Chapter 66: Are there no normal people left?

  Marcus walked through the door of his hotel room dropped his jacket and took off his suit. With an audible moan he fell on his bed and relaxed. He had spent the evening of a very demanding day with Janette and “New Grace”. Or old Grace, or true Grace or, WHATEVER. He met the real Grace and it was interesting to say the least. The blonde, heroic Paladin was gone and in came a rogue like character who was direct, tough and cunning. Marcus turned on his back and looked at the ceiling of his room. She was definitely far more interesting and fun than the always stuck up, perfect, smiling Grace he had met first. And now she was a Color of the Wilds. Marcus could not wait to see the faces of the others when they learned about this. And the reaction of the media...oohhh boy.

  Marcus stretched and opened his bag to get some clothes and his eyes fell on the small unassuming black phone Kim had given him. A small green light blinked on its front and Marcus activated the phone. Six missed calls from Kim. SIX?

  Marcus used the return call function and waited. After only two rings he heard Kim’s voice “Marcus! Where are you right now?” Hello to you too Kim, he thought. “I’m in my hotel room in Paris. Why have you called?” Marcus had a bad feeling about all of this. “Does your room have a balcony?” Kim completely skipped Marcus’ question but Marcus confirmed a balcony. “Good, please get on it right now.” Kim said and Marcus walked over to the balcony door and stepped outside.

  It was a moonlit night with only a few clouds, and Paris was still Paris even at this time of the night. Lights and sounds of the large city kept the night alive and Marcus was about to ask why he was on the balcony when the sound of a thunderclap echoed through the streets. Marcus looked up into the sky and saw a man floating about 100 meter away from him. The man had long blonde hair and he wore a flowing white robe that moved in the night wind.

  The stranger moved with immense speed closer to Marcus “You got to be kid-” The man with the blue eyes smiled and touched Marcus on the shoulder. Everything vanished in an instant and Marcus was not sure if he even still existed, maybe not. A fraction of a second later everything came back and Marcus exhaled before gravity took control over him and he started falling. The blonde man grabbed Marcus under the arms and together they floated towards the ground. They landed on the rooftop of a very high building and Marcus looked around. This was not Paris.

  Marcus looked at the man in white “Gamma?” and he nodded with a smile. Gamma was one of the top members of Sleeping Sky, their Spatial Mage. Marcus had read a lot about him but had never met him before. Marcus looked down on himself, he only had his underwear and socks on. “Could you not have waited until I got dressed?” but Gamma shrugged his shoulders. “He said as fast as possible.” and pointed at a door to the roof that opened and a rocket in the form of a man shot towards Marcus. “You have to tell me everything about the ginghi!” Kim said with a red face. “Nice to meet you too Kim. Could I get some cloths?” Marcus said and wished he knew even one normal person.

  Minutes later, Marcus sat in Kim’s private office eating breakfast and drinking coffee. He wore an XXL training suit and looked at the waiting faces of a dozen people. “How the hell did you learn about this anyway. And so fast?” Marcus looked at Kim who chewed on a bit of candy. “Come on, the UN is the biggest rumor mill in the world. Did you think that these kind of news would stay secret even for a day? An hour after your meeting I had four countries calling me and offering exclusive information.” Marcus lost all hope for humanity but only sighed. “Okay what do you want to know first?” and looked at the top level class holders of Sleeping Sky gathered around him.

  “The Protector.” Kim said and Marcus could feel the intensity of his gaze.

  Marcus told them as much as he remembered from his meeting, including the healing part. Kim and his people were too smart to miss something like this anyway. “So you think level 300 or even 400?” Kim asked with large eyes? “I really can not tell. With Azaa and Uela I could still compare to you Kim but their father…. It is like staring into the sun or trying to hold a hurricane in your hand. Comparing him to anybody else is useless because he is peerless.” Kim absorbed every word from him and Marcus could see how his mind worked behind his eyes. “I don’t think you can meet him for now.” Marcus said and Kim’s look told Marcus he had guessed right.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  He continued to tell them about the ginghi and his experiences, far beyond any report. When he told them about the sparring of Uela they all looked dumbstruck. “Let me get this straight that women took on six people as or stronger than our Kim? And bested them?” Marcus nodded to Amy, who was loosing her faith. “Don’t forget Uela is over 130 years old. Not only her high level but her skill and experience makes her absolutely deadly.” Marcus said and finished his breakfast. “Thank you Marcus for this insight. The existence of the ginghi changes everything. As a clan we will have to discuss what we will do about all the news you brought.” Kim said with a thoughtful look.

