Jaden assume that Omega Energies cannot be sensed, they are naturally weak, or its lack of usage by Gavin made his Energy level weak. This contrasts with Ser Nora, whose Energy level was fairly high. Being an Ohmni Knight, she probably may have used Omega Energies more often.
She then sensed Tareshah’s Energy level next. Hers was slightly stronger than Gavin’s as Jaden can feel a slight heat emitting from her. Regardless, it is still not noticeably strong and this made Jaden assume that she never underwent her Proving. Considering her choice of weapon, which is a rifle, she guessed that Tareshah may have been a soldier in her Salvager times.
This caused Jaden to recall one of her deceased family friends, Lilian, who used dual pistols as weapons before she was murdered by Dark Viper. Lilian was a soldier too and she once explained to Jaden that soldiers of the Salvagers are always the ones using guns. Jaden began to feel sad and remorseful over her death, as Lilian was one of the more kinder and graceful of the Six Exiles and once Lilian gossiped to her that she had a crush on Raydon, another member of the Six Exiles and a warrior who mentored her triplet brother, Lucas. It nearly frustrated Jaden that Lilian died before she had the opportunity to share her feelings with Raydon. It especially made her mad that her triplet brothers were taken from her. Regardless, she was beginning to lose focus in her cast, hence she directed her Energy level sensing away from Tareshah.
She then sensed Reed’s Energy level next and quite surprisingly, his Energy level was hot, indicating that his was higher than both Gavin and Tareshah. She never saw him use his Omega Energies before but his Energy level implied that he may have used them more often than she thought. It made her wonder if it had anything to do with his murderous past, at least that was what Fabian claimed. Still, she refused to dwell on it and direct the Energy level sensing to the rest of the populace around.
As she began sweeping the area, Jaden felt all kinds of Energy level. Some had no sensible Energy level at all while a few others, normally cultists or gang members, possibly Salvager remnants, had Energy levels that were somewhat hot. Still, none of the populace had Energy levels that were burning hot or at least of noticeable power. Suddenly, her focus was disrupted when something was pulling her jeans.
Jaden reopened her eyes and looked down to see a young boy, looking up to her with his large blue eyes. He was pulling her pants in an attempt to call her but ceased his pulling when he realized that Jaden had stopped her Energy level sensing.
“Uh, who is that kid?” Tareshah queried.
“Jaden? It is you right?” the boy asked.
Jaden stared at him, trying to remember him as she found his voice strikingly familiar. And then, it hit her.
“Damien? Damien Mors?”
“Jaden! It is you!” the boy exclaimed.
Jaden kneeled down to hug the little lad. She pulled him in and felt the warmth of the small boy’s body. She felt gleeful to see one of her old friends still alive, considering everything that had happened.
“Jaden, who is this Damien?” Reed asked.
“He’s the little brother of my friend I spoke of.”
“Jaden, I’m so glad to see you alive! I heard of what happened to your family. I am so sorry.”
“Hey, I’m still alive. Dark Viper will get what’s coming for him. How’s your sister, Kida?”
“Um…fine I suppose.”
“Jaden, we don’t have the time for this.” Tareshah retorted.
“Tareshah, I am not letting this opportunity slip off my hand. I never had the chance to speak to the Mors in years.”
Though disappointed, Tareshah nodded and allowed her to converse with Damien.
“Damien, you sound pretty worried. Anything wrong with Kida?”
“Nothing really wrong but, she’s been acting weird lately.”
“What do you mean?”
“She sometimes walks around, talking to herself. It is like as if a ghost is right next to her and she can see it. Sometimes, when I went out to look for her, she would be surrounded by dead bodies. All of the dead bodies look like gangsters. I never knew she could kill anyone. And sometimes, I saw her throwing out red lightning out of her hands.”
“What? Wait a minute. Are you saying that Kida became a Magic user? A Dark Energy user?”
“I don’t know. It looks cool for a while but it then becomes scary. She even had this weird glow around her eyes that I can see in the dark.”
“Damn it. Magical Overflow.”
“And she killed gangsters? Don’t tell me those are my scouts.” Tareshah exclaimed.
“I don’t know. She said that those men attacked her.”
“Damien, take me to your sister. I’m worried about her.”
“Of course. I was actually hoping you would come and see her.”
“You aren’t going anywhere Energy Bladesman.” A voice said, coming from behind the party. The voice was familiar but unlike Damien’s, it was a voice Jaden was hoping not to hear again.
The party turned around to see a short, hooded figure, standing very still and staring at them with green glowing eyes. He was wearing sports apparel and held a katana, which was glowing red with Dark Energies, in a Reverse Grip fighting stance. As he looked up to reveal his face, only two words came out of Jaden’s mouth.
“Dark Viper.”
“Jaden! Shore party, are you there? A huge squad of soldiers is closing in on your position. They are surrounding the area and are armed with rifles. Shore party, do you copy?” Regardless, Jaden did not reply as her attention was fixed on the man who murdered her family.
“We copy Jaina. We’ll signal you when we need help.” Reed exclaimed.
“Damien, hide. We’ll deal with this.” Complying, the boy ran to a nearby dumpster and hid behind an opening behind it.
Dark Viper took small steps towards the party while saying, “So I see you have been busy since we last met. Iblisan didn’t like it one bit. It amuses me though, to see him so unhappy with your actions. I, for one, am glad to see you alive. This gives me the chance to redeem my past defeat.”
“I’m right here. I dare you to try.” Jaden taunted. Her words halted Dark Viper but barely changed the intimidating look on his face.
“Very well.”
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