Chương 16: Friends

Ray couldn't dwell on the mysteries surrounding the GLMB much longer, seeing as the sound of the door opening signified he had a visitor. He looked up, hiding the anxiety he felt with a confused face. The man who entered was one Ray hadn't seen before. He wasn't as big as Gunther but just as tall. His frame was full and toned, accented by the form-fitting battlegear he donned. Unlike the normal black leather, it was made of some kind of ivory-colored material.

His hair was long and white, parting down the middle, flowing past his glowing green eyes. Ray identified the man. [Admiral, Stage: 9 Phase: 1] The text was red and flashing. Ray was dumbfounded.

'An Admiral?' he thought.

'There's no chance he's here to tell me good job right? I mean, all the others kind of did.' Ray could imagine only one reason why a man who was only second to people like the Emperor would be meeting with him at this current moment. Coalescence. Suddenly, the conspiracies he tried to shove into the back of his mind came roaring forth. He couldn't shake the feeling he was following a script. The whole waking up in another world and magical System fiascos did little to curb his main character syndrome.

It was hard not to feel like the past few weeks had been some kind of magical fantasy ride. Everything had been going perfectly. He even had gotten over his previous suicidal thoughts. Replacing them with a drive to grow more powerful and become someone that could help people. It was the perfect hero's origin story.

'Something's off,' he thought. Ray looked up and made eye contact with the Admiral. Steeling his nerves before speaking.

"I need some answers." The Admiral let out a soft smile, one that didn't meet his eyes.

"That makes two of us, kiddo," he said.

"I'd like to know how some random orphan could develop a Tech that not even the Emperor himself could create. You from Morynia?" Ray felt his skin prickle as he heard the Admiral's words. His mind was in far too much of a mess to even fathom the implications of the man's words.

'He thinks I could be a traitor?' he thought. The Admiral seemed to make an assumption based on Ray's fearful look and continued speaking.

"I sincerely doubt you're a spy for the Mages," he continued.

"Nevertheless, even Teacher has been informed of your deeds. Your records show you to be simply talented and foolish enough to go the dead-end route of generalization. That would make you another bright star who burns out in the 3rd Stage. We've seen this kind of thing before. This turned out to be a good thing for the program. By showing favoritism to the young man who was breaking conventions set by his seniors, the young men and women of the program would be motivated to out perform him.

This seemed to work wonderfully." The Admiral had walked towards Ray's bed during his speech, now sitting in a chair beside the bed as he continued.

"Then a file was sent to me. After looking it over, I discovered that the scapegoat we were using actually did something no one expected. He evolved." Ray's mind was abuzz with adrenaline as he considered the Admiral's words. Before he could respond, the Admiral continued.

"In order to defeat the Beasts, humans learned to form Soul Cores. Tens of thousands of years ago, there was no System or large civilizations with complete paths to power. The strongest Beast was the equivalent of a Late 1st Stage Beast. The strongest human started barely in Stage 1. Humanity was on the brink of destruction; then the first human grew more powerful than the Beasts. This allowed some reprieve for societies to form. Meaning, more and more people could also grow more powerful.

Just as humanity reached a peaceful level of prosperity, a Beast in the 2nd Stage appeared." The Admiral's tone had become solemn and he stared at the ground as he spoke.

"Let's just say the pattern continued that way, all the way until the Empire was formed. For generations the Empire has outgrown the Beasts, only for more powerful ones to fill their place. Even now, Teacher has been alive for millennia, serving as a shield for our people. His reign of protection will soon come to an end, however. We desperately need someone who can surpass him. But what then? Will a Beast rise that is insurmountable for even the being that reaches beyond mortality?"

Ray noticed how the Admiral's voice had begun to shake, filled with a deep anguish.

"My name is Chronos," the Admiral said suddenly.

"I want you to know the name of the man who wishes you nothing but failure. For many nameless faces will be shouting for your success; you deserve at least a semblance of reality. I say this to selflessly cure you of your ignorance. I won't allow a prideful upstart in the Empire's ranks." Chronos stood and walked towards the doorway before continuing.

"A lot of people are about to make you feel like you can make a difference. That your power has the potential to save us." Chronos' face twisted with anger as he walked out the door, his next words cutting the air.

"Don't believe their lies born from false hope. No one can save us. Especially not someone like you." Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Chronos left the room and Ray could feel tears welling in his eyes. He felt so small. What did his accomplishments mean in the grand scheme of things? He knew he wasn't special but the past few weeks had blinded him to that. Ray had always been a nobody. Destined to be mediocre and disappointed. Why would it be any different here?

An abyss somewhere deep inside of him swelled as it slowly swallowed his entire being. Two lifetimes' worth of never amounting to anything began to flood his memory. Any flickering of happiness was drowned in embarrassment and contempt.

'I'm worthless,' he thought.

'I can't make a difference for anyone. Not even myself.' Ray knew the answer to his sorrow was to keep pushing. It was generic advice for any situation. He wasn't conceited enough to think his problems couldn't be solved with hard work and dedication.

'I just thought maybe…' his thoughts were filled with desire.

