"You guys need to remake this shit," Zac said as he held out the scythe in his hand. He tossed the scythe toward the Twins. Zidane snatched it out of the air.

"What's wrong with it?" Zidane asked incredulously.

"It's unwieldy and impractically balanced," Zac said, looking up from his desk.

"No shit, it's a scythe! It's unwieldy and impractical in nature. It's stupid to use it as a weapon." Zidane argued.

"I know, but it's the only way I can find any enjoyment out of fighting. Also, it's intimidating. So make it work." Zac smiled at The Twins. Zidane groaned, and Roisin giggled.

"I already have a few ideas; it'll be ready by tomorrow. Come on, Zizi." Roisin pulled Zidane by the collar, who was still intent on arguing. Zac smiled as he watched The Twins leave. After they left, Sage walked in.

"We've finished fixing up the lobby. Your office here could use some work." Sage said as she looked at the bare obsidian walls and his empty obsidian desk, which was dimly lit with bioluminescent veins running through the walls. Zac shrugged his shoulders.

"I like it. I am not going to be using it much anyway. Let's see what you did with the lobby." Zac sighed as he rose from his seat. As they stepped through the sliding office door, Zac felt like he had entered a forest rather than an office. Soft light filtered through leaf-shaped panels overhead, mimicking sunlight through a canopy. The air was fresh, tinged with cedar and moss, and the floor beneath his feet had the texture of forest ground, threaded with gentle, glowing paths.

A holographic receptionist emerged from a tree-like pillar, greeting them. "Welcome, Lord Cefketa." It was warm and lifelike but had the appearance of a kitsune. Zac looked at Sage.

"It came like that. Her name is Glow. Again, I didn't come up with it." Sage put her hands up in her defense. Glow followed them along the lighted trail past lush plant walls. The waiting area looked like a natural glade—root-shaped seating, a digital waterfall that displayed real-time data in flowing streams, and a tranquil ambiance.

Above, a drone disguised as a dragonfly floated past, quietly scanning the space to check the identities of anyone it flew past. The entire lobby felt alive—a seamless fusion of nature and technology. Zac stood there in the middle of the lobby, taking in a deep breath; he felt a sense of calm overcoming his body. He chuckled as it reminded him of his mother's flower shop.

"Not bad…" Sage smiled with pride after listening to Zac's appreciation. She had to take over because, after his trip to buy things with Veydris, he came back with the bare minimum. Veydris insisted that she couldn't convince Zac otherwise. So Sage took it upon herself to handle things. This was the result; she was rather proud of it.

"Glow, I assume you have all the information coming in and out of here, correct?"

"That is correct, Lord Cefketa."

"Good, how is Mythara doing with tracking down the spies?"

"He has disposed of 4 of the 5 suspected spies and is tracking the last," Glow reported.

"Great, tell him to meet me on the roof when he's done." Zac sighed and started to walk out of the lobby.

"Sensei…" Sage called out.

"I'm fine, Sage, really. I just need some time for myself. You should be getting ready; we're heading out in two days."

"What about the new recruits that are coming in today?" Sage asked.

"I trust your judgment. You can handle it, right?" Zac smiled at her, but Sage could only see his lifeless eyes as he fondled his necklace. Sage sighed and nodded.

"I'll report if anything important comes up."

"Good girl." Zac took a step out of the door and disappeared.

Kenji, clad in his nanite armor, chased a human male through the streets of Firmatha Sangaur. Kenji had the Veridahn pendant on his chest, so no one cared. The creation of the Veridahn had already spread through the nation of monsters, and everyone knew what they were about. Many young monsters had already made their desire to sign up clear.

The Persequion cursed as he looked over his shoulder at the rapidly approaching Kenji. Over the past few days he had lost contact with everyone; he was sure he was the only one left.

