Hi all, it's been quite awhile since I posted my story. Well looking back it has been more than a year since I enlisted. I was pretty hands off and slowly do the story bit by bit. Sorry for the long process!

"He's… dead?"

"We tried to apprehend him, but he got knocked down by a car. It was an accident, and for investigation sake, we have covered it up as suicide."

"I understand…"

Alex feels empty, he had a simple life, and a direct career into Asgard. Max took all that away, and almost taken his life as well. And yet he couldn't bring himself to be happy about the fact that Max is dead. He loves Max, the man that gave him everything he had, he sees the man as his biological father despite them not being related by blood.

Asgard Headquarters

"He must have reached his limits."

Everyone is talking about how Alex's disappearance has affected Max and even drove him to suicide. Max handled the R&D department and when his death was announced to the rest of the world, other corporations which manufacture Realizer also sent their condolences to Asgard.

"I can't believe it, Max has been hiding these concept designs away from me."

Woodman is examining all the designs that were handled by Max and Alex.

"Realizer equipped fighter jets and various CR units. Is either Alex not revealing the full extent of his educational level, or R&D is hiding the fact that Alex did get involved in certain developments."

"Could it be that there is something even bigger behind all these?"

The two of them are now in heavier stress, DEM is an external enemy, a visible enemy. But whoever Max Herman was affiliated to has not surfaced itself to be a visible threat, and worst of all, it's an enemy from the inside. Max's claim of it being capable to bring both Woodman and Westcott down might not be an empty threat either.

"This, Project Daedalus is a black box project. Last two access were done by Alex himself before he was abducted, and by Max several times before he died."

The duo tries to access the project's files, however it is all encrypted. Woodman himself had no knowledge of the project and the fundings.

"Alex might be the key to this, make a copy of it and we will make him unlock it."

Fraxinus

"I must walk again… I must!"

After more regenerative treatments, Alex is able to move his arms again, but noticeably lacking in strength. However his legs are still not as responsive. He struggles to move them, only managed to get himself seated by the bedside.

"I can do this."

He slowly forced himself to stand up by supporting himself on the bed railings. Seeing himself able to stand up, it bolstered his confidence to try walking.

"Time to make my own Neil Armstrong moment"

He slowly force out a step on his own without supporting himself to the bed, his face widen up a smile as he had made his first step. He then made another step, but his legs lack the strength and give way, causing him to fall forward. Alex closes his eyes in anticipation of the pain that is coming from the fall. A loud thud is heard as his whole body slams the ground.

"Ouch…" he muttered in pain.

The door then opens with Doctor Cannibal, the captain and a crew member rushing in to help Alex up to the bed. To Alex's embarrassment, the right side of his cheek has become red from the impact.

"Well, that's gonna leave a bruise. I don't mind sucking the bruise, it heals faster that way."

"Eh!?"

The mental picture of the doctor sucking onto his face is a horrifying one. He cannot fathom just how can a doctor be so unprofessional.

"Doctor Cannibal… I hope you still remember what you've signed up for."

A very cold aura can be felt from the captain as she intends to punish the doctor for that. Although she's still a child, her aura has apparently scared Cannibal into submission. This leaves Alex even more puzzled, judging by her uniform, she is the captain of the ship at the age of 9!

"This ship… The very ship that I've participated in building, is manned by you all!?"

"Yeah."

Alex is speechless, as the captain is clearly too young to be one. The doctor is a weirdo, and one of the crew member looks like she has not slept for years.

"I am Itsuka Kotori, captain of Fraxinus. And she is Murasame Reine."

"I seriously wonder just how are all of you being able to man this ship. And it is clear to me that you all aren't affiliated to Asgard. Just who are you people?"

Alex's question then made the trio realize that Woodman has not explained the nature of their group to him.

"You can say we are affiliated to Asgard, you can also say we aren't affiliated as well. Woodman created this organization as a secret organization. Your records would not have our names appear in it." Kyouhei replied.

Alex feels that he had landed himself in yet another secret group of Asgard. He is amused by the fact Asgard's factionalism is a lot worse than it seemed.

"You're pretty amazing, to work in Asgard at such a young age." The captain complimented.

"I'm only a PA to Max Herman." Alex replied.

"That's a complete lie."

The door opens, revealing Woodman and Karen.

"Alex, your role in Asgard is not what it seems to be. First off, you are homeschooled and have not even took your GCSE A Levels, and yet an invitation has been sent to you from MIT. There are concept designs which are sent to MIT, thankfully all of those aren't weapons platform. Second, the amount of CR-Units you have designed are quite surprising."

