Okay, we are going to separate ways today. You will go to the Soviet republic Of the United Caucasus, while I will be in Sweden.

Father slammed his hand on the table. "Why do I go to a region filled with wild Crimsons while you go into Sweden? One of the safest places in the world!"

"Because the person I want you to talk to is a guy who is a skilled duelist, someone you can easily beat."

"Why I am dueling with someone you want to add to your team. It's your team, not mine! And why can't you take one of your expensive toys and beat him? Will that be too hard?"

I raised my hand. "Okay, I know you are getting older, and you are nothing but a shadow of what you used to be. Still, I wasn't expecting a teenager to scare you that much?"

Father got up and began moving around the room. "I will not deny my aging, but using this as a tool to force me into doing your job is not a good thing. I will do what you said, and fuck me for that!" I tricked him.

Father, even though he is not in his prime, he is still someone you don't want to challenge in a one-versus-one fight. This old dog has lots of tricks on his hands.

"Then let me give you some information about the guy." I put a file on the table.

[Name: Ivan Tabidzane.

Gift: Half-Dragon

Specialty: Weapon Smithing and Dueling.

Things to be careful about: His skin is hard and heat resistant, and he can forge weapons with bare hands.

Weaknesses: Unlike most half-dragons, he cannot fly or use fires at a long range. He can only heat some parts of his body.

Note: Even though he is a teenager, he lives in a remote region filled with Crimsons. He should have good combat abilities.

End of the file.]

"As you can see, you are the perfect man to deal with him."

Father closed the file. "No, I am not. If you want to beat him, take one of your flying suits and shoot him from the sky."

"No! That should be a nobble duel!"

Father palmed his face and began shaking his head while inhaling.

I am not a master of the art of lip-reading, but I am sure he says. "For the fucks sake."

 

"Father, look, this region is cold, and rouge crimsons usually live there. So I have a little no time for actually visiting there."

"Then why are you going to Sweden?" He asked.

"To join an underground fight tournament where the next person I choose stays."

Father wasn't even surprised by the answer.

 

Crimsons usually prefer to attack places with higher population density, so Scandanavia rarely got invaded, but that doesn't mean that region doesn't have their warriors. "Children Of The Valhalla." People who honor Vikings' warrior culture.

 

"Children Of The Valhalla... I don't think having one of theirs on your team is a bad idea, but be careful." He was curious this time because of my choice.

"I will, and don't worry. I ordered the Ragnarok from Union."

Ragnarok Heavy Battle-suit. Designed for close-range combat. Ragnarok lacks any long-range weapons or any other fancy tools. It is just about beating your enemy to a pulp with brute force.

 

"So they are stretching your weapon rights a bit. That's great but be careful." He will do his boring talk again.

"Don't worry, father. I didn't forget that I am still a human inside."

*****

After a short flight, I arrived in Sweden, where my contact was waiting for me at the airport's exit. A UDC agent. He hides his presence for now, but there is a reason for that. People panic when agents appear in places like harbors or airports in low danger areas. Since that mostly means disaster is coming.

Thankfully the only disaster UDC is here today is me.

"Good morning, sir Leonard. Congratulations on your victory." The agent seems to be a high-ranking one, knowing the secret tournament.

"Thank you for that. I suppose you are also informed about the next tournament I will take place at."

Agent smiled. "You know, I am a member of that group as well. That's why the high council of Sweden ordered me to take care of you."

Poor choice of words, but I got the message.

 

"Great, someone from inside will make things easier, then shall we go out and unbox my toy."

"Follow me." The agent began moving in a direction.

***** At the mountains of Caucusus, on the same day.

A helicopter's engine roars like a beast, making it almost impossible to hear what others say.

"Mister James, we will land here and take you one hour afterward. Please be careful." The helicopter pilot said.

Father jumped out of the helicopter and landed on soft snow. "Thank you for giving me a lift. It could be a pain in the ass if I needed to climb all the way here."

"It is nothing. Accept this as a small payment for what you did for us in Siege of Batumi." The helicopter began flying away, leaving Father alone in the blizzard.

"Now, where is that kid? I need to beat his ass." Father began moving in a direction.

Blizzard is making it impossible for one to see what is in front of them, but GPS is working good as ever, and Father is not someone a blizzard can stop.

He kept moving until he saw the frozen corpses of several small Crimsons.

"So, he is nearby."

He continued walking till he saw a small light far.

