Feltrick was the last one to notice it. He first gave a confused look as he wondered why his slap didn't hit. An odd sound of something falling off made him turn and realized the horror of his situation. It was only then that he realized his arm was cut off. An indescribable terror and a heart-clenching sensation immediately followed.

Pain crippled him. Feltrick fell down on the ground and started screaming.

Dara was the next one to react. The amount of dripping blood that started to pour out added to Seeker’s pressure made her vomit.

Everybody else started falling on the ground as the immense pressure covered the room.

“DON’T KILL ME! I’ll DO ANYTHING!” Feltrick pleaded as he crawled slowly away from where Seeker stood.

Before the guards could reach for their guns, they were immediately attacked.

Charles immediately stole the gun on the holster of the nearest guard and shot the guard on the head.

BANG!

A muffled shot resounded and everyone immediately watched in horror as a respected and renowned hero were executing two other guards.

BANG! BANG!

Lynd and Meryl also acted by attacking the nearest guards.

Meryl immediately aimed for the throat and then the groin. Taking advantage of the staggering foe, Meryl used several jujutsu techniques to break the joints of the enemy.

Lynd was more primitive. Imitating the same stomach-penetrating punch that he experienced on several occasions, Lynd’s mighty punch that made the enemy guard spit out a mouthful of saliva. As the guard bent over in pain, Lynd delivered a powerful knee strike and knocked the guard out.

An increase of overall strength followed their Unlocking. On the last training sessions, any one of them could carry the large halberd as if it was a simple long sword.

Everyone in the room except Seeker’s friends shouted in fear. But no one could move due to the immense and heavy sensation that pulled them closer to the ground.

Lynd and Meryl stood over their respective guards and watched them in order to make sure that they wouldn’t do anything dangerous.

“I said kill the guards!” Seeker’s cold voice reverberated once more. This caused Lynd and Meryl to shake slightly at Seeker’s voice.

Unlike his happy-go-lucky smile which he would usually show, there was an unusual harshness around Seeker that even brought fear to Meryl and Lynd.

“Zeek…” Meryl slowly asked.

“You will be killing more people tonight, Meryl. So show me your resolve!” Seeker demanded.

What gripped Seeker’s two friends wasn’t the normal fear they felt towards Seeker. It wasn’t intimidation, it wasn’t a fear of having their life threatened. It was a fear that shook their hearts because their minds have suggested something.

“This isn’t Seeker.”

This simple thought overpowered the fear which tied their morals and their very humanity to uphold certain principles. Almost acting in synch, Meryl and Lynd reached for the gun that these guards had, aimed at their temple, and with fearful hearts and a tearful eye, they pulled the trigger which not only killed the guards in front of them but killed a part of their own soul.

BANG! BANG!

The two guards were now dead.

Lynd and Meryl looked as if they were drained of life. A numbing sensation flooded the two. They did not shake, they did not move, their Unlocking allowed them this fortitude. But they stood there knowing that their morals have forever changed.

Charles looked with grim eyes towards the two teens. Charles disagreed with the timing but knew this was a trial that these two must face.

“NO! NO! NO! PLEASE! I’LL DO ANYTHING! HELP! CALL THE POLICE! ARTHUR DO SOMETHING!” Feltrick pleaded to Arthur as Seeker started to draw near towards him.

“Relax Arthur. There’s a perfectly sound explanation as to why I am killing this scum.”

“And that being?” Arthur demanded.

“I hate the sound of his heartbeat.” Seeker smirked evilly.

Arthur was enraged and attempted to move towards Seeker. But the pressure increased as he drew closer which almost sent Arthur stumbling down to the ground.

DING!

The elevator doors opened and a frowning Alean walked out.

“Charles. Good to see- oh…” Alean then felt the familiar sensation of Seeker’s killing intent. She then noticed the blood and dead soldiers.

“CIPRIIL!” Feltrick recognized the face of Harker’s daughter.

“SAVE ME! THIS MAN IS A LUNATIC!” Feltrick crawled towards the Alean.

Alean sighed and walked pass Feltrick.

“Here are the lollipops you wanted.” Alean handed a pack of lollipop treats to Seeker.

Even Arthur was stunned at the development.

“Really now… We’ve barely been here for 5 hours and you’re already causing a mess.” Alean sighed.

Despite the lack of limbs and the constant dripping of blood, Feltrick was tongue-tied. Why would the daughter of a renowned General, who held such prominence in the underworld, delivered a pack of lollipops to this young teen?

“Could you relax a little? This pressure’s quite annoying you know?” Alean insensitively berated.

Seeker frowned but realized that Alean was right.

Everyone else on the Covenant could now breath. They stumbled down on the floor and started gasping for breath. Dara continued to shake in fear as she gazed at Seeker and his friends. Even her dreamful gaze at Charles was replaced with that of horror.

“Anyone who attempts to escape will be stabbed.” Seeker announced. No one dared move towards the elevator doors. Dara vomited once more. She remained on the floor convulsing in fear.

“Exactly what is going on anyway?” Alean impatiently asked.

“I’ll leave the other details to Lynd. You owe him a date and a kiss. For now, let's deal with the people here, shall we?”

Alean was shocked at Seeker’s statement. Lynd however, continued to stare at the dead guard he just shot.

Alean gave a small smirk.

“Looks like little Lynd is growing up.” She sighed.

“Please… Don’t kill me…” Feltrick begged.

Seeker kicked Feltrick on the face and then pinned his face on the ground.

“Move and I’ll kill you!" Seeker warned as he stabbed the sword right in front of Feltrick.

Feltrick was wailing and convulsing but dared not to move or to agitate the angry Seeker.

“Charles, check his heart.”

Charles had an unusual look but immediately went to feel Feltrick’s chest.

