The following morning, Relovan was up early, and took his first step towards his regaining a sense of normalcy in his life. There were many things he felt he had to get information on, including his employment status and just when he would be allowed back at work. He had heard nothing from his precinct, so he was somewhat concerned. He was also anxiously waiting to see just what the Chief had come up with in terms of securing his safety. He had been visibly irked by the comment of being killed by a sneeze, and more so by the fact that Void Lord Vox was likely to try and kill him. He had a lighter workout than the one he had the previous day, showered and even ate breakfast. While Relovan was eating, his phone alerted him to a text from Nura.

“Lawman! We will be there soon to pick you up! The plan will be explained in the car! Later!”

There was a series of strange emojis included in the text that Relovan just stared at for the longest time, before shuddering slightly.

“…it should be illegal for that man to text like this. It’s not cute.”

With that he put the phone down and finished off his food. Once done, the Enforcer cleaned up, packed a light bag just in case he was to be away from his apartment for some time, got ready, and waited silently in the small apartment. Unlike the night before, Relovan got ready as quickly as possible as he didn’t want to be surprised by the sudden emergence of the Chief. This turned out to be quite the wise decision, as no more than an hour after receipt of the text, there was a heavy knock on the door. When Relovan opened the door, he was greeted by Nura, Kipp and many, many more officers that were a part of the Chief’s entourage.

“Chief.” Relovan greeted with a tip of his faded cap. “…and the rest.” He said with a disinterested shrug.

“Lawman.” Nura said with a barely contained chortle.

“You’re traveling heavy this morning, Sir.”

“No heavier than I was last night – you just didn’t see them. Anyway, I assume that you’re ready to go?”

“I’m too weak not to be ready, no?” Relovan answered with a slight glare.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Nura responded with a grin before turning around and gesturing with his head for Relovan to follow.

The Enforcer did just that, and the entire group moved to the various vehicles in the parking lot, with Relovan hopping into the car with Nura and Kipp. There was an untold number of fast food cartons and Tupperware boxes in the car, and it took Relovan a second or two to count them all.

“…what is all this?” Relovan asked while staring at one of the boxes.

“The remnants of the Chief’s breakfast.” Kipp said in a somewhat deadpan voice as he started the car and drove out of the complex.

“How many breakfasts, exactly?”

“Just the one.” Kipp answered again.

“I… see.” Relovan responded as he looked out the window.

“Enough about that.” Nura said as he waved his hand dismissively. “We are to discuss the first phase of the plan now.”

Chief Nura glanced towards Kipp, who nodded and pressed a button on the centre console of the vehicle. A screen slid up as if from nowhere and partitioned the interior of the car, separating Nura and Relovan from Kipp. Relovan watched this happen in silence, before looking at the Chief.

“I assume this is for the sake of privacy?”

“Correct. This is sensitive information, on a need to know basis, yada yada.”

“Very well.” Relovan answered as the look on his face became more serious. “So this plan you have come up with – what is it, Sir?”

“To make you stronger.”

“Yes, we went over that last night – what I would like to know is how.”

“Well, having watched the surveillance tapes of your encounters with the Void Knights, I have deduced a number of things about you.”

“…and those things are?”

“You are a gifted individual - truly.”

“Huh?” The Enforcer responded in confusion.

“You are equally gifted physically as you are intellectually, and even though we can only extract possibly 5 or 10 more percent from that body of yours, that will likely be enough to carry you into Phase Two.”

“…again, how are we going to do that? Also, how many phases does this plan have?”

“Who knows?” Nura answered with a shrug. “Let’s focus on the immediate phase first – I call it ‘Operation Powerup’. The name itself is pretty self-explanatory, and will be achieved using a relatively simple method.”

“…what exactly is this method, Chief?” Relovan asked through gritted teeth, clearly becoming annoyed.

“Combat.” Nura finally answered, chuckling a bit.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Usually, Council Hearings that have to do with Void Lords occur approximately two and a half months after the incident. We have already spent four weeks on the mend, so we have a month and a half or so to level you up.”

“You believe combat is the best way of doing that, Sir?”

“Absolutely. My eyes detected something quite spectacular about you, so we will have you engage in combat with somebody I know to confirm whether or not I saw correctly.”

