Stanley walked into the room, with a bit of nervousness as well as anticipation. He had a new mission.

When he arrived inside the room, he looked through the corner of his eye and saw Gray sitting comfortably on the sofa.

"Come sit," Gray said, letting Stanley sit next to him.

Stanley did as told and looked toward the director. "What’s my mission?" he asked.

The director tapped something and stood up. An image appeared of a city situated at the bottom of a massive mountain.

"For your starting mission, it’s a relatively easy one," the director said. "This is Yardin, a city in the eastern region of Barson. It’s located at the feet of the Uralus mountain range, and is a relatively small city compared to other cities in Barson."

The picture zoomed, moving into the city, showing a location.

"Here’s you’ll find David—"

A picture appeared, next to the picture of the city, of a man in a black suit. He had the left side of his face covered in some sort of tech, and his left arm was fitted with the same stuff as well.

"—an arms dealer," the director continued. "The government of Barson has been trying to find this man for a long time, trying to capture him."

"3 days ago, they nearly got him in Triglow city. But he had bodyguards that weren’t simple for them to handle. We have a report of what their powers may be, but it is not simple."

"Many cops died in the standoff, and as a result, the government of Barson decided to hand over the task of capturing this man to us," the director said.

"This... is a simple mission. Find the man, get rid of his bodyguards, and capture him," the director said. "Killing is fine, but it’s better if you can capture him alive. If we figure out where he is getting his supplies of weapons from, that would be the best."

"Ugh... the Barson government isn’t that fun to deal with," Gray said. "They took so much time to confirm that I could kill them the last time that those bastards nearly escaped."

"They care about the civilians that would’ve gotten harmed. There’s nothing wrong with that," the director said.

"So... that’s my job?" Stanley asked. "Defeat a few men and capture him?"

"Yes, do you think you can handle it?" the director asked.

Stanley thought for a moment. "I... think so," he said. "It doesn’t sound that difficult."

"I wouldn’t say that. If it wasn’t difficult, we wouldn’t be the ones getting this job," the director said. "You have a few hours to prepare what you can. You will be leaving at midnight tonight along with Gray and Reena."

"Oh, Gray is coming too?" Stanley looked toward Gray in surprise.

"Yep," Gray nodded.

"This is your first mission, but it is an important one as well," the director said. "If we can get this man, we can put a stop to this illegal trade of weapons."

"Also," Gray added. "You are too important an asset to send to something like this on your own. I’m here to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"I... am an important asset?" Stanley was surprised. "Because I’m a Nova?"

"Yes," Gray said. "And, of course, to make sure you don’t run away."

"I won’t," Stanely said.

"I will make sure of that," Gray said.

"You’ll get the rest of the information once we arrive on Barson. For now, go and prepare to leave," the director said.

Stanley nodded. "Okay," he said.

Once Stanley was gone, Gray turned toward the director and looked at the picture on the screen.

"That’s a dangerous man," he said. "I’m surprised that you are letting him go at it alone."

"So is he," the director said, looking at the door through which Stanley had just left. "You know he has the potential to be second to only you in this association. Hell, he might already be."

"No, he needs a bit more training. The 5 should be able to fight him, especially Ella and Droon. Don’t know about the rest of the 3," Gray said.

"I still think he can beat them all," the director said. "That’s why you need to make sure he isn’t hurt in any way. Protect him with all you have, but don’t help him either. You can’t be there for him all the time."

"Urgh! Babysitting. That’s kinda annoying, you know," Gray said.

"I know," the director said. He turned off the two images on the screen and brought out another one.

When Gray saw that picture, he got a little curious. "Is that... Trennor?" he asked. He was a little surprised to see the director show him off.

Gray remembered something from a month ago that he had nearly forgotten. "Is this... about how he got strong?" he asked.

"Yes," the director said. "Caleb scrubbed the digital space for his footprints and found that he had taken a ride to Voras in between the time when his powers improved. It is possible that there is something in Voras that can help them improve their strength."

"We speaking drugs? Weapons? Or..."

"Given that it’s a matter of souls, it’s most likely a human," the director said. "I do not know what exactly it is. The records of the time Trennor was anywhere in the north are completely erased."

"Hmm... that’s suspicious alright," Gray said.

"Caleb barely found what he could after a month of scouring it all. I believe it would have been hard to find this information if not for him," the director mentioned.

"Something is going on in Voras then. Someone is trying very hard to delete records of Trennor. He should not have this sort of power," Gray mentioned.

"I know," the director said. "I’ve had Caleb try and find any mentioned of other people that have been to Voras but have no records there. But it’s no different than asking him to shoot in the sky blindly and hope to hit a bird."

"Well, start by having him situated in a place full of birds then. It should be easier," Gray said. "Start with the criminals that are on our list. See if any went to Voras."

"Alright, I’ll do that," the Director said. "I don’t like what’s going on, Gray. It... feels wrong. Two Novas appear out of nowhere, this improving someone’s power, the overbearingness of these criminals. I don’t like any of it one bit."

"Well... that is the world," Gray said. "We can’t change it to be what we want it to go. We can merely hope to push it enough so that it doesn’t go crashing into something on its way."

"Alright, I’ll go prepare too. It’s been a month since my last mission, so I am a little excited. Well, not that this really is that fun a mission," Gray said. "Urgh, I can’t believe I’m babysitting."

He complained as he left the room and once again, jumped off the top instead of taking the elevator down.

Stanley walked out of the elevator and walked straight to the cafeteria where he had been before he was called to be briefed on the mission.

He ordered a large sandwich and some juice to eat right now. He had a lot on his mind, so he didn’t want anything unique to try out.

’A new mission, huh?’ he thought. Barson was a place he had only seen on the maps. It was the eastern country right next to Starhall. It was large and was the third largest country in the continent, right behind United Voras, and Wuglos.

And he was going there.

He had been to Starhall city a few times, but this would be the first time he would go to any other city since coming here.

’A mission,’ he thought. It was weird how life was. He had been stripped away from his old life and given a new status because of his powers. And yet, he was still doing missions.

Just like his old life.

He had quit being a Defender, but it seemed to be a Defender hadn’t quit him yet. He ate quickly and went to tell Sheila about his new mission.

Sheila congratulated him. She didn’t have any missions in the recent future, so she planned to stay behind and train.

"So, I guess you’ll be gone for a week or two," she said.

"Eh? Does it take that long? It’s just a man and a few bodyguards," Stanley said.

"And where are these men and bodyguards?" Sheila asked. "What powers do they have? How many people do they have? What weapons?"

"Uhh... I don’t know," Stanley said.

"Exactly," Sheila said. "It’s the scout’s job to figure this stuff out, and if the scout is good, they’ll find all this information in a day or two. If not... you might have to wait for months."

"Oh... I think the scout is Reena," Stanley said.

"Ah, then it shouldn’t take long, a week, 2 at most," she mentioned. "Reena is a capable scout with years of experience. You should be back soon."

"Great!"

Stanley returned back to his room and got his clothes in a bag. He put a few more items that he would need, but other than that, there wasn’t much that he needed.

He sorted through what else he could want and saw that his belts were empty.

"Oh, right," he remembered. He had been taught that before leaving for any mission, he was to go get his supplies from the supply department.

Remembering that, Stanley left his room and went there.