4/14/2019

  6:15 AM

  "Get fucking lost!" Julius yelled to the speaker before disconnecting the call. He yanked the cord. King Valtoris and Lian slid away while on their seats. The phone flew across the office, hitting the wall. It shattered into bits and surrendered to the laminated wooden floor. Julius literally had steam emitted out of his body as he sat back down.

  King Valtoris was sweating drizzles. He had a handkerchief, continuously wiping his forehead every minute of a tense phone call. "This is a problem."

  "As I expected. Damn it!" Julius slammed the desk. "I shouldn't be surprised, but they're fucking with us, right now. I don't think they want to help us at all. Whatever investigation they're doing, it's going to get ugly."

  "So, are we just going into war?" Lian asked while biting on a pen.

  "I don't see that we have a choice. There's a reason why this city is fully independent of the state and country. On paper, the ideal is that it's supposed to be an innovation ground with fewer ridiculous restrictions." He summoned a bottle of water, taking a gulp. "Of course, that means a higher risk of local corruption, but at least it can be contained when exposed. However, the big guys are like a fucking gas tank. Anything it touches becomes a money scheme. And the effort to stop them is more consuming."

  King Valtoris folded his handkerchief and put it on the table. He leaned his back on the chair's cushions with a deep sigh. "With some understanding of your levels of government, how long has this city been independent for? I'm told it was thirty years. Is that true?"

  "Thirty-five."

  "And when did it start becoming crazy?"

  "Uhm…It began when I became the city's chief of operations. So…almost two years ago. It could be longer, but when I got in, I saw firsthand how bad it had grown. Strange, how they trusted me with all this information and most secrets."

  "No transparency," Lian muttered. "If that could be so simple."

  "Do you have a solution for that?"

  "Yes. Mostly."

  "Mostly?"

  "Well…It's because one hundred percent is impossible, but we reached ninety. Magic is what keeps us together and open-minded. It is our checks and balances."

  Julius grabbed all the papers he piled up since coming into his office more than an hour ago. He tore and threw them, turning the space into a mess. King Valtoris and Hu tried calming him down. Lian then blasted binding magic onto Julius.

  He broke free from it, shocking her. "I'm not staying and doing nothing when this city is at risk of being pondered by the higher-ups!"

  Julius stormed out of the office, sprinting down the stairs. King Valtoris, Lian, and Hu ran after him. He called for Rebecca, Simon, and Empress Cai. The two aren't present, leaving the third.

  "I heard yelling upstairs. What's going on?"

  "War powers."

  Empress Cai grabbed Julius' arm. "War powers?"

  "To declare war. Let me go."

  "We are not in the right position to even have a declaration of war," Empress Cai said. She gave a hard look, probably reading him. "You're mad right now…Calm down, and let's talk about what happened."

  Julius forced Empress Cai's hand off of him. "What's more to talk about? The phone calls are recorded. I was mad because they're doing what I expected them to do. My message and their message are clear. The damage is done."

  "We are not ready," Empress Cai warned.

  "Let's get ready, then. They could step foot into this city at any moment, and we are protecting it."

  He then looked at Alan, who was still working at the dining table. His offer letter was about to be finished, so Julius went to focus on getting the cash ready.

  4/14/2019

  1 PM

  Lunch was over. The offer letter was accepted by half of the neighborhood. Mostly were from younger residents with plenty of money and time to spare. Unfortunately, the other half didn't accept it were years-long residents, so Julius might switch up to the remaining quarter instead of half.

  He headed back to his Ford Expedition. Lunch was great. A big plate of chicken biryani at a local Indian restaurant in the Southeastern area of Colemond. The area was more middle-class and dominated by many Asian cultures. Chinatown was in this area too, and not far from the restaurant. It had been a while since he was last in the region, but he had to go back home.

  Before driving off, he quickly reedited the offer letter on his phone and reduced the sending list. One more click on the ‘sent’ button before driving off.

  The drive back was about half an hour. His lunch calmed him down enough to set his mind back on track. He took Lian and Mother Elaine's suggestion to get some good food alone. It really did help. Maybe it was what he needed, to be alone for a bit to break the emotional tension.

  Twenty minutes passed. Julius was on the highway, a mile away from the exit. Traffic was decent on the way back. When he passed the sign, he moved to the right lane. Sole peace ended when he noticed the rear mirror. A few cars were speeding right in his direction.

