The Dawn of the New World

"Psychic force is not something that can be learned. It is a gift individuals are born with and develop as they age but the closer they are to the target the better it is. If the one controlling them is not here then it can only mean one of two things."

"Either it's not powerful enough yet to appear in person on the battlefield or it has something more important to take care of. If it's the first then that's great news but if it's the second then that's a huge problem. Regardless, I have to kill it as soon as possible."

"Baracus!"

*Beep*

"Make note of everything I just said and save it under the category of 'The Black Flood'. The foot soldiers will be called 'Grunts' and the bigger ones 'Elites' for now. The one controlling them will be a 'Synapse' but I need to see it in person to make a more accurate judgment."

"Affirmative."

"Then..."

He once again directed his attention towards the frontlines where the battle was at its peak and began analyzing their movements and abilities.

It only took him around thirty seconds to understand and remember everything simply by visualizing himself fighting them. Most experienced fighters could do this with ease but his comprehension speed was now leagues ahead thanks to all the accumulated experiences.

"They don't have any special abilities from what I can see. The grunts fight using only their forearms and serrated teeth to rip and tear at the target directly in front of them. The elites are a lot more sophisticated and have much more complex moves, probably more than one depending on the target."

"Their exoskeletons seem extremely durable to the point that they can block most attacks with ease. They also seem to be immune to most ranged elemental attacks unless they are extremely concentrated."

'If I had a good sword I could fight them without a problem but...Maybe-'

Hao Xuan closed his eyes and peered inwardly towards the meridian in his chest. There he could see the glaive surrounded by copious Chaos energies. It susurrated within the darkness as pangs of electricity fell upon its cracked blade from within the clouds of Chaos Qi.

'The Chaos is trying to fix the damage?! Even without me controlling it? How is that- No, now is not the time for this.'

The size of the glaive slowly became larger until Hao Xuan could see every crack at ten times magnification. He inspected the area where the lighting was falling and indeed noticed the cracks becoming smaller but the speed was too slow.

'At this pace it will take more than a year for it to be fully restored and I can't use it until then.'

He opened his eyes and returned back to the outer world.

"Baracus put 'Fixing the Glaive' at the top of the list. I need my weapon first and foremost."

"Affirmative."

"But until then...what would be the best method? Something blunt but fast, extremely powerful but not too Qi consuming."

Hao Xuan's mind raced with all the alternatives but if the information wasn't there he couldn't just magically come up with it. But the more he thought about the more dark figures that had been keeping a distance from him came closer.

It looked like they were being pulled towards him by some unknown force just like before.

Hao Xuan felt a presence close to him and found a dark figure standing to his immediate right. He immediately stepped back, "What...are you doing?"

This figure was one of the more distinct ones. It looked like a man in his late forties.

He had a shabby appearance because almost everything on him looked old and extremely worn out. His clothes were torn from the edges and had pieces missing all over. His hair was a mess that hadn't been cut in ages. They were roughly pulled back in a bun and tied together with a string.

If he had to guess its background, "homeless" and "jobless" would probably be the first words that would come to mind.

But what was even more eye-catching was its muscular physique that screamed "fighter" despite the otherwise haggard appearance. It didn't have any footwear but there was something wrapped around its fists.

It looked metallic in nature with a few spikes but other than that he couldn't tell anything else about it.

"What do you want?" Hao Xuan inquired but the figure only stared back in silence for a brief moment before looking towards the battlefield.

Even from the side Hao Xuan could see his burning desire to fight which made him frown.

"You want to fight them?"

It finally nodded, leaving Hao Xuan stumped. They had intelligence, at least to some degree. They weren't just his clones but had their own needs and wants and could actually act on them.

His curiosity got the better of him and despite his better judgment Hao Xuan reached out and touched the figure on the shoulder. The moment they came into contact with one another the figure was pulled inside of him along with everything that made him 'him'.

Hao Xuan trembled from head to toe as the figure's life story began playing out in front of his eyes.

😉