“Is this person stronger than me, Chief.”

“By orders of magnitude, Lawman.” Nura said with a grin.

“You sound sure about that.” Relovan said as he glanced over at Nura.

“Because I am. You’ll see yourself when we get there.”

As if on cue, the convoy took a turn onto a small road which led to a small terminal. The automated boom gate opened on its own, and the cars were able to just drive through without having to adjust their speed.

“Where exactly are we going, Sir?” Relovan asked as he looked out of the window.

“Oh? You’ve never been this way before, have you Lawman?”

“I don’t believe I have.”

“Well the only good thing about these planets being so small and close to one another is that travel times aren’t excessive. Our destination is down there.”

Nura appeared to just point in a random direction, however as the cars continued down the long, winding road, a rather large looking compound which was built on a platform that was suspended between all the planets came into view. There was direct access to this compound from all of the planets as well as the Station, and it wasn’t long until the road straightened out and they were actually approaching the tall gate. Considering who stayed in the house, it was a little surprising that the fence and access to the property appeared to be so… small. Clearly, Relovan’s thoughts were written all over his face because Nura looked at him and laughed.

“You must be wondering why security is so lax.” The Chief said as they pulled up to the gate. “Do you think anybody on these planets has the capacity to take me out?”

“There’s bound to be somebody, Sir.” Relovan said with a smirk.

“I wish.” Nura said with a smirk of his own before Kipp rushed over and opened his door.

Relovan opened his own door and they both stepped out. The compound was a rather nice and classy collection of buildings, and after a few moments, somebody who looked like a butler of sorts appeared from inside the house.

“Welcome back, Chief.” A group of men and women who appeared to be the Chief’s staff said in unison.

They were all dressed in matching attire, and bowed, again in unison. The staff was made up of various races, much like the population of the Blargon Planets and they remained with their heads down until Nura acknowledged them with something of a grunt.

“Yeah, thanks.” He said dismissively before looking at Relovan. “Follow me – I’ll take you to the building where you will be training and you’ll also be able to meet your trainer.”

“Trainer?” Relovan asked.

“Yeah, we’re powering you up through combat experience, remember?”

“Yes, but you have yet to mention what kind of combat, where the fighting will take place, or who it is that I will be fighting against.”

“Good point, Lawman. Well, all those questions will be answered once we enter the training room. Follow me.”

Chief Nura began walking, and Relovan followed. Kipp was not invited, so he remained with the rest of the staff, and after a short and silent walk, the pair reached a rather small building. It was small, but it was clear to Relovan that it had been built using some of the toughest materials currently available on the market. As they stood at the entrance to the building, Nura looked at Relovan and gestured for him to walk in. The Enforcer silently approached the understandably massive door, and the closer he got to it, the more intense the impending sense of danger grew. By the time Relovan reached the door and was standing in front of it, his usual sixth sense that had to do with danger was working overtime. His skin itched all over, all his hair was standing on edge, and he had broken out into a cold sweat. Every fibre of his being was screaming at him, telling him that the only thing that awaited him on the other side of that door was death. Relovan unknowingly swallowed a lump in this throat as he clenched his fists rather forcefully and Chief Nura, who had been standing behind the Enforcer and watching silently, smirked a tad.

“What’s wrong, Lawman? The sooner you go in, the sooner we can start.”

Relovan was acutely aware of the fact that the cause of the sensation he was experiencing was clearly the behemoth standing behind him.

“Hmph.” Relovan snorted as he took a deep breath and reached for the door handle.

As he opened the door, the Enforcer was suddenly hit by what felt like a searing hot gust of wind that almost knocked him off balance. The heat itself felt as though it was trying to burn his very bones, however Relovan scoffed defiantly and proceeded to walk through the open door. Almost immediately after crossing the threshold though, Relovan raised his guard, ducked down as quickly as possible and evaded something. At least he felt as though he had to take evasive action, and after he did so, he planted his left foot, using it as a base and pivoted, turning around fluidly. Relovan was moving purely on instinct and squared up as if he was ready to throw a punch of his own when he suddenly realised that Nura had not moved at all and was still standing outside. In fact, the Chief was looking almost unbearably relaxed, with his hands deep in his pockets and a grin on his face. Chief Nura then laughed a touch before walking in.

