Chapter 1419 (1/2)

“I’m fine, Tim. Go work on your stupid drawing stuff,” Delilah groused. When he didn’t immediately leave, she threw herself down onto the flower-filled field, rolling back and forth across several unfortunate patches of daisies like a steam roller.

Tim, the kind kid that he was, hesitated before listening to her. But at the moment, that only made Delilah more frustrated. When he opened his mouth to speak, Delilah hopped to her feet. “Didn’t you hear me? Leave me alone! I need time away from a dummy like you.”

Looking chagrined, Tim retreated and left Delilah alone in the field. Every time he peeked over his shoulder at Delilah as he walked back toward the hill, Delilah felt a surge of dissatisfaction in her heart. But as she glared over at Tim, she felt the familiar weight of her dad’s hand settle on her shoulder. Even though he wasn’t here, he was there, chiding her softly when she behaved too wildly. She could feel his warm and patient smile, easing her anxiety. Although her temper flared, she did her best to force it down due to the reminder of that hand.

“UGH! This is so stupid…” Delilah whispered and knocked the back of her head against the grass-covered ground. She knew that Dozer would push her to let go of her anger, but it was hard. Especially when, after being beaten up the prior day, she had spent all night preparing to get her revenge. She had designed several specialty weapons that she carefully inscribed. But of course, when the Ghosthound brought her away to this place, the moss spirits didn’t follow.

Without the moss spirits, her special weapons were useless. So she was just beaten up again, without any ability to resist. The other kids had simply watched. It was infuriating. It was embarrassing.

In Delilah’s mind, there were two types of people that she encountered on a daily basis. Those who were older than her and more powerful and people that she had eventually surpassed because her potential caught up to them. In her heart, Delilah had always believed that the first group would slowly morph into the second group. It wasn’t that other people didn’t try to train; they did, it just wasn’t enough to keep up with Delilah’s growth. Because she was special.

Even her mom agreed with that.

Even Randidly Ghosthound, the man who even now made Delilah shudder in fear, was only powerful because of how long he had spent training. One day, she would surpass him. She would develop her own image and crush him for how cruel he was during their games of hide and seek. It was one of her main goals.

Yet with this Annon… Delilah hesitated. She saw how hard he worked. He was only a few years older than her, yet his power appeared just as overwhelming as the Ghosthound’s. Logically, she knew that Annon was weaker than the Ghosthound, but the fact that he had been able to grow to his current strength placed a lot more pressure on Delilah mentally than anyone else ever had.

After being beaten yesterday, she had studied him like a hawk for the remainder of the day. And as though beating Delilah up meant nothing to him, Annon had returned to the same dull and boring work that Tim now struggled with. It was so dumb.

Delilah had watched his eyes most of all. It was there, in the steady focus that he displayed, that Delilah found what she feared. That look she saw on Annon’s face seemed to announce to the world that he would never compromise. He would continue pushing forward at any cost. He would never stop growing.

Can I keep up with that…? Delilah bit her lip. Then she slammed her fists back down to the ground and began to roll back and forth.

“Having fun, destroying the flowers like that?”

Delilah pressed a hand to the ground and then flipped up to her feet. She raised her hands, ready and willing to take out her frustration on this stranger who dared interrupt her. But as she looked around, there was no one in the surrounding area. Even the air was still; there wasn’t the slightest breeze.

The voice continued to speak. “I’ve done similar things in the past. Fields of flowers… they remind me of something I’d prefer not to remember. So sometimes I level them and turn them to ash.”

“What are you?” Delilah demanded.

The voice laughed. “Just someone with a lot of regrets. But I can probably help you. How about it, little girl… do you want some help becoming strong? I can give you a Path.”

*****

At the recommendation of Derek Moss, Randidly proceeded forward through the heavy iron doors and proceeded down from the surface into the large training facilities that surrounded the engine of Kharon. This was where the lion’s share of the people currently trying to earn citizenship in Kharon spent their day.

It wasn’t the most… enjoyable existence, but most of the people who were in the image adjustment process were willing to put up with the dim lighting and strenuous workouts in order to become an official citizen of Kharon. This was their chance.

Plus, the people who were applying for citizenship weren’t even kept in the underground chambers; they were simply required to finish a certain amount of training hours each day. From the most recent report, the number was set at eight. Which gave these people plenty of time to experience what living in Kharon was really like. They could even get some part-time work.

But for eight hours a day, they would accept being sharpened and honed. Both physically and mentally.

You could clear the physical and image-based training courses arranged by the Order Ducis and free yourself for days at a time, but there had basically been no one thus far that had been able to do so. Very few extremely powerful people were willing to endure this treatment. This was the path for the desperate or the determined.

After watching several sweating individuals struggle to roll several-hundred-pound ‘tires’ forward through mud, Randidly turned away and walked along the periphery of the physical testing area to the training pavilion. Randidly could tell immediately that the Order Ducis members here recognized him immediately by the way their heads perked up and whipped toward him, but the applicants were too caught up in their own struggle to notice.

And here I thought I was doing better at hiding my image… Randidly mused. Well, perhaps its because of the connection they have with me… Tatiana does always have an insane sixth sense regarding where I am and what I’m doing… Perhaps this is a lesser version of that. I’ll have to ask Naffur about it sometime.