The Manipulators

Willier-Chapter 8

Two years... a whole lot of time for a fox, somewhat time for a Human, and only a slight second for me.

...

With each mission complete, our fame rose, and time passed. Gradually, me and Trueman are once again "allies", but not for long. At the end of the two years, we, along with a bunch other soldier from different Stations, were to proceed to the castle in order to meet our recruiter. We weren't really the top of our year, but we would just do. After all, a small Station like Hilmar couldn't really beat an esteemed one such as Zimri. 

Thousands of us marched through the streets, families and some Clan members watched and saluted to us. Of course, we marched during the day, so they all did the sun salute. I once again approached the mysterious castle, a landmarking building with many secrets and home to the Government. We entered its grand shadow and slowly but surely, the sun salute gradually turned into the moon salute. 

Back then in our school, we learned both kinds and their meaning. The sun salute requires one's dominant hand to point their entire arm toward the sun. It represents the loyalty we pledge to the Sun and how he receives it and give us his power. The moon salute requires one's dominant hand to shield both of their eyes. It represents how loyal we are to the Moon that we do not question her motive and the respect we give to her. In turn, she grants a light in the darkness and guide us through it. 

The darkness deepened and we reached the gate. It slowly creaked open as we stepped in. The cheering and screaming gradually quieted down and we found ourselves in a gigantic room. The room is completely empty apart from us and a few candles. However, after squinting my eyes for some time, I managed to see two figures standing on the far end of the room. With lightning speed, they appeared in front of the crowd. They are Douglas Gelumnatio and Sixten Cthulhu. Well, I will be damned. 

Douglas Gelumnatio, not only does he feel no pain nor extreme emotion like all Gelumnatio, but he was also the Substitute Kunstler, the second in command of the Gelumnatio. He was also the quickest to rise in ranks and was considered a prodigy, the new youngest member of the Government (Everyone else are ancient anyways). Sixten Cthulhu was another case. He is ancient and less powerful compared to Vaperrashi and other members of the Government. However, he managed to earn himself a priceless power, the power of the Deity of Earth. In order to earn such power, one must be loyal to the Deity no matter the cost and become a master of that element. A price to pay, however, is that one would be severely injured after using the Deity's power. We call that power... 1 Percent Release. Sixten has a unique battle style; he has the ability to use his battle shovel to create distraction and fight with it or escape in emergency. The two men, though wearing the same equipment, differs in their appearance greatly. Douglas, apart from the usual Gelumnatio blueness, seemed to be extremely younger than he is while Sixten has a small beard, gray hairs, tired eyes, and tanned skin. The former is significantly taller than Sixten. 

The room went dead silent as we stared at Douglas and Sixten's stern face. It went on for another few minutes before Sixten spoke: "Greetings, fellow future Solist or Lunist. My name is Sixten, as all of you should know. The man next to me is Douglas Gelumnatio, as all of you should also know. Standing here today, you all have managed to excel at your Stations and perform exceptionally well. Welcome to the Inanis, where usually newcomers or invaders would find themselves in. Here, all of you will fight us alone and we would determine if you were wanted or not. I do hope that you guys have the common sense that it is impossible to beat us but feel welcome to try. Mr. Douglas, please explain the procedural." 

"Very well, Cthulhu. Here, as stated by Sixten, we would fight each of you individually. Your rank would be determined by us and your level of performance. Of course, if you feel that this is too much for you as of right now, feel free to walk out." Douglas then looked around in the crowd. No one moved. "Very well. Now, we would give you a brief amount of time to decide if being a Solist or Lunist would suit you better. Step to my left if you want to join the Lunist and go to Sixten's right if you perfer to be a Solist."

The crowd shifted and split into two huge piles. I was not surprised when Trueman and Marvick was on the opposite side. At that time, I figured out that my future allies would be Ingeborg and Hallam, which is tolerable. 

"Now, who want to become the first to lose?" Taunted Sixten. 

