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A Hero Tale {Complete}

"Right. Well, uh, take a seat, I guess!" Luke said, half-excited, half bored with the idea himself. He lowered his body and crossed his legs in the center of the arena. "Have you been improving your Ki and arcane control? Last time Mikey spoke about it, your Overheat form and One with nature transformations were taking too much of a toll on your stamina."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"I'm probably just anxious about nothing. The second day was like this too." Luke lead Jenso into the floating platform arena and quickly hopped on board with a surprisingly agile hop. "Besides, we can't stop on their account... Still, since Mikey swapped with me on such short notice, we gotta put some rules into place." Luke patted his body for a second and nodded. "I'm still pretty weak compared to you guys, so I'm not going to give you a practical test. More of a quiz, actually... I know that kind of sucks, but just bear with me on this one, kiddo."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Luke gestured with his head towards the door and helped by offering Jenso a hand to get back onto his feet. The two quickly made their way out of the room, towards the training center. Along the path, Luke greeted the other heroes that often flooded the public halls. Despite the training they were going through, there were still many people, often weaker than the highest ranking heroes like Mikey, working all over the world to keep the peace as best they could. After the Geode epidemic, panic was still abound.

"I haven't seen Mikey all morning. Bruce Oz and Jeff are also missing. Even that weirdo Geode hasn't peeked his head out anywhere," Luke said, worried, "It's been a quiet morning. I know it's still early, but I'm usually the last one up, right before you, anyways.."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Luke kicked the side of Jenso's ribs gently. "Naw, get up. Early training today. I'm in charge of you, didn't Mikey let you know?" Luke asked. Blup looked at Jenso from inside of Luke's hair, while also climbing into Jenso's hair from his side table.

"Jeff relayed the message! B..Bluh.. But, He should have used me instead. Blup.. Feels.. Strange!"

"Yeah... Whatever, up and attem!"

A Hero Tale {Complete}

~ Chapter 160 ~

_{Dawn Of The Fifth Day}

Jenso awoke to Luke hovering over him, shoving him away. It was 6 in the morning, and he'd already done the same for everyone else. "Wake up, kid!" He shouted into one of Jenso's ears.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

~ Chapter 159 ~

_{Nexus Diary 3 - When?}

"He's dead."

Yzeira stepped into Nexus' room quietly while he meditated in the middle, on top of a circular blue mat. Somehow, he'd been in two places at once, while his other body stood fought toe to toe with Lark Gaiaco and Mikey.

"It's amazing, you know. That thing. Very interesting, very powerful. I think I'm going to reopen my research on Adarine's Meta Energy. Her capabilities might be able to help us get her back." Nexus' neck twitched slightly. Yzeira's eyes dropped down towards him. When Nexus was unarmoured, clothed only in linens, he was far less imposing. "I know you can hear me. Are you attempting that Dream realm experiment again? I've already told you, the likelihood of success is fairly low. It might be millennia before you come across any success." Nexus' body twitched uncomfortably. Yzeira sighed. "I want you to update me on everything you can learn using it. If there's a creature here capable of wounding Rajaka, no, two creatures, then there are bound to be more. This universe is becoming more and more disturbing as time goes by, and we've yet to come by anything useful outside of that vampire's weapon. I have Shaidra tailing him as we speak, but if you learn of anything else..." Yzeira stopped and shook his head. "I'm going back to my study."

~

"REALLY!?" Rajaka grunted, his arm just now sprouting back from the gnarled stump that Jenso had left behind, "THIS SHIT KEEPS HAPPENING TO US, AND HE DOESN'T WANT TO JUST BLOW THIS STUPID DIMENSION TO BITS YET?" Ada was rested against the edge of Rajaka's bed, where he lay flat, with her head placed atop the edge of her arms. She was bored, but couldn't leave the big lug's side. Despite her obscene nature, she never was able to act around him.

"That's what he said," Ada moaned lazily, "I would be all for it, but after he killed my little plaything so nonchalantly like that..."

