Elizabeth Wallace 

Seeing the busy streets of London through the window of a jeep, I couldn’t help but admire all the civilians living their peaceful lives. I was hit with a sense of accomplishment, and the guilt of those who sacrificed their lives for them washed away. 

My mind slipped to when I was younger, sitting on the couch with Racheal while watching the news on the situation in India. The worst calamity since the destruction of Europe. Hearing the reports of the officers' death list and how fast it was growing. I felt fear and dread when I thought my mother’s name would be said until the final night of the eight-day calamity. The monster was killed, but my mother was at the end of the death list. Her dark skin and black hair with lines of white going some strains are now ingrained in my memory as her photo was shown her sacrifice. 

Stopping in front of the Jäger headquarters, a large building with four different sections branching off it in the middle of London. Inside the building was a grand spiral staircase leading to the underground museum for the public. As a giant chandelier lit up the lobby area. Walking up to a metal door, I put my thumb up to it, and it opened with a hiss into a more extended white hallway. 

At the end of the hallway was a large door with two guards holding their rifles at the ready. 

“General Wallace, the council is waiting for you.” One of the guards said his voice was shaking. 

Opening the door, I enter a large room with colossal oval-like stands in the parliament building. Hundreds, if not thousands, of eyes, stared at me as I walked through. Keeping my confidence in front of leaders from many major countries. I stood on the Jäger symbol of a wolf with a scar on its right eye. 

“General Wallace, do you know why we called you here today?” The man sitting in the center of all the other leaders asked with a thick British accent. The man was chubby with white hair that desperately tried to stay on his head. 

“Yes, I do, and I stand by my decision, sir,” I responded formally while also trying to keep cool. 

“Now, Miss Wallace, we understand where you’re coming from, but we simply can’t let this stand.” Another council member said this time, a small petite woman with Caramel skin, gorgeous green eyes, and a Hispanic accent. 

“Keeping a possible threat like this alive could lead to unforeseen consequences,” a third member added, this time with an American accent. 

“Listen, I understand the concern, but we must do something, especially with the growing recent monster attacks.” I retorted, this time my polite tone slipping a tad bit. 

“Then we will increase the funding for Jäger to have more officers ready,” The British representative said while sipping his tea.

“But sir, we might not have time bef-“ I said before the door opened.

Turning to the door, my body immediately surged with anger as a man about five feet and ten inches tall, with medium black hair and gray-blue eyes, walked through with an expressionless look. 

“Now, Elizabeth, the solution is simple; just get stronger,” he said with no emotion and a Japanese accent as he walked beside me. 

“General Oda, I wasn’t expecting you to be here,” I said, holding back my anger and frustration. 

“Well, I couldn’t help but be here since the Wallace family is getting too comfortable,” he said, looking me in the eyes, his tone sharp. 

“You want another calamity like what happened to India in 2016,” I snapped, raising my voice at him. 

“Listen, Elizabeth, I get your family has bad blood with mine, especially since we took the weapon your mother honorably died for,” he snapped back, still making eye contact with me as he shot daggers into my soul, “but maybe we need it to cleanse the ranks of the generals.” 

“Both of you, stop now!” Commanded the chairman, who walked in behind the British representative. His deep voice boomed through the room like a bass drum with his African accent. The chairman was a large man, not with fat but muscle. His dark complexion gave him the presence of a judge as he wore a black suit with a white undershirt. 

Standing behind the chairman was General Kenyatta, who was a foot taller than the chairman, about six feet and three inches tall. As his brown eyes watched us like hawks. 

“Now, Elizabeth, the reason I let you test the forbidden weapon was because of the dire situation we are in,” the chairman stated while giving a friendly smile and sitting down at the head of the council, “but I can’t help but wonder if this is what the monster’s wanted.”

“What do you think, General Oda?” He asked, this time turning to Oda

“Well, chairman sir, I believe we are fine since General Wallace is powerful along with General Kenyatta,” he replied, his hands behind his back as he stood at attention. 

“But wouldn’t it be necessary to have more powerful officers?” The chairman countered to the dismay of the rest of the council and Oda

“It’s true, sir, the younger generation can use higher mana outputs on average than the previous generation,” I said in a pleading tone, trying desperately to prove to the council this is what we need, “and we can also use Ren to maybe be able to form a core ourselves.”

The room erupted into chatter and disbelief as the thought of being able to form a mana core was out of our reach, but Ren’s body was trying to do it. General Oda looked at me like I had five eyes while General Kenyatta stayed quiet. 

“Explain yourself!” Shouted a man with a middle eastern accent

“Well, based on the research and a hypothesis, we can actually form a core with a high enough mana output,” I explained while putting a diagram onto a projector in front of everyone. The diagram showed a mana X-ray of Ren. Mana flowed through specific pathways differently from veins and into a specific spot in his abdomen. 

“Dr.Kirk and I are currently testing to see what output it would take for a human to form a core. We tested, and ninety-five percent is not enough,” I explained, showing a video of me using maximum output, “but thanks to my divine weapon, I could see how mana flowed through my body. I concluded that a hundred percent output is needed and an understanding of what mana is.” 

“Elizabeth, you might have gone mad because no human has ever reached a hundred percent,” General Oda said with a smug and snarky tone. 

“Isamu, in the past generation but thanks to the portals and suits, mana has started to infuse with our atmosphere,” I explained this time in a much sharper tone. 

“Well, depending on the further developments, we might be able to phase out of the suits,” the chairman said before getting up and walking out of the room, concluding the meeting. 