We watched as a brave soul dared to attack Sixten. His was immobilized as Sixten kicked him in the stomach. On our side, we found that two of my future allies have found themselves kissing the floor. Volunteers went on and on and both Sixten and Douglas easily handled them. Several tripped, another bunch knocked out, and there is no way for us to try to counter their attacks as their attacks seemed to be too diverse. Then, I saw Ingeborg charging at Douglas. Her spear was risen and pointed toward Douglas as he took no stance at all. Just as her spear was about to touch him, Douglas rose his hand and tried to reach for the spear. However, she took several quick steps back, leaving her spear flying. Out of his calculation, he took a blow to his armor. It didn't do anything to him, but Ingeborg still managed to land a hit. Then, Douglas showed a sly smile face. "Ah, a Gelumnatio, of course it would be one of our kind to trick me." Douglas, with his insane speed, seemed to teleport behind Ingeborg. "But of course, that is a kind of insult that I will not take." He slammed his bare fist into Ingeborg's back armor, shattering it, and sent her flying to the other side.

"Next." He spoke menacingly, his cold blue eyes staring at us. 

One could say Douglas is biased, for he always compliments a Gelumnatio's smartness before hitting them harder than he would to a Mintian. As of right now, my brain wasn't even on the topic on how to face him, but I was thinking what he would say once he figures out what kind of unholy freak I am. Gradually, our group decreased in size as the battlefield were filled with unconscious soldiers. Sixten and Douglas don't even seem to be tired at all. Hallam, who had been sitting next to me this entire time, spoke: "I am going" in my ear and went on to challenge Douglas. "Another one." Douglas said with a smile. "What kind of trick does this one have?" Hallam then responded: "Nothing impressive." He charged at Douglas with spear risen. Just like facing Ingeborg, he didn't budge to care. As hallam and his ice spear slammed into Douglas, Douglas reached for him. Instead, he found himself touching ice. "What..." Before he could reply, several more ice spears shot toward him. Douglas must have turned on serious mode because he deflected all of them... toward Hallam's hiding space. Without warning, Hallam was impaled by his own attack. "Clever trick. Just not good enough." Douglas spoke and left Hallam to bleed. Of course, Douglas would save him if he were a Mintian, but Hallam is a Gelumnatio and would definitely survive, so instead, he looked toward us... and found me. 

Douglas' face turned to a frown, and we stared eye to eye for a while. Though several others tried to attack him in the while, he disarmed them and packed them up easily. And then, before I knew it, it is just the two of us left: Me and Douglas. "You seemed to be quiet young." He spoke, not yet realizing what I am. "Your skin is still pale and not a hint of blue. A prodigy, eh? Well, let's see what you got." He opened his arm and waited for my attack. My brain started racing. If Douglas does not know what I am, then I could attack with ice and then use fire. 

I conjured an ice spear and, like Hallam and Ingeborg, charged at him. His smile still not diminished as I stabbed him. He didn't even budge. It was only after a second jab did he realize that I am not pulling any tricks, just pure strength. That assumption of his was also false as when he tried to punch me, I shattered. To be precise, my reflection shattered. 

I was behind him this entire time. 

I quickly jabbed him one more time and dunked beneath his fist. He missed due to my small size. However, I knew my luck would run out so when he looked down, I unleashed fire. He wasn't prepared for it at all and braced it face on. It wasn't powerful like Marvick's but would serve as a good distraction and smoke screen. I quickly back away from him, conjured as many ices spear as I could, and sent them flying toward Douglas. 

"Child of sins, son of a traitorous sinner and a murderous devil, you are that thing I was told about." My body involuntarily froze as Douglas' voice came form behind. "Your mother is a fool to reject us, and your father is an idiot for tempering with us. You served as the combination of these two flaws. Your efforts are futile in front of me, and it saddens me deeply that a thing like you could achieve greater than anyone I have saw today." Somehow that last part seemed to be some sort of a compliment rather than an insult, but the sharp pain I felt on my back side soon diminished these ideas. I too, passed out among the many.