  I guess that is the point where I leave and let them discuss? Marcus though but instead the clan members walked off and a minute later he was alone with Kim. “Well, when you are done eating we can go to the training room.” Marcus face expressed a question mark. “You did not think I brought you here just to get some info from you? I’m not that self centered. Last time we did not have the time to look over your second ability, Anchor was it?” Kim explained. Marcus had been awake for nearly 24 hours now but in this moment he was wide wake.

  They entered the same training room he had seen before and Kim changed into light training gear. Marcus felt a bit naked without his armor but the chance to train and learn from Kim was worth any discomfort. “Okay, based on what you told me Anchor does make it harder to move you and also somehow reduce falling damage.” Kim said after they both had warmed up and stretched.

  “Show me.” the Korean man stepped in front of Marcus and he put Anchor to max power. Kim pushed against him, several times. At his chest, shoulders, hips and legs. “Interesting.” was all he said and walked around Marcus and pushed him with various strengths from the back.

  As Kim walked back into Marcus’ sight he looked thoughtful. “Please stand completely relaxed and drop Anchor.” Marcus did as he was told and felt like he was in a physical examination. Kim stepped to Marcus’ side and used a single finger to gently push against his arm. If Kim did not look deeply concentrated Marcus would have thought he made fun of him. What was he looking for?

  “Alright, now please use Anchor at full strength.” Kim said and Marcus followed.

  Kim once more prodded his arm at the same point and it must have told him something, a smile grew on his face. “Hohohoho Marcus, this Anchor of yours is far more interesting than you think. And I believe you might have to come up with a new name.” Without further explanation he walked over to a wall and pressed against a button. The wall vanished and a large shelf with various weapons and tools appeared. Kim searched for something for a while and Marcus expected some special electronic device or magical artifact.

  Kim returned to Marcus with a needle. “Please stretch out your arm and hold your hand horizontal. Continue to use Anchor at full power” The man with the needle demanded. Marcus watched the demonstration with baited breath. Kim held the needle a few centimeters above Marcus’ hand and then let it drop. The needle fell and the moment the point touched the back of Marcus’ hand the needle suddenly jumped up ten centimeter. Kim caught the needle and smiled to Marcus.

  Marcus thought about all the things Kim had done and the weird behavior of the needle and formulated an idea in his head. And the more he thought about the more like a moron he felt. “I’m a moron. I should have seen that.” He said but Kim laughed. “You figured it out?”

  “Anchor, well the second ability causes some kind of counter force to external forces. That is why it is hard to push me over or why strong attacks cause damage to the attacker. There is of course a limit but… it acts like an invisible armor.” Marcus slowly put things together. “And that does explain why falling damage is reduced too, your ability is at least counteracting the impact of the fall. The negative acceleration on your body is a different topic, but you are plenty tough.” Kim added with a wide grin. “Piercing attacks would be most effective attacks against you while large blunt attacks do nearly nothing. It is an amazing ability for a tanker. If it scales well with your vitality you will eventually become untouchable for most physical attacks.” Kim explained and Marcus felt a strong sense of relieve. He had feared that Anchor was inferior to Impulse Hammer but that was clearly not the case. “Thank you, this will help me a lot.”

  Marcus would have to refine, no, rethink his mental picture too. Now that he understood the ability much better he would not be surprised if he could actually make it more powerful with a more fitting picture. “You need to think of a new name too.” Kim said watching his disciple absorbing the new information and already creating plans to improve. “Carapace.” Marcus said without hesitation.

  The name came so easily to him as if it had waited all this time to finally emerge. “Carapace, very fitting and sounds great, too.” Kim said and Marcus was happy he liked it. I’m such a fan boy, Marcus admitted to himself.

  “This reminds me. The ginghi call my class Titan and I think it fits much better than Fighter. Maybe people will adapt it in the future.” Marcus said and Kim laughed. “Marcus once you make all this public this class will become your class and people will call it Titan, believe me. I have seen it happen before.” Kim said and Marcus could see some remorse in the man’s eyes. Too much fame is not good, Marcus remembered.

  They finished up with some light sparring and made their way back to the office. In the elevator Marcus went through the events of the day and realized something. “How did Gamma actually teleport to me?” he said and Kim smirked. “Your phone is far from trivial. Besides other small improvements it also acts as a teleport beacon.” Marcus took the phone out of his pockets. “Then, how do I get back?”