“This is the conclusion of the meeting. The council will be observing the development,” General Kenyatta said, his words very soft but demanding respect. 

I couldn’t help but feel more irritated with the council. They are so afraid of what mana can do that they refuse to use it or study it. The thoughts of being so far behind monsters and other life forms. 

Racheal Wallace 

Opening my eyes, I was surprised to see a giant polar bear that looked similar to PB-27. I let my eyes adjust and saw that I was no longer in the clearing but in an even darker cavern. Lifting myself off the ground, I felt my muscles quiver from fatigue. 

Looking at the carnage that befell the cave, I wonder who could have done something like this or, more accurately, what did something like this. Walking around to try and find Ren, I was hit with an overbearing dread as I saw him. Ren sat on top of the giant polar bear with his sword stuck in its back and his pistol in his left hand. His suit was shattered, bloody, and dirty. His face and hair were just as bad or worse than his suit. But his eyes didn’t look tired; they had an unrivaled sense of superiority and divinity. 

He looked down at me, and that aura he gave off amplified as I saw his blood-red eyes that looked like vampire's eyes. I called out his name to no response. He just stared at me, unmoving and stoic.

Grabbing my spear just in case the worst might happen, I slowly walked to him. 

“Don’t move vessel.” He said, not in his normal medium high voice but in a low reverb voice. 

“Ren, I’m on the same side as you remember,” I responded, putting my spear close enough to reach just in case. 

“Listen, I will return the boy’s body, but you will not say anything about this to your sister and the rest of humanity. It would set a chain of events much worse than I already set.” He explained before the presence faded, and Ren fell off the monster unconscious. Rushing over to catch him, I barely got there in time to make sure he didn’t die from the fall. 

Roughly thirty minutes passed until he woke up. Ren looked around, dazed and confused about what happened. 

“Did you kill that monster?” I asked, pointing to the giant polar bear. 

“Yeah, but I don’t remember what happened after that,” he responded, rubbing his head and hunching over to grab his stomach. 

Quickly making my way over to him, I placed my hands on his stomach as his stomach was hot like lightning hot. 

“Quickly, the inhibitors,” he groaned from the pain as he grabbed his stomach again. 

Looking around, I couldn’t find them; they were either broken off or completely unusable. 

“Racheal hurry up, please,” he shouted as he gritted his teeth.

“I’m trying, but I can find useable ones,” I shouted back while scurrying on the floor for the Inhibitors. 

Ren went silent. Turning to him, his stomach or abs glowed in like a small ball. Walking over to him, I placed a hand on the glowing ball. My suit reacted as a small dose of mana was absorbed by my suit. 

“Did you just form a core?” I asked, surprised and in amazement. I already knew his body was trying to form a core but seeing the process unfold was like witnessing a prophet transcend. 

“Yeah, I did; also, my suit is draining the mana from it,” he stated as he squinted his eyes in concentration. 

Taking out a small knife, I looked at Ren, he looked at me confused, but before he could respond, I stabbed the knife into his stomach and cut it open enough to put my hand through. He screamed and cursed at me. 

“The hell are you doing?” He asked as his voice was filled with anger and confusion

“Testing something,” I responded while putting my hand into his wound; feeling my way through his body, I saw his face scrunched up from the pain and possibly uncomfortableness of having someone feel his insides. 

Finally, founding his core, I touched it. His core was the size of a golf ball, very brittle and bumpy around the outer layer. Removing my hand, I quickly disinfected the wound and wrapped it up. 

“Was it worth cutting me?” He said, lying down on the ground with a sarcastic tone 

“Well, I just wanted to see if it was a physical object, and by the way, it was,” I responded to him while putting my hand on my hip, “also, thank you for saving my life; I’m assuming.” 

“Don’t thank me. You would have done the same if it was me,” Ren told me, closing his eyes and putting his head on the ground. 

Sitting next to him, we sat silently for a while, just admiring the scenery despite the two corpses around us that slowly started to stink. 

“So, how are we going to get out of here?” I asked, looking around the cavern for a possible exit and trying to break the ice. 

“Well, the fact that I have no energy left and you are still recovering, I say we just wait,” he answered, struggling to lift himself with what little strength he had left. 

“Well, while we wait, tell me, Ren, what made you change your mind about risking your life?” I asked, leaning back and resting my head on your head. 

“I don't know, I just didn’t want anyone to die,” he responded, laying back and looking up at me, “and honestly, if you died, it would look bad for my reputation and promotion.” 

“Promotion you will definitely get after slaying that thing,” I pointed towards the giant polar, “also, do you mind splitting the money with me?” 

“Absolutely not. I need this for my mama and sister,” he joked, trying to suppress a laugh. 

We sat for a few more minutes before a muffle explosion or shattered noise had us on alert. A small crack in the wall before a massive explosion sent rocks flying toward us. Covering Ren with my body, I heard a muffle wait from him. 

Turning around, I saw Ivan with his gauntlets and a faint aura of mana around them. He was filled with frustration and worry as he looked around, but once he found us, a wave of relief washed over him as his shoulders slumped. Looking closer at Ren, he immediately ran over to him and put on Inhibitors. Ren gritted his teeth as the inhibitors sucked the mana out of his core, almost breaking it. 

“Did you just form a core?” Ivan asked with seriousness, a rare emotion expressed by the Russian bear

“Yeah, why?” Ren replied, his eyes scared

“Oh my god, it’s possible,” Ivan said with Amazement and wonder.