'Maybe I finally had a chance to become worthy.' Ray's earlier fear of being puppeteered by the higher-ups of the Empire was replaced with a feeling of inadequacy. He felt that life would once again meet his bleak expectations. A feeling he was all too familiar with. A few other people came into Ray's room soon after. Each of them checked on different things from his physical health to his current mood. Ray decided to lie and tell the personnel that he wasn't having an existential crisis.

Pretending to be fine had worked so far. Hours passed before someone other than hired staff entered his room. Surprisingly, it was Jerome. The red-haired swordsman asked Ray how he was feeling, to which Ray replied with shallow bravado. The interaction didn't last long and Ray found himself alone, again. Even though it seemed simple on the surface, Ray couldn't help but overanalyze Jerome's appearance. Ray had gone from feeling like he was being controlled, to feeling like a tool that had no purpose.

He desperately needed something to latch onto. Jerome showing up to check on him could be a complicated ruse, or it could be that the young man was worried for Ray's well-being. The Emberfell royalty could just be grateful to a comrade that had saved his life in battle. Jerome hadn't asked him for anything. He had shown up, checked whether Ray was alright, and left when it was clear Ray needed rest.

That didn't prove the two of them were close, but it also didn't look like the behavior of someone waiting for an opportunity to use him. Just because the System was watching and people like Chronos didn't believe in him, didn't mean Ray couldn't build something out of his life. The few days he had pretended to be a natural born leader to his group and then team felt amazing. Ray truly felt like he belonged. Was it even all an act? Maybe he was naturally talented. Even Chronos said he was.

Maybe he couldn't be the next Emperor or whatever but he could at least protect his friends.

'Friends?' he thought.

'Yeah... friends.' Ray hadn't really had any friends until now. Sure, he could consider a few interactions in his life as signs of a friendship, but he failed to deliver every time. He didn't have any friends, not because no one liked him but more because of his own opinion of others. Everyone was out to get him. He lacked the capability to get close to people. If he let them get close, they would see how broken and useless he was. What was the point of opening up when it meant removing your armor? Why risk it?

Ray stared at the ceiling, his eyes dry from overuse of his tear ducts. He could no longer cry. He was too tired. The adrenaline from playing hero had worn off. Ray looked over and saw his Recruit bag, black orbs showing out of its slightly opened flap. He reached and picked up the bag, pulling out each of the Beast Cores. Two of them were bigger than the rest and had a deeper black color. Ray identified them and found that the larger of the two was the Killworm's Beast Core.

If he were to absorb it, he would most likely break right into the 2nd Phase. It was a 3rd Stage Beast's core after all. The thought of becoming stronger felt tainted and perverted. His power no longer felt like his own. Ray put away the Beast cores and lay back down, letting sleep wash away his thoughts. - Burgen had heard Admiral Chronos was at the base, presumably to check on the Recruit who had been making so much noise.

Apparently, the young man had done something even Burgen himself didn't have the clearance to know about. Word was he had defeated a Stage 3 Beast, a Killworm no less. This, however, was not sensitive information. So Burgen was intrigued to find out the additional things surrounding this situation. What could possibly require clearance higher than Commander to know? Burgen was on his way to Ray's living quarters when he saw a member of Emberfell royalty walking towards him.

Burgen knew better than to be too stern with his comrades' children, so he greeted the young man warmly.

"Hello, Jerome. Are you leaving from visiting your teammate?" Burgen leaned forwards and gave an inquisitive look.

"Whatever happened during your mission? I heard it was quite the rough excursion; Lydia would be distraught if you were to be snuffed out so early on." Jerome stared blankly at the Commander. He took a deep breath and a knowing look dawned on his face as he began to speak.

"You know better than to ask too many questions, Burgen." The red-haired teen spun to face away from the Commander, raising his hand to ruffle his crimson curls before continuing.

"Mother informed me that something big is going on. I've been tasked with making sure no one bothers Ray. That means even the esteemed Gloam Knight." Burgen seemed to tense up at the mention of his old codename. Jerome smiled as he noticed Burgen's discomfort and sighed as he spoke again.

"It's obvious to anyone that Ray is special. I seldom get to have peers who are my equal. Ray has brought together an entire team of people in that regard. The Striker's daughter, me and even that two-faced brat from Solaris. The only person who isn't royalty is the big one, and that kid would follow Ray into a minefield, I think. Look, what I'm saying is, I like being in his team, and mother said to do all I can to build relationships while I'm here.

I have a feeling none of these other Recruits hold a candle to that guy." Burgen's face had danced from emotion to emotion during Jerome's speech. He had to admit he liked seeing the young man so fired up. Burgen had known Jerome since he was a toddler and the boy had always lacked drive. The look in the red-haired teen's eyes led Burgen to believe he may have finally found that motivation.

"Fine," Burgen said.

"Come in with me and talk to him if you're so worried. I truly have no intention of making him join up with Alizar. The corps are already overstaffed at this point. You can relax. I just wanted to know what happened to you guys." Jerome's shoulders seemed to lighten as a genuine smile appeared on his face.

"Good," he said.

"Not that Ray wouldn't make a badass operative, I just think he makes a way better Captain. Oh yeah, Ray will have to tell you what happened; I'm not allowed to. Good luck, though. He was basically unresponsive when I went in."