During my childhood, I had many moments in which I watched and adored moments that made history.

One that I remembered vividly was a highlight of a nameless agent who endured two days of constant torture and violence to protect a group of civilians, just to be found still smiling with all civilians alive.

I don't know his name, but he made me realize two things: how strong the will of a human could be and the value of a sacrificial lamb, especially if they can be sacrificed, theoretically, indefinitely.

This made me adjust my next target to someone with regenerative abilities who can take a bullet for the team if needed.

For that, I directed our route to the Federation Of Nordic Countries to a training facility of a medium-sized private mercenary corporation named Children of Valhalla.

"We are on a plane again," Olivia said, looking out the window. "Do you know there was once an attempt to make a giant plane with a fusion reactor so people could live in the sky?"

I nodded. "I know. I even met with the scientist who came up with the concept. Her sustainability plans are currently being used in Lunar-Colonies."

"Oh yeah, I sometimes forget you were doing that kind of thing while people in the facility played let's throw random things at Olivia and see if she can beat it," she said, her tone more sarcastic than annoyed.

"Well, to be fair, you possess a fascinating strength beyond our peers and adults. It is only right for them to want to see the extent of your power."

She looked at me and smirked. "Did they also teach you how to butter someone?"

"Compliments and making people think your idea is theirs were forced into my head, though I can't argue with their effectiveness."

We bickered and chatted a little longer than our plane had landed.

At the exit of the airport, someone Dad knew greeted us.

"Kids," he offered his hand, and we took it. "It's good to see you two."

We nodded at the same time.

"Thank you for helping us," Olivia said.

I added, "Your work as a middleman between us and the CoV proved a great help to us."

"I am glad to help. These people are too close to the outside for an organization that is supposed to represent our capabilities on the world stage." He looked at me. "Your father tipped me off a small information that would be good for me to keep to myself, but if what he said is true, I like one of our kids on your team."

I smiled and nodded. "It will. Then shall we go?"

We entered his vehicle outside the airport.

The training facility was like a suburban town circling a massive stadium at the center.

It hosted about five thousand people, according to the father's friend.

"So, who are you here for?" he asked. "Our young Champion, perhaps, made himself a name with his great performance. Between us, I heard the chieftain saying he will become the youngest Tyr."

I shook my head. "I already know who I need." 

However, the kid he talked about could also be a decent addition.

He is a spear user with above-human physical capabilities, but his signature ability gave him his nickname, "Young Odin."

All-father's sight. He described it as "Something that allows me to see more than what others are allowed." It might range from a future sight like Dad's or a faster perception of time to allow better reflexes, giving us no clue about his actual ability.

Olivia poked me. "Will I fight with someone?" She looked excited, but I shook my head in disapproval.

"For today, hopefully not. I want things to go quick and smoothly."

A hulking man in uniform greeted us at the gates. "You must be Leonhard."

I nodded. "I am, and this is my sister Olivia. We are here to talk with one of your junior members."

"With Steinar, am I right?" Man asked.

I nodded again.

"Then follow me. Steinar and others are currently training, but you can watch them until they go on a break."

"Gladly."

"You two kids go with him. I have some business of my own to take care of. Ask for me when you finish." Father's friend said before leaving us with the man.

With that, we toured the facility. It was like a suburban living area, including a small shopping area, but the main thing was the main structure in the middle.

When we entered there, the air of the place suddenly changed.

As we passed through the corridors, we were able to have a glance at the junior members.

It was somewhat reminiscent of the UDC family we were from.

"It reminds me of home, does it to you?" Olivia asked while inspecting the surroundings.

"It does, maybe not much as it does to you."

Not long after, we entered a large room with a training arena in the middle, and several junior members were sitting around it. A teacher was demonstrating something with an assistant.

"We sometimes let civilians in for a tour as a publicity stun, but never during unplanned visits." The man who was escorting us said.

"Indeed, I am accustomed to training at UDC, and at first glance, things look the same, but it is always a wonder to see different methods," Olivia said.

We silently watched the class. It was about disarming potential traitors or mind-controlled targets in civilian areas.

They simulated several situations and then asked questions about when to engage with the target or when to prioritize evacuating civilians.

And at the end of the class, the teacher turned to me. "You there, will you come here."

I nodded and stepped into the arena.

"You are the UDC kid, right?"

His way of speaking was a bit annoying, but we were guests. "You can say that."

"Nice." He turned to his students. "Now, since you gladly watched our training, we expect you to give us something in return, right kids?"

"Yeah!" Junior members said in one mouth.

"Good, now, answer me. You are in a mall, and out of nowhere, a crazy cultist began attacking civilians, and you are the only agent currently in the mall. What would you do?"

"Let me see." I scratched my chin. "First, I would alert the local and national security forces, then send a distress call to all agents in the nearby region, then connect to the UDC database, gather any information of the cultist."

"But this may lose you time and endanger lives? Wouldn't it?"

"No, acting quickly without a plan would hurt more. Cultists may act unreasonably, but that is not the reality, as most devastating Crimson attacks happen when carefully placed cultists sabotage the local defense. I would assume any cultists who openly attack a mall has either a great deal of strength to overcome quick respond units from local security forces and agents on present or possess an ability to cause mass destruction if handled hastily."

"Clever. That's thinking like a professional, but there is a good chance cultists will still kill people before you act, and all for even a single life is a motto of UDC."

'So you are trying to hit me from there.' I thought to myself. "I don't say I won't act. My priority would be distracting the enemy instead of confronting them until more information and help arrive to prevent as many civilian casualties as my power allows me to."

