Luca moved.

The wind warped as he blasted forward with a sonic boom.

The metal ground trembled but held—a structural testament to the Temporal Time Dome.

Caedun’s eyes flared but then steadied.

The metal plates by the side of the room trembled, floated into the air, and then flew towards him.

The number of sheets increased– nearly every metal had begun to move in tandem.

His Metal Form took control.

Caedun raised his arms into the air as the metal sheets clapped onto his arms, legs and chest.

A make-believe armour of metal he configured out of hard foil sheets.

Luca appeared with his fist aimed at Caedun’s chest. His body coiled. Muscles snapped. Bones hummed.

In perfect synchrony, everything moved as if one.

Then it landed on Caedun’s raised arms with a rattling snap.

The metal bent and a kinetic force ran through Caedun’s body like poison.

He fell on one knee, eyes wide and blood suddenly forced out of his mouth.

’That punch?!’

Luca suddenly raised his fist into the air, his gaze blazing with Ego as it coiled around his fist like a living serpent.

He pulled it down as if he were the Judge’s anvil, ready to crush everything in its path.

The metal throughout the room reverberated and swept through the air.

Rotating in bizarre angles before clasping around Caedun in a living armour.

They locked onto each other. Metal sheets over metal sheets– into a bulletproof vest of iron.

Luca’s fist couldn’t possibly hurt as it did.

’He’s a Knight! He can’t punch like us, Brawlers!’ He concluded as his gaze traced Luca’s incoming fist and as he did, the world warped in his eyes and what he saw was a giant hammer– the size of a truck collapsing onto his head.

His body froze. His muscles clamped and dread blossomed in his chest.

’I’m dead.’

He closed his eyes when the world hummed and the sound of feet touching the metal floor reached his ears.

A sudden wind blast slammed over him, pushing him to the floor and into the ground with a gravitational weight.

Caedun gasped as he felt his chest tighten– lungs ceased to work.

But a moment later, the wind stopped and the pressure disappeared.

He panted softly before looking up and sighing in relief.

Above him was Luca’s fist held firmly by Jorash who had appeared at that moment.

His grin could as well cover half his face and the flash of madness that passed through his eyes alarmed Caedun.

’I was saved.’

He rolled from underneath them and jumped back to his feet.

"That’s enough."

Luca stared at him in confusion.

"What do you mean, that’s enough? We just got started."

Caedun wanted to punch the kid.

No, he couldn’t... he nearly died.

"You nearly killed me!"

Luca’s confusion persisted. Until he saw the blood stains on the boy’s lips and the polished ground.

"Oh."

Caedun narrowed his eyes.

"Oh?! That’s all you have to say?! Oh?"

Luca shook his head apologetically.

"I’m sorry, I may have over– underestimated my abilities."

Jorash’s grin never left.

’He’s disappointed that he couldn’t fight as long as he wanted.’

An excitement he could no longer restrain rushed through his body like cocaine.

’Alen was right. He is an interesting specimen... the Institution got a good one this time.’

Caedun sighed. "It doesn’t matter... I’m going to take a dip, then go back to the Hostel. Come if you want."

Luca nodded in response.

Caedun groaned and limped his way out of the room with a grim expression.

"Hope he doesn’t suddenly stop being friends with me," Luca muttered under his breath as he watched the door close behind him.

Jorash finally reeled his hold on Luca’s fist.

"Why would that matter?"

Then he assessed his own question.

’Right, they’re kids who still want to socialise. Well, I’m sure he would realise eventually that he’s different from the others. His potential is bright, though, that Synchrony...’

"It wouldn’t matter to you."

Jorash rolled his eyes.

"True. He’s a good boy though. Not the type to leave you hanging because of an inferiority complex, but he must be shocked."

Silence lingered between the two as Luca turned towards the door.

"He’s not the only one." He waved at Jorash.

"I’ll be taking my leave as well, I believe we’ve achieved what we wanted when we arrived here."

Jorash nodded. "Will we see you again?"

The door chimed as it slid open.

"I don’t know about Caed, but you will be seeing me more."

Then he exited.

Jorash couldn’t hide his excitement as he looked around the empty Temporal Time Dome.

Starting from where he had taken his stance, all the way to when he attacked Caedun.

