Chains Of Pride

"Shu Shu, Master Rikona and Master Kura would like to know how the training's with the rest of the Taliums are coming along." Yang Min was making rounds and checking up on the duties being fulfilled by everyone. Zutto Shu being among those few as he was responsible for making sure the Taliums with them were up to scratch.

"Much better, they'll be ready soon." Zutto Shu tersely replied.

"Oh okay, that's good, so the Taliums are stabilized at half-awakened. Shu Shu is up to six words in his replies, everybody's getting better." She was making a note of everything on a clipboard she carried. Zuttoo Shu heard what she said but chose not to comment.

"Good stuff, and have you seen Gin? He's supposed to be the one compiling the info on everyone to give to me, but now I'm the one stuck doing it." She was looking for him much earlier today, which evidently ended in failure. Shu's denial on his whereabouts only furthered her exasperation on the subject.

"Gin, I will find you, and I will kill you." Yang Min grumbled to herself as she walked away, not too happy about the heavier workload.

"I can't believe there are so many bases located in Japan alone, and that there are even more across the globe!" Kura and Numani were always side-by-side. They spent the last two days gathering data on the association.

Numani nodded with a grave look as she brought up even more data for their soon to be counter-attack. "Their influence spreads far and wide, they have hands in powers above ground and in the underworld. Because of this, they usually have the power and authority to do pretty much whatever."

"Well, it's good that we now know that their HQ is in Japan and in Tokyo at that. This'll make everything easier since we know where their rat's nest is. As for those bases of theirs, we're gonna run through as much of them as we can, see if we can do enough to cripple em."

"Well, we're gonna have to hit a lot of em to get that done," replied Numani with an amused expression.

"I know, which is why we're starting tomorrow night," Kura stated nonchalantly.

"Right right, tomorrow night, oh yeah! Remember that we need to….eh? I feel like I heard something with a touch of common sense taken out for good effort. What do you mean tomorrow night! Are you crazy!"

Numani was frightened, and who could blame her? Who they were up against were experts in making people disappear.

"Yeah tomorrow night, we've got all that we need, we basically had the Taliums in regular training sessions even before you came here. We're gonna rest up for tonight and tear the association a new one the following night." Kura stated matter of factly.

"Kura, you go on dates on tomorrow nights, you watch that awesome series on Netflix toni- I uh, mean, tomorrow night. Do you know what you don't do on tomorrow nights?!" Numani stood up from the laptop at this and stared at Kura with arms akimbo.

"Is it to not topple powerful, shadowy organiza-"

"It is to not topple powerful, shadowy organisations; thank you very much!" Numani interrupted before Kura could even finish her answer.

"Numani, let me tell you something. The reason why these Taliums, why these inherently prideful people follow us, is simply because we are hell-bent on one thing, and that's destroying the association." Kura decided to impart the reason behind their actions.

"They were effectively enslaved, stripped of their will, among many other things. To a Talium, that isn't much better than death. You were never captured, so the level of hate you harbour is negligible compared to what the rest has gone through. My sister and I, we want to create something that can allow Taliums to thrive, and as for the humans, help them but from behind the scenes instead." She ended it here, allowing Numani to absorb all that she had heard.

After a moment of silence, Numani slumped in the chair and looked to Kura with a solemn expression. "It just seems so...soon."

Kura smiled at her "It only seems that way only because the moment has arrived. That's the feeling you always get once you rid yourself of procrastination, and engage yourself in its adversary. We move tomorrow night, I've already informed Rikona."

"Y-You did? When!?! How!?!" Numani was a bit surprised at this. After all, Kura was beside her the entire time.

"I told her telepathically," Kura replied as if it was no big deal.

Numani wasn't aware that this could apparently be done, and began asking, "H-How did yo-"

"Taliums," and just like that, the deadpan answer was given.

She only stared at Kura for a moment before she closed her eyes and whispered not so softly, "You guys are so fricking cool!"

"Don't go geeking out on me girl, now c'mon. We're going to meet up with my sister after th-" before she finished speaking Kura's head snapped to the side with a stern expression. She softly mumbled to herself as her expression slightly softened, "…so, you've started huh?…good luck."

"Uh, why are you staring at the wall?" Numani asked she began looking at it herself trying to see if this wall was magical in some way.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it" Kura smiled and led Numani away, bringing her to where her sister Rikona and Makoto were probably prepping for the attack on the morrow.

…

In the direction where Kura gazed, beyond the grey wall that obstructed normal sight. Deep within the forest, well past the location where the river ran unimpeded, there appeared a small clearing, where a man sat in the lotus position.

It was Gin, who was currently undergoing a breakthrough to the Genesis realm. The space around him was slightly distorted, and the energy he exuded was rising at a staggering rate.

Gin couldn't let his guard down for even a second, there was a high failure rate when it came to breaking through to the next level, especially when moving from being half-awakened to Genesis. He could only feel how precarious it was during the attempt, it was like walking on a tightrope.

Right now, Gin's consciousness had sunk into his mind and went deeper still as he was inexplicably drawn to the blood origin. It was a dream-like object as if it was there but also wasn't, not even its shape was clearly perceived.

However, Gin had long felt the barrier that barred him from the next level, and he was dead set on breaking through this stage, it was the only way he could be of more use to the sisters.

Sweat had long drenched his entire body as space began to slightly distort around where he sat. His trembling eyelids were tightly shut while his hair was wildly fluttering by an unseen force.

The acute concentration on his face abruptly intensified as the air got heavy, before too long, his eyes suddenly snapped open, when a click was heard from within his body, like a lock being opened.

Boom!!

An explosion turned the entire area around him into a flat landscape, all the trees, grass, rocks, practically anything reminiscent of the forest at least 100 metres around him was all gone. The explosion quickly died down and the dust that had kicked up soon cleared to reveal the situation within.

A lone figure was still sitting in his initial position, his hair was in disarray, and his clothes were in tatters, but there was a broad smile on his face.

Gin had finally broken through to the Genesis realm, he was now, beyond doubt a Talium of the Genesis realm, more specifically a Genesis Prime. He inspected his body, feeling the crackling of his bones as he stretched while seated. There were three main stages within each realm.

The first was Prime, for example, a Genesis who just broke through would be known as Genesis Prime, the second stage would be Core Genesis, then Supreme Genesis.

Most of the later realms followed the same structure as well.

"This feels incredible, my powers basically skyrocketed. Kura's sure to notice me now, I'll have her know that I'm worthy of her." Gin was ecstatic when he felt the changes that enveloped him, and the knowledge he gained as well, thinking it would allow him to get closer to a certain someone.

He eventually got up and headed back to their base with a renewed confidence and willingness to help lady Rikona and to a larger extent, lady Kura, in any way he possibly could.

Little did he or anyone else for that matter know that beyond tomorrow would be the start of a long string of battles that would seemingly see no end. When the dust clears at the end of this battle, only one side would be left standing.