"I knew this would be a one-way trip… But things were going fine until just recently. What changed?" He turned the corner into an alleyway, but as he entered, space bent on itself, and he found himself back on the main street. He was now standing in front of Kenji, staring at the black, faceless mask. He attempted to run away again, but instead, they were transported to the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings in the area.

"If you could control space, why not just subdue me in the first place?" The man asked.

"I wanted to see if you would try to contact anyone else first." Kenji tilted his head as if it was obvious. The man clicked his teeth. He was just being toyed with. He heard Kenji sigh as he manifested a gun into his hand and pointed it at the Persequion.

"Wait a second! You're just going to kill me? Did you kill the others as well?"

"Obviously, you're spies for Heka; you can't be kept alive," Kenji answered.

"Nononono…"

"No? You're saying you aren't a spy?" Kenji asked.

"No… I mean, yes, we're spying, but we didn't mean any harm. We're just observing." The man responded. He was telling the truth; he and the others had been here for a few decades, but never caused any trouble. In fact, they had grown rather attached to the life and people here. However, that didn't change anything.

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"Then what is stopping you from meeting directly with leadership to establish a formal line of communication? It's obvious, isn't it? You may not have done any harm, but your presence being secret provides a strategic advantage."

The man had nothing to say, but there was one thing that he was curious about.

"What changed? How did you find us? Where did we fail?"

"If it makes you feel better, you didn't, not really. We recently had a conversation with a Persequion who knew of Firmatha Sanguar. Once we deduced there were spies…"

"Finding humans far stronger than usual and barely aged was simple." The man pieced things together.

"Exactly…"

"I see… finish it." The man said as he closed his eyes, he would not beg for his life. A clean hole was blasted through the man's head as Kenji sighed. He knew it had to be done, but it didn't make things feel better.

"Number 6, clean up," Kenji commanded,

"Of course, Lord Mythara." Number 6 responded as she appeared behind him in a bloody mist. She waved her hand in the direction of the dead man, and his body burst into a fine mist of blood before Number 6 devoured it completely. Kenji sighed as he turned away; he could never get us to see that.

"Was he the last one?" Number 6 asked.

"Yes…"

"Lord Cefketa asked to meet you on top of the tower once you were done here." She reported.

"Alright…" Kenji turned to look at the ridiculously tall tower in the distance. Number 6 could not see his face behind the mask but could feel the heavy aura that engulfed him.

"Are you alright, Lord Mythara?"

Kenji looked over his shoulder and at her and asked,

"Do you think… no, why am I asking you? It's nothing." Kenji dismissed the thought from his mind.

"Yes, I do think this is the right thing. We all want to live freely, monsters and humans alike. What is right for us may not and will not, in some cases, be right for others. Everything is a matter of perspective." Number 6 answered the question that was clearly on Kenji's mind. He kept forgetting that the Numbers were all several decades older than he was.

"Your issue is that you don't understand your own perspective because you still don't understand yourself."

"When I understand myself and my perspective puts me in opposition to Firmatha Sanguar, what will you do?" Kenji asked.

"I will fight to the death to obtain what I believe we deserve. There are worse things than being killed by a dragon." Number 6 smiled.

"Right… thanks." Kenji's mask pulled back as he smiled at Number 6 and vanished. Number 6 sighed and shook her head.

"Didn't even offer me a ride back. Chivalry is dead." She faded into a cloud of mist.

Kenji appeared on the roof of the tower. The roof was an obsidian slab that floated on top in the center of the Great System of Firmatha Sanguar, which maintained everything. From here one could control the system or just stare off into the abyss. He looked up to see the darkness of space; there was no roof, no railing, only the sea of stars and the chill of outer space. He chuckled as he realized just how ridiculous this place was. Zac was standing next to the edge in the distance.

An image of Dr. Varma was floating in front of him as a miniature AI body. It seemed like he was having a conversation with the AI. Kenji couldn't hear what the two were saying, which could only mean that Zac didn't want him to know. He slowly made his way towards Zac and called out,

"What is that?"