“My my, what exactly were you expecting to be in here, Lawman?”

Nura asked as Relovan watched the Adonian walk through a doorway without twisting and contorting his considerable mass to fit through the opening for the first time since meeting him. The Enforcer then became quite aware of the fact that he was in a fighting stance.

“…death.” Relovan answered as he slowly eased up and stood up straight.

Nura grinned at Relovan once again, however the look in his eyes was slightly different from before – it was more sinister. He then began to walk around the room, still grinning.

“Your damn near animalistic instincts never fail to astound me, Lawman. The truth is, you could very well die in this room if you don’t take what we’re going to do seriously.”

Relovan looked at the Chief for a moment, before looking around the room again. A few moments later, the door to the training room opened and in walked somebody who Relovan was somewhat familiar with.

“Enforcer.” The man said as he nodded. “Chief.”

Relovan turned and looked at Rhee, the Void Knight in Juxtae’s service.

“Ah, I believe you are Void Lord Juxtae’s Knight?”

“Rhee is the name.”

“Why are you here? Are you the one who is going to be sparring with me?”

“Me? Not at all, Enforcer. I’ve been called in to patch you up when you’re injured.”

“What? You’re a Healer?”

“I was told that amongst the Knights, Rhee here is second only to the Void Lord herself when it comes to the Healing arts.” Nura interjected.

After saying this, both Nura and Relovan looked at Rhee, the disbelief in both their eyes so thick it was almost tangible.

“Can this guy really heal people?” Nura said as he inched close to Relovan and bent down, cupping his hand by his ear as if he was whispering.

“I have my doubts, Chief. Look at how blue and muscular this guy is. Everybody knows green is the colour of healing.”

“I know, right? Does a person with Lightning Gloves even know how to heal?”

“You know, I can actually hear you two.” Rhee said, sounding as though he was doing his best not to snap at them.

Chief Nura looked completely surprised by this statement, which appeared to annoy Rhee even further.

“How does that even surprise you, Chief?! Your whispers are as loud as a Mordhanian Swamp Shark’s indigestion! And you, Mr. Green, the colour of healing is Red!”

“…he’s awfully sassy for a Healer, isn’t he Lawman?” The Chief ‘whispered’ again.

“I wasn’t aware that sass was an important trait for Healers, Chief.”

Rhee took a few breaths to keep calm, before ignoring Nura and turning his attention to Relovan.

“How are you feeling? The injuries you sustained while fighting Vo were bad enough, but I saw how even my own Mistress injured you further.”

“There’s no need for concern – I am fit enough to fight.” Relovan stated bullishly.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Nura said ominously.

Relovan turned around to see that Nura’s demeanor had changed completely. His hands were down by his sides, but his fists were clenched and the look in his eyes was about as sinister as it could be. Just the sheer pressure the shift in attitude created was tangible enough for Relovan to feel on his skin, and without even asking, the Enforcer knew that Nura intended to do. Relovan took a few steps, creating some distance between himself and Nura. He set his small bag down, before taking off, folding and setting his jacket down next to the bag. A few deep breaths followed as he rolled his neck, before Relovan assumed a fighting stance and looked at Nura. The Chief stood with his arms by his side and his fists clenched, his ever-present grin displaying even more of his teeth, while Relovan, who was standing with his left arm low, closed his eyes. As he inhaled deeply, his senses heightened immeasurably, and he could quite literally feel everything that was happening around him on his skin. He could feel both Nura’s and Rhee’s breath, he could feel their heartbeats, slight changes in air pressure, temperature, everything. His body became a giant receptor and when he opened his eyes, he himself exuded quite the bit of pressure, caused Nura to clench his fists even tighter. His knuckles cracked, and the Chief looked as though he was getting ready to tackle prey of some kind. As Relovan blinked, he felt an immense and jarring change in the atmosphere of the room, with his body telling him complete and utter annihilation was approaching him. It approached far too quickly for Relovan to even react, and before he could open his eyes to complete the blink, something hit him square in the face. The pain was unlike anything he had experienced before, and Relovan thought he could feel his entire face contort and shatter. Meanwhile, he had also been launched off of his feet and was in the process of completing a backflip as well.