’There was a subtle difference... no, an obvious one.’

He stroked his beard as his thoughts reeled in.

’He held a stance that was filled with holes.

A typical fighting stance for anybody who has been introduced into fighting for the first time...

But then it changed.’

He slowly followed Luca’s trajectory as if it were being replayed again.

The way the air bent unnaturally. His Ego output reinforced his external motion and the internal flow increased the pace.

The change was sudden. Sharp.

Almost inconceivable if you weren’t a Reckoner.

In fact, he was certain Explorers and Observers wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

’Was it a form?’

He had noticed it as well during their sessions.

His body would move as if it had a mind of its own– no, as if it were being controlled by another mind.

Adaptation through trial and error.

"Interesting." He folded his arms behind his back. "The more reason we have to keep him for ourselves..."

He headed towards the door with a low whistle.

’Neither the Federation nor the Ardenthals can have him.’

*

*

*

Time slipped and the sun’s rays were nearly gone and with it, the day.

Luca and Caedun walked the familiar streets back to their Hostel in their black uniforms.

A tense silence hung between them as they went on their way, but it didn’t last long.

Despite being kids, these two were easily one of the more mature bunch.

Caedun sighed, then suddenly screamed.

He stumped his feet in the middle of the pavement next to the main street.

Alerting everyone next to them.

Luca looked around in alarm.

"He– Hey, what’s wrong?!"

He turned towards Luca and bowed apologetically.

"I apologise for the way I reacted." He stated. "It was not something I was used to..."

His gaze lingered on Luca’s as he stood straight.

"And it was neither something I expected.

Throughout the day, I had anticipated training with a junior while leaving some pointers."

He stood to his feet.

"You see, I’m the last of five and all five of us are Egoists. For a while now, I’ve been at the bottom– the one who always learns.

So, when I heard of your age... and your score."

Luca nodded in understanding.

"It must have been frustrating."

Caedun nodded. "I agree it was... but it opened my eyes as well.

For a long time now, I’ve always assumed the superiority of the Synchrony was absolute... but now, I see that I was wrong.

There’s more to it, and while rare, you are one of those people. So, I guess it’s something I will have to include in my training."

He scratched the side of his face. His nervousness was evident.

Luca smiled. A genuine one for the first time in a while.

"It’s all good, and I agree that people like me are rare, so I understand."

He continued walking down the path.

"Let’s keep going. It’s almost seven and we don’t know when those resources will arrive."

"Alright," Caedun grunted and walked after him when his mind sparked as if recalling something important.

"Didn’t you say you had a question concerning the Null Cores?"

Luca’s eyes flashed in remembrance. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Yes, I had two in fact. Ever heard of the EgoistAgenda Forum and how are Null Cores absorbed?"

"For your first question, no... forums are usually old-fashioned and those who still use them are Guilds who are trying to recruit more people.

From what I recall, I believe my guild once had one of these, but we crashed it.

It’s unreliable and AI answers most of the questions."

Luca facepalmed himself.

’Of course, others would use AI to check for the information I wanted... but it was Mum who gave it to me. Why did she?’

Luca was once again reminded of his purpose of being here.

The series of events may have made him forget more than he realised.

’Mum, Dad.’ He recalled the words of the Agent before he left. ’An award from the Institution? That may be a bit hard... but not impossible.’

At first, he had seen his words as a taunt. Everyone knew how rigid the Federation was with its laws and the instructions were even worse.

But after everything he had been through, Luca had begun to see a bright light ahead.

"As for your second question, I’m guessing you didn’t check enough information?"

"No, I’m not entirely certain of the information I got and nothing about absorbing cores was included."

"I see. Well, you simply break the core close to your chest and inhale the particles.

It’s a less reliable method of increasing your percentage, but it works and if you’re able to absorb at least 50% of it, you get half of the effects if you killed that same creature."

Luca hummed slowly.

’It seems like there are two ways of obtaining a percentage. One is through the Null Cores and another is through killing Null Creatures.’

This discovery may have just resolved his growth debuff.

’It will still take a while, but it should be good enough.’

"Thanks."

The two continued along the path in silence. Their goals and ambitions replayed in their minds as this unexpected connection became a subtle reminder of their reasons for pursuing power.