"Woohoo!"
Pushing the wheelchair with an icy platform attached to its back, Jack and Tom sped towards the riverbank's spot with trees and bushes.
Tom pushed the wheel chair fast before climbing on the platform behind Jack as they rolled forward until the wheelchair stumbled for the third time due to stones, and everyone fell.
'Alright, this was the last one. No more of this bullshit.'
Tom and Jack laughed and got up quickly.
After crossing a bit over a kilometer, they finally entered the small forest area near the riverbank.
Riven told them to sit cross-legged in front of him with their backs facing the fast-flowing river.
'Close your eyes and empty your mind. Make sure everything is black. Once you achieve that, you will be able to perceive your Life Nexus with a single spark rotating around it.'
A few minutes passed by before Jack suddenly said, "I see it!"
Tom also followed up two seconds later, "Life Nexus looks like a black orb. Is it black for everyone?"
'Yes. A black orb with a golden spark rotating around it. That golden spark can be zoomed in if you focus, allowing you to enter the constitution of your first Life Spark.'
"Woah, I can see some strange patterns there, but they are words I can understand!"
"Yeah, it's the same as the code you told us."
'Indeed. Now, your job is to bring Mystic Pulse into your Life Spark's constitution. Do it slowly and steadily.'
"Ohh, I can sense the Mystic Pulse now!"
"Me too."
'Good, you can also guide it, so guide it into your life spark slowly and steadily. Don't rush, or you will overload and die. Let the Mystic Pulse shape an ability in your Life Spark's constitution slowly.'
'It will take ten to twenty minutes at most. Once the ability is manifested, you can make changes to it. I will teach you that later. First, do this.'
Jack and Tom focused and followed Riven's instructions as they steadily guided Mystic Pulse into their Life Spark's constitution.
…
While Tom and Jack were training, the task force of Torch Corporation arrived at their container.
"No one is here," Mike said with a frown.
"But people lived in this container. Maybe they brought subject X with them."
"If the last reading was here, he should be around here somewhere."
"There are trails here!"
"Footprints and some wheels."
"Good, let's trace them."
The seven men in heavy military uniforms wielding guns began following the trail.
"The footprints disappeared, but the wheelprints are still there."
"Let's follow it."
As they gradually followed up, the footprints appeared again briefly in a messy way before they disappeared again.
"It looks like they are riding on a two-wheeled vehicle."
"Two-wheeled like that? The only vehicle I know like this is a wheelchair."
"…"
"Whatever, just follow it. It's our only lead."
Since the group was moving slowly while following the trail, it took them over half an hour to arrive at the forest.
"The trail is going into that thin forest."
Everyone paused and looked at each other before wielding their plasma rifles.
"The target should be there with two more people. Prepare to engage at a moment's notice."
"Their footprints indicate they are adults, and collateral damage is fine. Subject X won't die from these guns, so fire without hesitation."
Since Jack and Tom had worn adult footwear, the task force didn't know they were kids, not that it would make any difference to them as this was a top-priority order.
The group slowly and cautiously moved into the forest.
Two people ahead traced the prints while the remaining five looked in all directions, ready to fire at any moment.
Just as they were going towards the riverbank and exiting the forest, they heard a loud voice.
"Woah, so this ability is awesome!"
The task force members looked at each other and crouched.
"It's a kid's voice," one man whispered.
"He said ability. What the fuck?"
"Mike, did the boss tell us anything about Subject X?"
"No. But he shouldn't be able to move or use the so-called abilities, according to what I was told. Also, this is a breeding and harvesting planet of the Waxton Galactic Alliance. Nobody knows about training or how to attempt awakening Life Sparks. People are resources, even those who live lavish lives here. They breed, and their kids are trained and sent as soldiers while the random poor are used as experiment subjects for various tasks that the Waxton Galactic Alliance gives to the corporations on this planet."
"In short, there's no Pulse Weaver here, and no information about it is exposed anywhere, so whatever ability that kid talks about must be something else."
"What do we then? Open fire?"
"We are contracted to Torch Corporation, and our job is to do the tasks we get. Kids or not, we have to open fire and capture the target. Prepare to engage."
Everyone nodded and got up before turning to the riverbank.
There were still roughly thirty meters of wood and bushes, so they slowly crossed it and finally saw the target.
"The one in the wheelchair is Subject X," Mike whispered and aimed the gun.
Jack and Tom were sitting cross-legged and silent, their eyes closed.
"Perfect," another task force member whispered upon seeing the ideal situation. "Let's toast them and complete this task."
Everyone aimed their guns, ready to fire.
Suddenly, Jack and Tom opened their eyes, their bodies fully in Riven's control.
'Idiots. To think about sneaking up on us.'
Tom put his palm on the ground, and seeing that, Mike quickly shouted, "Fire!"
Alas, an icy wall immediately formed behind Riven, blocking the first shots while Jack jumped, turning to a giant made of solid ice who jumped over the wall and landed right on top of a man, squashing him!
Right after that, icy spikes protruded over his body as he chaotically flailed his arms.
Some shots struck him as other task force members quickly backed away, but two got pierced by icy spikes on Jack's hands upon impact and got struck before he threw them at others.
Tom arrived and unleashed several icy spears at the remaining few, piercing their heads.
'Bullseye,' Riven internally grinned.
Although Riven was controlling them both, Tom and Jack could still feel and see everything and were shocked as they witnessed themselves skillfully neutralizing the enemy.
Only the task force's captain remained, as terror filled his eyes. He shot at Jack, but the ice hardened, and it only melted a bit, not causing much damage.
'Pulse Weavers! How?!'
He wanted to relay the news, but before he could do that, Jack's hand, which had turned into a giant hammer, slammed down on Mike.
*Smash!*
Deader than dead.
Returning them before him, Riven gave back the control, causing both kids to fall onto their butts.
'I guess that concludes the demonstration of your ability, but don't hope to do it like me. I don't know how or what, but I can use your powers like they are my own. And it appears that I have some good combat sense even though my memories are fucked. I wonder what I did before this…'
Jack and Tom looked at each other before shouting and jumping to their feet.
"Boss, that was awesome!"
"The bastards wearing this same uniform killed our Sister Kira, and now, we beat them to a pulp!"
Riven internally, wryly smiled. 'I feel bad getting your hands bloody at this age.'
"Bloody? It's not like we killed for the first time," Jack said.
'What?!' Riven was startled.
"Yes. We were trapped by a man just a month after Sister Kira was killed. He wanted to kill us and sell our organs. We only made it out alive by killing him when he came drunk once," Tom said, his fist clenched.
"We knew that was our only chance," Jack said, his expression somber. "But Tom was hurt badly. His arm was so broken."
"So was your ankle, Jack."
'You kids…sigh, whatever. You two are good. I'm glad I was found by you, haha.'
Jack and Tom smiled.
"Now teach us about our first abilities, hehe. I can't wait to become skilled at it," Jack excitedly said.
"Yes!" Tom's eyes shone. "Those spears were so cool and powerful!"
"True!" Jack quickly nodded. "Super deadly and awesome! And that hammer hand I used! That was devastating!"
'Relax. I used more of your powers other than just abilities, so the Mystic Pulse in you two is loading up a bit. You two need to relax and chill for ten minutes to return to normal.'
'And this place might not be safe anymore. We have to go somewhere else.'
"We can go further away from the city by heading to the west along this riverbank," Jack said.
"Yeah, the forest gets thin for a kilometer, but it gets thick, and we can hide there. But since we didn't encounter wild boars here, there should be a lot more there."
'Good spot. Those wild boars will also become perfect opponents to test your abilities.'
'Let's go.'