‘What is this? What just happened?’

Those two sentences were the last thing that went through the Enforcer’s mind as he flew through the air and his body went completely limp, with him losing consciousness before even finishing the first revolution. After some time, Relovan felt soothing warmth running through his entire body, and not long after he became aware of this warmth, did his eyes shoot open. He awoke to the sight of Rhee sitting next to him, with his hands hovering above his body. His eyes looked towards the Void Knight and after taking a few moments to make sense of things, Relovan spoke.

“…I’m still in the Training Room.”

“That’s correct, Enforcer.”

“What happened?”

“You were knocked out cold.”

“That much is certain… but how did it happen?”

“Your Chief closed the gap between you two with one giant step, and then punched you in the face.”

“…how many times?”

“Just the one time.”

“How was the damage?”

“If I didn’t have a stock of Healing Essence Crystals with me, your face would have been destroyed.”

“Yeah, that’s what it felt like.”

Relovan sat up in one motion and shook his head rapidly, as to rid it of cobwebs.

“Where is the giant?”

“He said he wasn’t going to wait for you to recover and wake up, so he went to go have something to eat.” Rhee said with a shrug.

“How long have I been out for?”

“Half an hour.”

“Understood.” Relovan said as he got to his feet and began to stretch. “So when will the Chief be coming back?”

“He told me to call him when you were up and ready to go again.”

“Then, please do.”

Relovan continued to stretch and loosen up as if he hadn’t just been brought back from the brink of death. As he got ready, Rhee pressed a button that was on the wall, and looked at Relovan.

“Are you sure you don’t want to recover a little longer?”

“I don’t have time to nap and relax. The value of my life has to be increased significantly in a short amount of time, isn’t that right, Chief?”

Rhee looked a little confused and looked around as if trying to find the Chief.

“Absolutely, Lawman.”

Nura’s voice echoed through the room before the door flew open with extreme force. The Adonian walked in while chewing on something and he looked at the Enforcer as if he was assessing his condition.

“Wow, you’re practically good as new, Lawman! I felt a little bad for turning that handsome face into mush, but Rhee certainly did a good job patching you up.”

“That he did. Let’s get started, Chief.” Relovan said as he glared at Nura.

“Yes… let’s!”

Relovan, who had begun to focus during his stretching made sure not to blink this time, and he just watched the Chief carefully and silently. He assumed his fighting stance, and stared at the Chief with such focused eyes, that the Adonian could feel the gaze on his own skin.

“…very good. Last time, I took advantage of your blink and took you out, so you feel that keeping your eyes open is the key. Well, allow me to let you in on a little secret Lawman; keeping your eyes open will only help you if they can keep up.”

Relovan was more than aware of the difference in strength, however he felt that he had to see exactly what was going to happen. Unfortunately for the Human, what the Adonian said turned out to be true, because the giant man disappeared from sight, crippling pain shot through Relovan’s entire body via his face, and then everything went black - again.

This ended up being the pattern for the rest of the day, and by the time night fell, Relovan had been knocked out and healed half a dozen times, after which Rhee revealed something to Relovan.

“The Chief told me to relay a message to you, Enforcer.”

“What message is that?” Relovan asked as he rolled his neck, as if testing to see if his head would fall off if he did it enough times.

“Tell Lawman that the condition for passing this training is for him to dodge a single punch at this speed from me. If he cannot do that, then he will die.”

Relovan stopped moving and stood perfectly still and silent for a bit, before looking at Rhee.

“Dodging a single punch at that speed? And if I can’t do that, then I will die? Hmph.” Relovan snorted before crashing his right fist into his open palm. “I will evade that forsaken punch and live. Nobody has the right to end my life.”

Relovan snorted once again, clearly determined to clear the first hurdle, and the first phase of the Chief’s plan. The following week was essentially a repeat of that day, with Relovan being flattened and revived more times than he cared to keep track of. While Relovan was unconscious and being patched up for the final time on the seventh night, Nura decided to stick around and keep Rhee company.

“Excuse me, Chief Nura, I have a question.”