"Like it was nuthin'," Rajaka grunted, "That guy's never had a shred of sportsmanship in his icky red blood, I'll tell you what. I could have squashed that little idiot in a second if I had the mind to!"

"How do you think I feel?" Ada wheezed, "I can't believe I let him hit me. This scar isn't going to disappear for at least ten years." Rajaka leaned towards Ada and motioned towards his torso, where a spiral sat. She huffed and smiled. "Oh.. It's different for big idiots like you, Ra'Ra." Rajaka cringed at Ada's insistent little nickname, and slammed back against his bed, glaring at the ceiling.

"And of Course, Zelriane refused to fuckin' help! Honor bound by his stupid moral code- Moral my ass! He thinks he's better than all of us just because he has a strict set of rules... Ugh." Rajaka looked around his room slowly and then back to Ada. "Where's that pretty-boy?"

"Reconnaissance," Ada sighed, "I've had him tailing the golden kid since then. But..." Ada paused and her eyes lit up. "Oh... Oh!! Rajaka, you might just be willing to kiss me over this!" Rajaka's eyes narrowed and he grunted, turning away from her. "Golden boy is alive!" Of course, upon hearing that, he spun right back around like a tornado of pure muscles. His eyebrows creased inwards and he smiled.

"I'm having the beginnings of what might end up blossoming into the foundation of an idea."

---

~ End Of Chapter 159 ~

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Geode grunted uncomfortably to himself. "We'll start in small sessions like this every two hours. I've told Mikey that we'd be training practically during that time, but in reality, we'll be training your affinity with the void. Over these last couple of days, I'm hoping you'll have learned some semblance of control." Geode stood up from his possessed body and moved towards Oz. "Assuming this works.."

---

~ End Of Chapter 158 ~

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Geode groaned and tapped his chest. "As you know, I am trapped in this miserable husk of a body. Returning to my former glory is nigh impossible at this point. But, while in this body, I can still sense void energy, and have an alarming affinity with the world beyond this one. However, despite this, I cannot interact with anything directly. I retain the ability to possess bodies with powerful energy signatures, when they are close to death." Geode hesitated for a moment. "If you had the capabilities that I have, the ability to sense the void, and magics that originate from them, you may be able to outright sever Ada's grasp on her Gaian pet. You may even be able to do other things on par with this feat, including things such as overwhelming the order's abilities, such as Zelriane's eyes, for very short periods of time. Even more, your shields might be able to actually stand up to the energy of the order's kingpin, Yzeira, even if only for a short period of time, as well... I am not a very good teacher, but if you would allow it, I may be able to safely meld with your unique Ki to assist in your training. I could act as... A metaphorical set of... Training... Wheels..."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"Against the order, it might be useless, anyways. But your encounter with Zelriane may have been some kind of catalyst for your abilities. At any rate, I think you should be looking to expand your horizons. You've already harnessed abilities unique to your own power. Conjuration without direct link, durability almost on Par with Jenso's, Shields that seem to have very little weakness..." Geode shook his head. "I have brought you here for a reason. Despite my understanding of your abilities, I think there is something that only you can do, which will help us greatly in the battle against those monsters. But, I must admit, I'm reluctant to explain."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"Questions I can only answer in earnest; I don't fully understand," Geode grunted, irritably, "I've split my being into three different energy sources, separating my Ki, Arcane, and Void sources thusly. But, despite my best efforts, I could never fuse them, only channel them through the focuses that have linked themselves to my soul; My cores... In your case, I don't know what to say. From what I've hypothesised, if the soul is allowed to be fed upon by void energy for long periods of time, it can mutate. But, the process has never been successful for me, as I've said. I don't know when you were exposed, or why, but the final product essentially... Makes you immune to the void's clutches, and grants you a theoretically infinite supply of void energy if you can learn to tap into its home between worlds. In your case however, it seems that your Ki has subdued the void energy in your soul, making it almost indistinguishable from normal Ki. I'm not exactly sure how it might affect you, but one thing is certain, you may actually possess some level of resistance to the magic of the Order."