  One sped up to his driver's window. When he turned over to see what the problem was, a black Camaro pulled its passenger's window down. Julius steered hard left, ramming right into the Camaro's right front wheel, causing it to flip over.

  Bang!

  Julius slammed hard on the brakes, parking right on the highway exit gore. He opened the door, rolling right out. There were more than three cars. It was a convoy. He peeked to the side from the front. Guns fire. "Fuck this!"

  He leaped up into the air, summoned Valence, and went for the convoy. Julius thrust his blade right at one of the cars, smashing its hood. A mob with guns and rifles fired at him, somehow not realizing his body was resistant. Like a tank, he ignored it and exerted his qi right down to the pierced engine.

  Kaboom!

  Julius kicked the wrecked car to a few and went for a sliced attack. To his surprise and dismay, the motion applied all the way across the other side of the highway. The concrete rumbled and collapsed, taking part of the elevated highway down to a valley. He flew up and cast 光束. One sword gesture summoned a big lightbeam right to the site, where all the convoy fell victim to. He could hear their final screams from in the air. After it struck them, a large crater formed, and large plumes of smoke flew up. Julius took the opportunity to escape the scene.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  He grabbed his damaged Ford Expedition and flew to his residence.

  No one was outside except the guards. He descended on the driveway, putting his SUV down. The front door opened with Mother Elaine behind it.

  "Dan, your face."

  "Please, stop calling me that name…What?" Julius felt his face. "Oh."

  He entered the residence and washed his face. All the soot came off, and with the help of his qi, the tiny debris from the concrete and residues were excreted.

  "What happened?" Lian asked.

  "Bad company," Julius responded as he looked at the window. He then pointed. "Do you see the big plume of smoke over there?"

  Mother Elaine looked and slammed the kitchen counter. "You need security!"

  "Fuck!" Julius screamed, then turned to Empress Cai. "Can we please push forward with the refugee process?"

  "Fine…Yes, we can. Let's do it now."

  "And it doesn't have to all be in my backyard. Some of the neighbors have already moved out."

  If it wasn't for the help of the guards, their moving process would've been slow like a turtle. Mother Elaine went into her room. Julius and the crowd wondered where she was heading. They waited for a few minutes, holding their patience. Julius was about to be the first to step out of his manor residence. Only then did she dash out, carrying a large roll.

  She unrolled it. "I have the neighborhood map just in case. I'll mark it down as we go."

  "Alright, let's move!"

  1:39 PM

  Julius made sure that where he and others stood was recorded. With the number of people coming, the process of summoning them over has been altered. Julius and King Valtoris opened to participating. The latter knows different tactics that haven't been taught to the former yet.

  Mother Elaine, Empress Cai, and Lian were debating on how many pinpoints to be drawn. Originally, they agreed to three. By the last minute, it became four or five.

  King Valtoris, who was standing with Julius and watching the view of open land, turned and went to the three.

  Julius didn't look, but he heard his ferocious yell. Afterward, a big silence and a loud thump on the table. Something broke.

  Not for long, he returned, and Empress Cai stood at Julius' left.

  "Five," King Valtoris said. "Is that clear, Miss Cai?"

  Empress Cai nodded.

  Julius sensed her fears, so he took a few steps forward to get away from it. He cast 千稻雨 and followed up with 輪. A white beam shot right at Julius for one second, summoning a revolving wheel of rice swords around his torso. He took two swords out of the wheel and unleashed a letter X. Winds were unleashed from the letter. Massive loads of power. Like a cheetah, it ran straight ahead. However, the process wasn't finished.

  He moved on to the next step. Using the two swords, he cast a letter O as big as his arm's reach would allow. Then, Julius leaped gently into the air and went for a hard back kick. The soles of his boot hit a kind of forcefield within the letter O. The letter accelerated, catching up with the letter X.

  Like containment, the letter O enclosed the X. The circumference began dispersing energy. Julius went to the final step. He dropped his two swords.

  [Skill Count: 22] +1

  More than ten swords left the revolving wheel and hovered around his arms.

  Like a gatling gun, Julius thrust his arms straight ahead and fired. Beams of qi departed from every tip of the blade. A massive recoil pushed Julius back. His legs flexed, and his body unleashed qi, counteracting the force.