After a few seconds of checking, Charles frowned then moved immediately to check the right side of Feltrick’s chest.

“Sitrus Inversus.” Charles immediately announced.

“Meaning?” Arthur frowned.

“His heart. It’s not on the left side, but on the right. He has a rare medical condition where his major organs are mirrored. So basically his hearts on the right side and his organs are positioned on its mirrored location. Why is this significant Seeker?” Charles turned questioningly to Seeker.

“It’s significant because he doesn’t have Sitrus Inversus, Charles.” Seeker calmly responded.

“No. I’m sure he has.” Charles countered with a slightly confused expression.

“He doesn’t,” Seeker responded flatly.

The two stared at each other in silence. Then it hit Charles.

“Aragarian!” Charles exclaimed.

Arthur’s eyes went wide open.

“What did you say?” The pinned Feltrick immediately reacted. A trace of fear in Feltrick’s voice surfaced.

“Exactly. Aragarians have their heart and organs arranged in the exact mirrored opposite of ours. It will look like Sitrus Inversus. When he slapped me, I felt his heartbeat and that’s when I remembered where I’ve heard his name.”

Seeker unceremoniously stabbed the blade into Feltrick’s heart. After a few seconds of struggling, Feltrick died.

The sudden stab surprised everyone. Arthur glared at Seeker because of his sudden actions.

“You used Realm Somatotopy to map out his body when he slapped you?” Charles asked immediately as he realized how Seeker knew of the strange anatomy of the person before him.

Seeker had already explained the theory of Realm Somatotopy to the rest of his team. However, the lessons they’ve had were fruitless. Not even Lynd and Meryl could do the basics of Realm Somatotopy.

“Since I am limiting my Unlocking as you have prescribed, I could only use it if I were physically connected to him. The slaps he did gave the right vibrations for me to feel his whole body.”

“Then why two slaps?”

“I didn’t know he was Aragarian. I was planning on doing what Arthur suggested. But when he slapped me, I accidentally used Realm Somatotopy and there I realized that his heartbeat was on his right side. Of course, he really could just have one of those rare heart disorders. So I asked him to slap me again. This time I mapped his entire anatomy and identified the other medical differences between their anatomy and ours.”

“So you weren’t just acting immature in slicing his arm off after that second slap.” Arthur raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t put me on your level of impatience, Arthur.” Seeker sneered.

“His name must have been mentioned in passing in one of the reports we’ve had in the future. That’s why his name didn’t ring any bells initially. He was so unimportant in the reports that it didn’t cross my mind. But looks like he played a larger role during the pre-war era.”

“Then why did you kill him? He could have been connected to the group that kidnapped my sister.” Arthur demanded.

“Now is not the time, Arthur. If we manage to connect the dots and find your sister, it will arouse suspicion. Right now, we can all cover this up by making it look like that Harker Cirpril is trying to take over Feltirck’s organization.”

“Is that why you killed him immediately? So I can’t interrogate him?”

“Yes.” Seeker responded coldly.

“If you want your sister alive you will act in patience. Chasing after her now will lead the Aragarian’s to increase their caution. You could rescue your sister now, but she’ll die in the future.”

Arthur remained silent at Seeker’s explanation.

“Are these guards Aragarian’s?” Meryl softly inquired as she stared at the dead soldier near her.

“Probably not. He’s probably the only Aragarian among them here. But we’ll have to kill his family. Their definitely Aragarian. A few of his closest associates should also be as well.”

An uncomfortable sensation clutched Meryl’s stomach once again. Her hands remained tainted.

“Arthur, tell us everything you know about Feltrick’s organization. We need to cut off the head of the organization tonight.”

“Are you serious? With just the five of you?”

“Six. Cliff’s downstairs. Alean has a small group of soldiers too. But don’t underestimate the Unlocking, Arthur. An Unbecoming is someone who essentially cannot die at the hands of normal humans. The added strengths of perception and reaction allow them to do impossible things. More so for my team. Despite the limited time and training, they are all capable of killing assassins and trained soldiers. This because they perceive time differently. They are three to five times faster than a normal human. That's how they could match a Covenant in the game.”

Meryl and Lynd had an unsettling look on their faces.

“Alean, have some of your men detain the Covenant. No news of this must be reported. Also, we’ll need to clean up this place. We must make it look like Feltrick died on his territory.”

Alean sighed but immediately took her phone to call her father.

“Tonight will be your first field exam, students. We will split up into three groups to attack the known base of operations of the Filtrick’s organization. Alean, you’re with Lynd. Charles, take Meryl and Arthur with you. I’ll bring Cliff and Kristine with me.”

“This is crazy Zeek,” Meryl complained.

“We don’t have a choice. This organization must die tonight. The faster we destroy it and scavenge the remains, the more beneficial this will be when the war begins. You know the math Arthur, what do you think?”

Arthur was silent but sighed in contemplation.

“Seeker’s right. An organization this massive might have been providing the necessary weapons to start the wars that aim to benefit the Aragarians. We also don’t know where Feltrick used his funds on. He must have been using it to aid Aragarian’s around the world.”

“See? Even Precision understands.” Seeker smiled.

Charles gave a depressed laugh while Alean rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Lynd and Meryl had a conflicted look. They just killed for the first time, and now they were forced to walk the bloodied road.

That night was a monumental night for the people in the Pangean Nations. The horrors hidden within the darkest depths of their country would be put to light. A criminal syndicate which was tied to several terrorist groups crumbled and its spoils laid out in the open. The world was shocked at the existence of such an organization and that night became a night to be remembered in Pangea.

But who would have thought that at the epicenter of this disaster which led to the deaths of 214 criminals, were simple teenagers who massacred their way while enjoying watermelon-flavored lollipops?