Karen shows the tablet, one by one blueprints of various machines appears before Alex. Those are the designs made by Alex. Then, the screen displays a login interface for Project Daedalus. Alex knows he has to login, with Max dead, the more pragmatic faction is gone. He typed in a very long passcode and the black box is being decrypted.

Woodman and Karen looked through the data, the list of weapons are even more scary. Partial designs of CR-Unit, even more powerful weapons are being drawn out.

"The weapons you've created are not only for anti Wizards, they are also heavy arsenals for ships, and Anti-Spirit weapons... A few of these designs were revised and put into production, however quite a few of these designs were produced off the books for various clients."

The phrase "produced off the books" has Alex widen his eyes, it can only mean a serious security breach has been ongoing. Such breach are a serious threat as Asgard is an armaments company, if these weapons have fallen into the wrong hands or even DEMs it undermines what Asgard is doing. Before he knows it, a rifle is pointed right at his forehead by one of the guards.

"Are you saying that I'm a traitor to Asgard?" Alex asked.

"Considering the position you are in now, you are a traitor." Woodman replied.

Upon hearing that Alex shuts his eyes, accepting that he might die right here. He uses every bit of bravado left and uttered.

"Then you shouldn't waste your time. I knowingly created those weapons."

Woodman's expression did not change, he signals the guard to lower his weapon.

"No, I will not kill you. But you will have to help me to uncover those weapons, and most importantly, those behind it."

Alex opens his eyes, he can't believe it, yet another close shave with death.

"Your recovery is of the most important task at hand now. Alex Herman, don't disappoint me." Woodman stated.

"And just what exactly you want me to do after I recovered?"

"Whatever you have gone through, you won't forget about it. You are a Wizard, and you shall be one that serve Ratatoskr. Alex Herman, I officially indict you to Ratatoskr. Max was in Ratatoskr as well, so are several Asgard board members."

"I don't understand anything about Ratatoskr, all I know is they are affiliated with you. Nothing else."

"Do you know what Asgard does differently from DEM?"

"In tackling the Spirits problem, we opt for the non-violent way. As such our weapons deal with clients is that they are absolutely not allowed to use it to harm Spirits."

"That is correct, Ratatoskr is an extension of that ideal. When the time comes, we will save the Spirits. However, with that attempt on my life and the last words of Max, Asgard and Ratatoskr are under attack. You will be given a new name, in the meantime, you are in the care of Doctor Cannibal and Vice Commander Kannazuki."

Knowing he can't get out of this, he nodded, it is true that he haven't forgotten on how to use a Realizer. Woodman then left and leaving Alex alone once again with Kotori, Reine and Cannibal.

1 month later

With the combined treatment and physiotherapy, Alex has regain all of his motor functions and capable of running on a treadmill. Also he also regained normal muscle mass. Alex's hair has grown longer and he let it be messy as he can't leave the ship at all, almost nobody will care about it anyway. Kyouhei passes him a headset and instructs him.

"Put it on, surely you remember this, don't you?"

Of course Alex remembers, it is the interface headset for the Realizer. This allows the user to control the Realizer with his or her thoughts.

"Well this looks like UC Gundam stuffs…" Alex commented

"What did you say?" Kyouhei asked upon hearing that.

"Nothing!"

What is impressive is that his skill in hand to hand and arms gained from his brainwashing did not go away. He is able to operate various firearms without any trouble, Kyouhei had taken note of his marksmanship and Alex had proven himself to be crack shot in range as he had out-shot all the guards. However, his skills with Realizer is far from proficient that initially thought.

"Do not crush the glass block! That's the 100th block you've broken."

Alex attempted to lift the glass block but he crushed it instead. He has the brute strength with the Realizer, Kyouhei who experienced his telekinetic blast acknowledges it. However, a good Wizard's Realizer prowess does not rely on its brute strength.

"Focus, keep your mind clear and slowly exert your force."

Alex only let out a grunt in frustration, and continues the practice.

"Feel the force, feel the object through you." Kyouhei advised.

"This ain't Star Wars, mate!" Alex rebutted.

"What?" Kyouhei asked in a bewildered expression.

"Nevermind."

He exerts the force, to Kyouhei's frustration, cracks start to form on the glass. However this time, the cracks stopped extending, the glass did not shatter.

"Finally, good, now try to remember this strength and stop cracking it further. Let it go again." Kyouhei instructed.

Alex eases himself, and stretches himself a bit. He then stretches out his right hand again.

"Alright, here I go!"

He managed to hold and lift the glass block, suspending it in mid air.

"Now, break it!"

At the clench of his fist, the glass block shatters into thousands of pieces. Talking about overkill, Kyouhei even felt the shockwave of his telekinetic crush, it feels like pressure forces moving at hypersonic speed to crush the block. If his power with a personnel-grade Realizer is so great, it is hard to imagine what kind of force he can unleash with a bigger one. However, that only means that Alex's natural proficiency is at the massive telekinetic blast and crush as he does not bother to control the strength. Alex needs to be able to handle delicate objects without as much focus as he did.