  He aimed right at the letter X. When the beam hit, it became a pinpoint and dropped to the ground. The energy was redirected up to the sky. King Valtoris assisted, and his sword fired energy, colliding with Julius'.

  The process of opening the portal was boosted. The view above was extraordinarily beautiful. The clear, earth sky changed into a view of space, darkening the neighborhood into nighttime. Many stars flashed their luminosity. A few Comets flew past. Julius saw the cold frost covering the neighborhood's lawn.

  Finally, two entryways opened.

  Empress Cai launched forward. She thrust her blade right to the energy source. Like glass or mirrors reflecting light, she steered to an empty spot, splitting the beam into branches. Two more new sites were formed and opened.

  "Ok, stop!" King Valtoris ordered. He cut off Julius' supply, stopping his blades from firing.

  The latter was thrown back, crashing to the ground. It was probably the hidden recoil from all the amount of energy he took. "Can you think of a better way than that?" he said to King Valtoris.

  "Five weeks told me yes, but your defenses are still lackluster."

  Julius stretched his shoulders while walking back. "It has gotten better."

  King Valtoris looked at him. "Well, you progressed. Keep it up."

  The revolving swords around Julius' arms crumbled to dust, and his revolving wheel of swords disappeared.

  The two entryways that Julius and King Valtoris created were merged into a grand rectangular opening. It was almost as tall as the Aon Center building in Los Angeles. King Valtoris made the call.

  People started walking out, stepping on Earth for the first time. Their feet touched terrestrial grass; a first in a long time. To Julius' surprise, the grass illuminated. It blossomed like flowers with its vibrant green light. Beautiful scenery. The summoned night sky tied the knot.

  King Valtoris ascended into the sky, hovering over Julius. He unleashed an aura of light and grand wings made of qi. He directed all to move to various spots, as it wasn't only the Raal humans. The wildlife, their technology, and tons of moving came along. Empress Cai went to open another one as her two entryways opened.

  The process of getting everyone who came through the opening took about three hours. It was a chaotic mess with all the deafening explosives and the tremendous qi intensity across the neighborhood. A few empty mansions crumbled like when kicking the base of a sandcastle. And some were crushed like a smushed can. If the area were to the right of Julius' backyard, then there would be casualties.

  Attendance was hectic and in disarray. The count was in, but the number was more of an approximation due to the lack of confidence. About fifty thousand Raal refugees had arrived through the grand portal and four other smaller entryways.

  Julius asked Empress Cai if she had any organizers present. He and King Valtoris needed at least twenty organizers. To the surprise of Julius, Mother Elaine, and Rebecca, about thirty percent of the fifty thousand arrivals raised their hands. King Valtoris randomly selected twenty quickly and snapped his fingers, sending them right next to Julius. Their stuff piled up, prompting the latter to take a flash step back.

  Sometimes, Julius forgot people's names, since it was easier to recognize faces in his experience. So, he wrote the chosen twenty names down.

  "Do you guys want a drink?"

  "No, we're good. Thank you."

  "It's Shi grape wine."

  No's to a yes. Julius summoned a bottle from his inventory, and King Valtoris summoned a table with twenty empty cups. He filled all the cups and watched them drink, anticipating feedback. Four coughed, and a few chugged.

  "This planet has this?"

  Julius shook his head. "No, sir. Daiyu had brought over a decent inventory of Shi grapes and started growing some. Luckily, Earth has the other ingredients to complete the crafting of the wine."

  "We have plenty of farmers. They're desperate to be useful again."

  "I appreciate it…King Valtoris and I will give some suggestions on how to organize all of this. You guys can give us your advice too, and we will work together as a team to change this planet."

  "Hang on. I don't mean to interrupt, but you're from here. Why are you helping us?"

  King Valtoris looked at him with a dreadful stare. "Be grateful."

  "No, it's fine…I'll answer. The thing is…Earth has been in desperate need of change. People are less happy. Not much purpose. And innovation is troubling. Magic didn't exist until Lian arrived."

  "And me? I just want a peaceful life after going through many hardships. However, once I met Lian. The thought of maybe it might happen one day, when people just do what they love to do. And the society is benefiting from it. Hearing some of Raal's stories. I think you guys can lead that change. Earth has become hopeless. I think together, we can fix that. How's that?"

  "Can this planet fit all of us?"

  "No, but we will have to expand Earth. That's inevitable."

  The twenty looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

  "Ok, so where do we start?"