“Hmm? What’s up?” The Adonian asked as tried his hardest to refrain from picking his nose.

“What is the point of all this? Is the Enforcer really going to make the strides you believe he will?”

“Absolutely.” Nura replied without a lick of hesitation.

“How can you be so sure? I’ve seen him in action, and while he may be impressive, he is still only Human.”

“Hmph.” Nura chuckled before smiling. “Yes, he certainly is ‘only’ Human, but his potential is crazy. This man is equal parts instinctual and intelligent, and if we can tap into and develop the one half, I just know he’ll be able to raise the other half to the appropriate level. Besides, even though we are focusing on developing his physical abilities to try and close the gap a little, there still is another side to Lawman that is woefully underdeveloped.”

“He has another side?”

“Of course he does, and you’ve actually seen it used. For all his smarts, this idiot has yet to realise that he is an Essence Bender.”

“A Bender?” Rhee asked, looking a little perplexed. “He wasn’t a Lightning Essence Practitioner?”

“So you also misunderstood, huh? Well, Juxtae seemed to misunderstand as well, but I guess that is understandable, since he did buff that baton’s lightning while taking on the Professor and Vox. Lawman over here used The Voice instinctively, he buffed his speed and strength instinctively, all by using raw Essence to do so. I have no idea how he was allowed to live so long without being instructed on how to purify and utilize his Essence, but if he is trained, and manages to survive for long enough, he’s going to be a real monster.”

“R-Really?” Rhee asked as he looked at the unconscious Relovan who still had blood leaking from his concave and healing face.

“I’m really happy that your bosses decided to have an argument here on our shitty little planet, Rhee. If they hadn’t both come here and fought, I wouldn’t have discovered this one.”

Nura then stood up and looked at Relovan, his smile from before having turned into a grin.

“He’s a monster, this one. Despite what you think, I can tell that he’s making progress, and is getting close to making some sort of breakthrough. Anyway, I have things to do, so I shall see the both of you tomorrow.”

Nura nodded at Rhee, and exited the training room quickly. Rhee watched over Relovan and ensured he was completely healed, before leaving the room and heading to his own lodgings within the compound. Relovan on the other hand was bunking inside the Training Room, and even had a small mattress set up in the corner. Despite numerous attempts to try and coax him into sleeping in a different room, the Enforcer remained in there and only left to shower and use the bathroom. The next morning, Rhee entered the room to find Relovan up and about. The Human was already stretching and loosening up. Stubble adorned his face, and he didn’t look all that great, but didn’t seem to care much about his physical appearance.

“Rhee.” He greeted simply without looking at his personal medic.

“Enforcer.”

“What time is the Chief coming to see us?”

“I don’t quite think you can say that he’s coming to see US, but you yourself know that all depends on what he has for breakfast.”

“That giant.” Relovan scoffed. “If he wasn’t so strong and my superior, I’d…”

“...you would?”

“Probably still get my ass kicked.” Relovan conceded.

“You aren’t lying, Lawman.” Nura said as he entered the room. “You seem to be in good spirits… has your progress been that good?”

“Progress? What progress, Chief? Rhee is almost out of Crystals again, and my face stings every time I see your fists.”

Despite saying this, Relovan smirked as he assumed his fighting stance.

“Going to forgo breakfast again, Lawman?”

“I’ll eat after I win, Chief.”

“I guess you’re going to starve to death.” Nura said with a grin.

Despite the banter which suggested things would be different, Relovan was once again flattened instantly. This in fact continued for close to another week, however there was a slight difference that only Nura picked up on. On the night of the end of second week, after Relovan was squashed yet again, Nura’s grin changed and grew significantly. He left another message for Relovan with Rhee before disappearing for the night, and unlike the previous times where the Enforcer would sleep through the night, he actually woke up as his treatment was coming to an end.

“What’s this? You’ve come to?” Rhee said as he looked at Relovan. “I have a message for you. Let Lawman know that unlike him, I’m not on leave and have annoying duties that I have been putting off for long enough. I will only come to see him in a few weeks, so until then, he has full access to the training facilities in the room next door. He can train himself to his heart’s content as the equipment is actually superior to the stuff he has in his tiny apartment. Until we see each other again!”