"Need more practise, you need to handle delicate stuffs before I can let you go on even stronger ones."

There is now a newfound determination within him to master it as he achieved success.

South America

In a city that is badly ravaged by war, there is still fighting going on. Explosions can be heard as mortars and grenades going off.

"Push! Push! Push!"

A man dressed in jungle camo combat uniform commanded as the soldiers with M4 rifles rushing in front of him. The soldiers are heavily armed and well armored, opposing them are a group of young men armed with the same rifles firing off at the soldiers. However, they do not have the armor, except in shirts and pants.

"FALL BACK!"

One of the young men tried to throw a grenade at the soldiers as they are falling back. He pulled the pin, however he is shot in the head. The blood splatter hit the men beside him, whose hair is white and grayish blue eyes. He was shocked as he glanced towards the deceased, nearly half of his head was blown off.

"No… I must survive." he muttered

He quickly re-aim and take a shot, it landed on the lower jaw of one of the soldiers, forcing a few of them to drag the downed soldier back. The young men retreated behind a building quickly before the grenade goes right off.

"Those swine… It looks like they don't want the town anymore, but they want us to be destroyed with it."

The young man, who is wearing a red sash on his left arm and a green bandana who appears to be the leader of the group, had been leading the fight against the soldiers. He tries to take aim and fire at the soldier, only for his M4 to be jammed with pieces of metal flying all over the place as a round has entered the barrel. The bullet had shattered inside, disabling the gun.

"Dammit!"

The leader threw down his rifle and takes out his handgun, a Glock pistol to return fire.

"Where is our reinforcement?" one of them asked.

"They will be coming." he answered.

"You sure about that? We've been holding the damn town for hours straight, we are all running out of ammo and no comms, nothing! Are we being sacrificed?"

The white haired young men asked angrily, it shocked the group. What the leader was reluctant to say is that he is correct.

"Is this how the rebellion works? Recruiting mercenaries and send them to death when they deem it impossible to win?"

Without warning, the leader takes aim with his pistol and shoots the young man in the stomach.

"You are a mercenary, you don't care about our cause. You want money, while we want a change in our home and our lives. I'm sorry it comes to this, but my men's lives are more important."

The young man fall to ground, being shot in the point blank. Blood starts to flow out from his wounds, he is still stunned to believe it. Being betrayed by the employers and about to be sacrificed.

"No… You bastards."

The rebels quickly move away from the downed mercenary.

"Don't leave me!"

The mercenary cried out, he reflected on his life of battles. He is barely 17 this year and he is about to meet his maker. He reached out his hand at the backs of the rebels. Suddenly, the rebels are engulfed in an explosion, a mortar landed right on them. He realized that there is no more chance of being rescued, the government troops will kill him like they all have said. The troops don't discriminate between civilians, rebels and mercenaries in a battle zone. He accepts his fate, closes his eyes to meet his maker.

Quite some time later, the young men slowly opens his eyes. He noticed that he is in a pretty run down house with an old light bulb being lit above him. He wants to get up but pain immediately force him back to the ground. He then remembered that he took a round to the stomach, his stomach area is bandaged, he is very well alive.

"You are badly injured, kid."

An older man appeared in the young mercenary's view, he appears to only have one eye. His left eye has an eye patch but there are sophisticated lenses and mechanisms on it. His right eye is in light blue, he has short brown hair and short beard. He is also wearing a black suit, it appear to advance for the likes of the government troops. His voice is distinctly of an American's.

"I saw what happened, you're not getting your cash this time. Being a small time, this will be very hard for you, replacing all lost equipment..."

"Did the rebels hire you?" the young man asked curiously.

"Rebels? Nope, my organization's service are too expensive for the likes of both government and rebels. I'm here for something totally different."

The young man let out a small laugh as he realize what the older man meant. Both sides were fighting a losing battle, a more powerful forces will be the dominator of either sides.

"What is your name, Sir?" he asked.

"John, John Kanse. What about yours, kid?" John asked.

"Nicholas, Nicholas Klinge. They call me Nic usually."

"Well Nic. You are young, and yet you are fighting. I supposed you don't have a choice, war orphans like you are common in this region. But you don't have to fight alone, not in this hell hole where you'll never win. Tell me, what did you fight for?" John asked.

Nic thought about his reason to fight, he had lost his parents during a firefight between cartel and military of a different country. The continent had been embroiled in senseless war for several years that just doesn't seems to end. He only knew how to fight, he had lost the hope of returning to the life where he once had before he lost everything. But there are two things in his mind, he must survive and he must get the hell out of this place.