Kenji saw Zac wipe his face before he looked over his shoulder. Zac forced his usual cocky smile and said,

"The Twins figured out how to access the AI in the necklace. It's a bit limited at the moment, but… well."

"I get it… No need to explain. You wanted to see me?"

"It seemed more like you wanted to talk to me. You have looked out of sorts since we got back."

"Well, yeah… Both of my parents are imprisoned; I don't know what's going on with the others… I don't know if what we're doing is right or not; I just…" Kenji didn't know where to begin. Zac didn't say anything; he just listened. Kenji was forced into this life and was all but forced into his revenge. Even from the start, he was apprehensive. He had become more sure of himself, but with everything he now knew, it was obvious that he was confused.

"You're in a confusing position. You have too much pulling you in too many directions. So… Let's make things simple. What is it that you want to do?"

"Save everyone," Kenji responded without hesitation.

"Do you think you have the power to do that?" Zac looked at Kenji.

"I'm not sure…yet," Kenji said as he looked down as a system formed over his palm before disappearing as he clenched his fist.

"Then the first thing you need to do is get strong enough to remove all doubt and do whatever you think is best to save everyone you care about… simple." Zac folded his arms.

"Simple? Even if that means going against you?" Kenji asked.

"Especially if it means going against me." Zac smiled, and Kenji nodded.

"What do you want to do after you get your revenge… really?" Kenji asked.

"Do you remember what I told you on the roof at the engagement dinner?"

"Of course I do," Kenji responded.

"Nothing's changed; it just took an unexpected turn." Zac chuckled.

Kenji let out a pained breath as he closed his eyes. "Creating a world where his child can grow up happy and healthy." That child could have been raised happily within Firmatha Sanguar, but would that be enough for Zac? Kenji looked at Zac's profile; he was sure that he grew up at least somewhat happy, but was he satisfied with his upbringing?

"What would the world look like for a dragon to grow up happy and healthy?" Kenji chuckled.

"Don't know… But it'll be fun to figure out."

"Fun for you, sure," Kenji responded.

"You need to take this more seriously; your kid will be a dragon too." Zac poured cold water on Kenji's mood, as it slipped his mind that he was technically a dragon. According to Nina, dragons could mate with any species, but regardless, the end result was a dragon. Kenji groaned as he rubbed his head. This was just another headache added to the things he had to think about.

"Like I said, kid. It's simple… just get strong enough to do what you want. You won't have to pressure yourself about whether you should or shouldn't do something. Instead, the pressure will be on those that disagree, as they struggle to stop you."

"Is that really the way we should look at things?" Kenji asked.

"Probably not… But what are you going to do to stop me?" Zac asked as he gave Kenji a serious look.

Kenji chuckled. As usual, Zac was right; even if he disagreed with his perspective at the moment, he didn't believe he had the power to stop him. Fortunately, he couldn't say he disagreed with what he was currently doing. Especially since Heka now had his mother.

"Maybe I'm just overthinking things. Whatever…" Kenji shook his head and turned to walk away.

"Where are you going, kid?" Zac asked.

"To get stronger."

"We start in two days." Zac reminded him,

"I'm with you. I'll be there." Kenji took a step and vanished.

"He's a good kid." Dr. Varma's voice called out as the AI image of her appeared from the necklace.

"Yeah, but this world is too cruel for a good kid." Zac sighed.

"Well, what are you going to do?" She asked as the miniature image sat on his shoulder.

"If making the world a place for my kid to grow up happy and healthy is currently out of reach, I'll just have to make him tough enough to dominate it." Zac reasoned.

"Hmm… you're a good dad." The AI leaned his head against Zac's cheek.

"I know." Zac's voice cracked a bit. As he stared out into the blankness of space. He scratched his neck only to feel some of his skin begin to crack. He let out a sigh. He was trying his best to help Kenji adjust to all of this, but he wasn't in much better shape.

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