far from reality [ONGOING]

chapter 9: arc 2

The battle ended, Altair emerging victorious through his sheer will to live, while Yen brought balance to the inequality of the fight.

Later that day, Yen sat with the other officials—the commanders and the advisors—inside the meeting room. The atmosphere was tensely quiet, with the dull vibration of the air-conditioning filling the wide office. Most of them despised one another, with the majority despising Yen.

The advisors occupied seats in front of the long oblong table, adjacent to the commanders. While most of them sat properly at the meeting table, Yen had her legs propped up, engrossed in playing video games on her phone.

"Can you quit that?" a voice scolded, breaking the silence. Yen hummed to acknowledge the question but didn't verbally reply.

"Quit it, Commander Yen, while I still have any respect left for you." Yen sensed the person's bloodlust, a strong desire to kill. The advisors and most of those in the room had grown accustomed to their childish fights, so they didn't perceive a real threat behind the intent.

"No way, it's boring," she sang, mainly to annoy everyone in the room, partly because she was genuinely bored. The room filled with sighs, both of disappointment and frustration.

As much as they wanted to leave the room, they stayed, still awaiting the main report. Apparently, the opponent Yen had fought was new; even the machine had failed to detect its spiritual energy. Either it was too strong, surpassing the capabilities of their machine, or its energy was suppressed.

"Damn it! I lost," she groaned like a child, bursting their last bubble of tolerance for people as annoying as her.

The advisors were on the verge of summoning their own weapons and abilities to kick Yen out of the office when the door suddenly opened. The front desk person entered, excusing himself before handing a brown envelope to the head of the advisors.

The head advisor stood up, initiating the long-awaited meeting ( He low-key could not bear to be in the same room with Yen). Yen continued to play with her phone, seemingly oblivious to the seriousness of the people inside the office. It was irritating to witness, but everyone knew that if anyone was paying close attention, it was her.

"The report states that the physical strength did not come from the kid but from its occupier. However, the immense spiritual energy came from the kid itself," the advisor announced, prompting murmurs to fill the room. Yen nodded, as she was the first to notice.

"If we put two and two together, the most obvious answer would be that the kid is mentally suffering, perhaps from trauma or some hereditary psychological matter," the advisor continued as the lights dimmed before the projector was turned on.

"But a question still arises in our minds: Where did this mysterious creature come from? Where is its core, and what does it want from the kid?" The projector displayed the kid's family picture causing Yen to peek from her phone.

A man sat in a wheelchair in an odd position, while the woman stood behind him. What caught Yen's attention was that none of them were smiling in the photo. Their body language screamed at her that no one felt love in the family.

"Brahms Beuhumort. Thirteen years old. Stands at least five-foot-three. Blood type is AB. Mother is Estella. Father is Leonardo. Has transferred to five schools within two years. Repeated the last level of junior school two times. Both parents are Irish. An only child. No affiliated relatives," the advisor recited, sighing with thick, bushy brows knotting.

"What a poor kid," Yen heard someone mutter with a click of their tongue.

"Yeah, literally," she added, on a mission to annoy them. Yen heard a disagreeing grunt in response.