And when he got closer, the sound coming from someone hitting a hot metal began echoing inside his ears. Someone is doing a little blacksmithing.

And after several more steps, the kid finally showed himself, longer than Leonard, pretty muscular too, even though his scales hide most of it.

But he still has a face and body structure of a human.

"What a boy at your age is doing here? Can I learn that?"

Boy growled. "If you came here because the government sent you, go away before I hurt you. I told you guys thousand times. I won't join the army."

"Your government didn't send me here, nor did I come here to recruit you for them. My name is James, and I am a UDC agent looking for possible recruits for our schools. Are you interested?"

"No. Not even a bit, now go." The boy began hitting the iron he was forging even harder.

"Then you let me no choice, come one, attack me. I will not leave here." Father smiled.

"Go." Boy growled.

"No, I will not."

Half-dragon sighed and stopped forging, then began moving towards Father. "You wanted this."

With a burst of speed, Half-dragon dashed forwards and slashed his claws forward.

Father easily dodged the incoming attack and landed a punch in the boy's stomach.

Half-dragon spat and fell to the ground, but he recovered fast and dashed towards Father once more, but this time, he continued his attack with a strike of his tail.

Father dodged the slash and then stopped the tail from hitting him. Afterward, he landed another punch into the boy's stomach, but he didn't let him go away this time and grabbed the kid from his shoulders and slammed him to the ground.

Half-dragon got pissed and began attacking father more aggressively.

Slash after slash, strike from his tail after another strike. From up, down, left, right. He is attacking from everywhere. He stopped acting like a human some time ago. He is just trying to kill what is in front of him.

But the father is no easy target.

"How! How can you manage to escape every time? Tell!" Half-dragon shouted

Father dodged another attack from the half-dragon and kicked the boy from the back of his knees, forcing him to stay down.

"Because of my gift, if you want to learn it, let me tell it."

Half-dragon struggled to recover but stopped after Father landed a hit on his neck. "Tell me," his voice was tired. "What is your gift?"

Father smiled and released the boy. "Future sight, I can see the future up to five seconds, but nothing more without my drugs."

Half-dragon was not satisfied with the answer. "But your reflexes and strength are equally impressive to your gift?"

Father touched the boy's shoulder. "You want to have them as well, then come with me. My kid is collecting a team of youngsters. Each of them is at least strong as you. If you accept joining his team, you will be taught by some of the best what the world can offer, and maybe even surpass a cheap trickster like me."

"How strong is this kid?" Half-dragon asked.

"I don't know his limits, but I am terrified of what he can achieve."

-------- Children of Valhalla underground tournament. Middle of the fight.

"Come one, is that the hardest you can punch." A boy at my age shouted as he got up from the ground.

I dashed forward and landed a powerful punch. My opponent flew through half of the arena and slammed to the wall hard enough to crack it. But he is still standing as if nothing happened. "I am impressed by your regenerative abilities, but it became annoying. Is there a way to beat you?"

I am currently fighting against my target. Steinar Gleb is a kid who's gifted with insanely powerful regenerative ability and physical strength.

Tear his limbs, crush his skull, destroy his hearth. You cannot stop him. He will get up from the ground for one more round after a rest.

"You can't. That's my whole point." Steinar laughed and began charging toward me.

"Still, I will try." I mirrored his move, and landed a punch into his chest, then followed my attacks with several more hits to his chest.

I used thrusters on Ragnarok to dash backward and then forward again to land more powerful hits, but nothing was enough to beat this kid.

"Well, you left me no choice. Ragnarok thruster power, hundred percent!"

I grabbed Steinar from the arm and began flying towards the roof. I slammed him there, then threw him to the ground and landed over him at full speed.

The attack almost ripped his body into two, but I only started. I grabbed Steinar again and began flying towards the arena's walls. I have a simple plan. Press him to the walls and grind him into a puddle of blood and bones until he stops.

"You had enough fun." Steinar headbutted my battlesuit and stopped it from flying, then he grabbed it and began throwing me around.

He was attacking continuously, but I found an opening and grabbed both his fists. "Let's see how good your durability is against hydraulics."

I crushed his hands and ripped them apart from his body. Blood began flowing through his arms, and he collapsed to his knees, but Steinar wasn't screaming in pain. He was laughing.

"I accept you give a good fight, iron boy. I will join whatever little club you have if you have people strong as you for me to fight against."

"Then I seal the deal with this handshake." I began shaking his dismembered arm of Steinar, and we both started laughing.