"I want to survive, and I want to get out of this place. I already don't know what I can do other than to fight, I'm sick and tired of being betrayed whenever it is at one's convenience." Nic replied.

The answer had given John a small smile, he knows where the young man might belong. Albeit it is a twisted place, the place is an eternal war zone, and betrayal can be extremely sudden. But the choices of job and quality of life is certainly way better than the jungle urban shit hole.

"Keep this card and go to Ushuaia, you'll find your way out, no question will be asked." John said.

"What? But I…"

Before Nic can ask more question, John jab another dose of sedative into Nic. It didn't take long before the young man passes out. By the time Nic wakes up, it is already morning, he couldn't recall how long has passed. Fighting through the pain in his stomach, he gets up using a clutch that was placed near him. Nic opens the door, and to his surprise, he is in a town. Not just any town that he always seeked shelter in, but a town that is far away from the battlefields.

"What the… Where am I?"

Seeing a group of children playing in front of him, he softly asked.

"Hey, where am I?" he asked.

"You are in Tolhuin, you don't remember how you got here?" one of the kids answered.

Hearing that Nic refused to ask more question as he knows it is going to be a long series of events. He don't even know how long did the time passed as he was fighting in the Amazon forest urban town, and the next thing he know it he is so close to the southernmost city of the world.

"Thanks!"

He quickly shut the door, it wasn't a dream, this is the furthest he had ever been away from battlefield. He then feel a piece of a business card embedded in the bandages, he pulls it out which the name intrigues him.

"John Kanse, Private Military and Security Contractor, Dellingr Security Inc." he muttered

He then flips to the back of the card, these lines intrigued him even more.

"Recruitment: Soldiers, no background check, new identity, no questions asked. Recruits with no actual service history to known military will be put into bootcamp for free and all paid."

The card even shows the recruitment centres, one of which is at Ushuaia. Nic can't believe it, his ticket to leave the place is literally in his hand now.

"New name huh? I'm coming."

There are a few clothes left in the house, Nic get changed.

Texas, USA

"This is for our father and our friends, Kessinger!"

A short brown haired teenager is pointing a revolver at an old man's head. The teenager has a pair of cyan eyes, his face features are sharp where one would consider him handsome. He is wearing black dress suit. He and the old man is in a mansion.

"You destroyed the Kreisau family, really think we won't destroy your in return?"

"No, Magnum right? Springfields had nothing to do in our feud!" the man defended.

"And what makes you think Springfield isn't in Kreisau? You made us lost everything, I'm not letting this slip."

Magnum pulls the trigger, the revolver's hammer cocks up. However, the glass window behind him shatters and something blew the old man's right off. Magnum released the trigger and looked behind him with a smug grin on his face. He is looking at a rooftop quite a distance away, which overlooks the building he is currently in.

At the rooftop, it is another person wielding a M14 EBR with a scope, suppressor and a smoking barrel. The sniper has the same appearance as Magnum except he has a neck length brown hair. He is wearing a black jacket and a beanie. The two then meet up in the car outside of the mansion.

"You could've pulled the trigger quicker, it would have matched the timing of mine." the man in beanie said.

"Hah, Colt, you know full well you are an even better shot than I am. I can't match you in trigger speed let alone sniping." Magnum replied.

The two had exacted their vengeance, and they are ready to move on with their next plan.

"We can no longer be in this country my brother. We'll have to be soldiers from now on." Colt said.

"Well, we'll be back right? As you've said, a new name, a clean slate." Magnum asked his brother.

"Yeah, we will. I promise." Colt replied.

Queensland, Australia

A young man in orange hair and beige coat is in front of a big mansion, he is surrounded by children who are younger than him. The man has a pair of violet eyes.

"Big brother Miguel, why are you leaving?" One of the kids asked.

"Well, I'm a big boy now, so I'll have to go." he answered.

The kids are visibly saddened by Miguel's departure. To them, Miguel had been there for them, he is their brother.

"Will you come back for us?" another one asked.

The man lets out a small laugh. Patting the kid's head to console her.

"Of course I will. I'm just going to be away for some time." He answered.

"Do you really want to join a military so badly?" The orphanage attendant asked.

"Well, since the army, air force and navy had rejected me. I had no other choice, I thank you all for raising me. This is my dream, I hope to fulfill it."

Miguel then hugs every children who are sad as their big brother is leaving them behind. He waves back before boarding the taxi and left for the airport. A new chapter of life had begin for him. He knew what he had signed up for, as of now he has absolutely no regrets.

That's all for now. I'm afraid that my next chapter is going to take a long time to finish as well. Because I am busy with my work. Anyway I'll slowly do it up and continue the story. Thank you.