"Well, UDC is not slacking, but you don't have the soul of a hero. Like the rest of the UDC, you act like cold robots."

I nodded. "We do. But if the survival of humanity requires cold robots instead of heroes burning with bright flames, then we will be the former."

"I see."

"Then can I talk with the person of interest?" 

"Oh yeah, go ahead."

Junior members' eyes locked on me as I approached a kid taller than two meters. His body was very muscular, with no signs of any scars. It was hard to believe he was three months younger than us.

"Steinar, I assume." I offered my hand with a smile.

The kid confusingly shook my hand. "Yes, me. But, are you sure you are not mixing people?"

"Steinar Agnarsson."

"Yes, that's my full name."

"Then we have no confusion." I pulled a collapsable holographic tablet from my pocket and offered it to him.

"I am gathering a team of individuals, and you have an ability I can utilize. I would like you to join my team."

Steinar took some time reading the agreement, then looked at his teacher with confused eyes.

"Kid is legit. To recruit one of us, the UDC Nordic Councilor personally talked with Christian."

I smiled once more. "So, what you say?"

"I think-."

"Wait a minute." Someone shouted. It was the Champion.

He walked between us and glared at me. "Who you are, and why him?" He then turned to Steinar. "And you don't answer."

"Could you get out of the way? I have a limited schedule, and you are making things hard for me."

"You won't answer my question?"

"I don't see the reason why I should."

He began laughing and looking at other junior members as if he were waiting for his pawns to support him.

Other junior members began laughing as well.

He then grabbed me from the shoulder. "Because you are in my territory."

I tried to push his hand away, but he strengthened his grip. 

So, I had to use quite some force to get rid of his grip.

"Alright, you are the type I can't reason." I turned around and looked at Olivia. She was nearly shaking and was ready to attack.

"Sister."

"I got it." Olivia walked in front of me and looked at the Champion. "Alright, punk, we have an arena and enough eyes for me to embarrass you."

"Heh, so that brother of yours is hiding behind her sister out of fear."

"Some are fighters, some or not. Such is the way of humanity. Now, are you accepting my challenge?"

"I accept since I think it will be fun." He turned to his teacher. "Open up space for us. And someone, go bring me my spear!" He shouted.

Everyone left the ring, and a kid arrived with a sparkling spear.

Champion jumped to the arena. "Waiting for you."

"Can he take a beating?" Olivia asked me.

"Go crazy, he won't die easily."

She jumped in with a devilish smile on her face.

"We start with the bell and stop when other can't fight anymore. And don't worry, I won't scar that face of yours, as if I can damage it more."

"..." Olivia didn't answer.

And when the bell rang, a carnage began, instead of a battle.

Olivia sent her mist and grabbed the Champion in the blink of an eye. She then began smashing him around, to ceiling, to ground, walls. Anywhere she thought was sturdy enough shattered and bloodied.

There were no attempts to resist from the Champion, not because he didn't want to but because he had already blacked out.

Olivia released his anger a bit more on the poor guy until she decided it was enough, so she launched him into the air, grabbed him by one leg, and slammed him to the floor one last time.

The impact was powerful enough to destroy the arena.

When Olivia released her opponent, no one made a single sound. The carnage they witnessed paralyzed all junior members.

Teachers immediately rushed to the Champion. His face got ruined, his limbs got broken, and his body got covered with bruises and blood.

"He is still breathing!" Teacher shouted.

"I am calling the medical team." The assistant rushed outside.

I giggled, not to the humiliating defeat, but to Olivia, who looked disappointed by the lack of challenge.

I approached Steinar. "So, back to our talk, do you agree."

He was shaking. He was trying to say something, but no word was coming out of his mouth.

"Do not worry. We are not barbarians who use force to make people comply with us. It was just that bastard had a death wish mocking my sister."

But to my surprise, Steinar began laughing out loud. He wasn't scared.

"Haha! I don't care what type of monsters you have in your team. I am joining in!" He signed the agreement and gave the holo-tablet back.

I was dumbfounded, so I took some time to recover. "You were very eager to accept."

"Of course I am! I already knew you were something, but now I saw your sister's strength. I am sure denying such opportunity opens me a space at the list of greatest fools."

"Great!" I shook his hand. "I will send you an email including other details and give you a call for the rest of the process." I turned towards the teacher, trying to wake the Champion. "Have a great day, and thank you for letting us use your arena."

And with that, we quickly left the room.

"You released some anger there," I told Olivia jokingly as we searched for the guy who brought us here.

"You know, it wasn't even the mentioning of scars. I grew past them. I don't feel insecure about my scars anymore. There was something about how he talked and acted like he was annoying. Also, who mentions someone else's scars as something to mock? If anything, these scars show my experience! And also, mocking other people's appearances is bad, like I won't mock someone because of their scars." And at the whole talk, she was holding the long scar on the left side of her face.

I smiled and agreed with her. There was no point saying anything else.

When we finally spotted our target, a hulking old man blocked our path. It was The chieftain—one with the highest rank among the CoV.

"Chancellors pupil."

"I greet the chieftain." I slightly bowed. 

"I heard you humiliated our young Champion."

I looked at Olivia. "All credit to my sister."

He chuckled. "Monster of Eden."

"You know way too much. But why are you here? Maybe to take revenge or threaten us." Olivia said.

"I liked your spirit, little warrior. Don't mind my expressions. I am grateful that you beat Njal and saved me the effort. Now that he learned humility, he will grow stronger."

"Still."

"And don't worry, your secrets are safe. I have no plans on making enemies with you two."

We smiled simultaneously and bowed together. "Then we hope the Cheiftan excuses us." We said in one mouth.

"You can go."