Brian rushed up the stairs with a pounding heart, gasping for air as he made his way to the second floor. Downstairs, the women gazed at him with quizzical expressions, bewildered by his sudden and unusual behavior.

Alicia turned to Olivia, her confusion palpable. "What's up with him?" she asked.

In front of the main room, Brian paused for a moment, his hand hovering over the door. But before he could knock, a voice called out from within. "Come in," it said. Steeling himself, Brian opened the door and stepped inside.

Fletcher, his back turned to Brian, was engrossed in studying a map. Without looking up, he asked, "So spill it out. Why were you in such a hurry?"

"Sir, there's a strange situation outside," Brian said, struggling to catch his breath.

Fletcher turned to face him, his expression unreadable. "Speak clearly. What do you mean, strange?"

"It's difficult to explain. It would be best if you see it for yourself," Brian said, pointing towards the balcony.

As Fletcher strode towards the balcony doors and flung them open, a breathtaking view of the sprawling golf fields beyond was revealed. But Fletcher's attention was immediately drawn to a figure standing in the very center of it all, radiating an aura of authority.

Fletcher scanned the surroundings, then turned to Brian, his voice low and commanding. "Tell everyone to stay indoors. No one is to leave until I return."

Brian looked at him, puzzled. "Why? What's going on?"

Fletcher's voice was firm and unwavering. "Just do as I say."

***

A few minutes later.

Fletcher walked toward the man with steady steps, The man's demeanor and bearing betrayed his true identity, he wasn’t a civilian.

The two men stood facing each other, locked in a tense standoff. Their silence was a battle of wills, as each waited for the other to break the deadlock.

But before words could be exchanged, a dangerous projectile hurtled towards Fletcher's head. With lightning-fast reflexes, he sprang into action.

In a flash, his right hand transformed into a metal, moving with such blinding speed that it was impossible for the human eye to follow. The blur of motion culminated in a breathtaking feat, as Fletcher snatched the bullet out of the air and held it in his palm like a prized possession.

“As expected, Mr. Fletcher I apologize for the rude introduction, but we had to confirm we are talking to the right person” the man said elegantly.

“A sniper, interesting” Fletcher ignored the man in front of him and said.

“You must have a lot of questions, so I will…” the man unfazed by fletcher’s rudeness he continued to say, before he was interrupted.

“f***ing bull***t!! So many goddamn people coming to my place and doing whatever they want, do I look that easy to mess with” Fletcher said furiously.  

“Mr Fletcher!” the man said trying to calm things down.

“So you piece of shit, do you think I have the time to play with you! You want to confirm my identity so you shoot at me, and then what! Am I supposed to have a civilized conversation with you?” Fletcher's piercing gaze fixed coldly upon the man before him, and his words sliced through the air like a sharp knife.

“Sir we do not have any bad intentions, on the opposite we want to establish a working relationship with the army, again I apologize fo…” The man's heart quickened as he realized the dialogue was veering off course. With a sense of urgency, he interjected, his words tumbling out in a rushed cadence. He could feel the weight of the conversation shifting, and he was determined to steer it back on track.

As the man opened his mouth to speak, his life was abruptly cut short. With a swift and deadly motion, Fletcher dashed past him, leaving the man's headless body crumpled on the ground. The killing blow was executed with such precision that not a drop of blood was shed. The man seemed almost unaware of his own demise, his severed head continuing to speak for a few brief seconds before its words trailed off into a garbled mess, and ultimately fell silent.

“As I expected, you killed the messenger immediately” Suddenly, another voice said, out of nowhere.

“What is this!” Fletcher's attention was immediately drawn to the direction of the voice. He scanned the surroundings, trying to identify the source. His eyes landed on the man's satellite phone.

“Such ruthlessness, so you are a basilisk product after all, we thought all of you freaks died, but apparently not” the person on the other side of the phone added in admiration.

“Who the f*** are you?” fletcher picked up the satellite phone and said angrily.

“My name is Jonathan Mathias, admiral of the 12^th base” The voice said proudly, with a voice full of authority.

“How do you know who I am?” Fletcher's impatience was palpable as he inquired.

“It wasn’t easy but I have my ways, if my assumptions are right you were the cause of the basilisk mysterious destruction, but worry not! I’m not here for that?” The admiral's deft maneuvering of the conversation displayed a tactical finesse that left Fletcher on edge, uncertain of what the admiral's true intentions were.

Fletcher's voice was steely as he confronted the admiral. "What do you want from me?"

The admiral replied, "I don’t want anything from you. You're probably unaware, but you have a very special ability. You can consume other awakened cores and gain their abilities."

Fletcher's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know about that?"

"So it’s true," the admiral said, his voice low. "You realize that you are the only human we are aware of that can do that. If another awakened attempted to eat an ability core, their bodies would explode on the spot, from the energy overflow."

"Really?" Fletcher asked, his mind reeling with the implications.

"Yes," the admiral confirmed. "Which means that everyone's stats are limited, except for YOU. So to answer your previous question, I want to help you become stronger than anyone else. I want you to use your powers to fight for humanity. We have been pushed back all this time by our invisible enemies, but now we can strike back and turn the tables. We need you, Fletcher. YOUR POWER IS NOT JUST FOR YOU, IT'S FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD."

Fletcher scoffed, his lips twisting into a sneer. "Hahah, what a load of crap! You pretentious prick. My power is for me, and only for me. You want to help me? When did I ask for your help? You want me to help humanity, the same humans that used me as a killing machine and then tried to dispose of me when I refused to do their bidding."

"I'm not going to say that wasn't messed up," the admiral said, his tone reasonable. "But that was in the past. Things are different now."

"Exactly," Fletcher said, his eyes glinting with anger. "Things are different. Now I have the power to take what I want and do what I want."

"My goodness, it seems that you are hell-bent on your ways," the admiral said, his voice tinged with disappointment. "You leave me no choice. I can't leave a threat like you without doing anything about it. It is my responsibility to put you down."

"Not if I get to you first, admiral," Fletcher said, his voice low and dangerous. "When I look you in the face, you will realize that today you made the biggest mistake of your life." With that, he crushed the satellite phone with his grip, severing the connection between him and the admiral.

Fletcher looked to the south and muttered under his breath “The caliber used was anti-tank ammo, it can only be fired using a NTW20 sniper rifle, with an effective range between 1500 and 2500 meters”

Fletcher vanished from his original spot, and in a matter of seconds, he materialized at a distant location. As he surveyed his surroundings, his trained eyes pinpointed the sniper's position, but to his dismay, only the rifle and gear remained; the shooter was nowhere to be seen.

Undeterred, Fletcher honed his senses to the task at hand. He pricked up his ears, filtering out the cacophony of background noise. Gradually, he detected the telltale signs of movement: the labored wheezing of breath and the rhythmic thud of boots pounding the earth in rapid succession.

After a short pursuit, fletcher emerged from the forest dragging a limp body of a dead soldier.

LostBreath

greetings. I hope you enjoy this new chapter, I am also happy to announce that we reached a hundred readers, Thank you all