On Earth, Quinn's home-planet, on some artificial island somewhere in the south Pacific ocean, as far as can be from any piece of landmass, was where one of the many Military Academies was situated; it was the one that Quinn attended. And, tomorrow was the day that the classes for the students resumed. After the summer vacations that was only given to the First year students, they only had a few more months for their finals.
Over a month back, Quinn had sent a clone that he spent a fortune on to mimic his stay on Earth and pursue his academic success in his place so that he could focus on the scene in Nyxterra. The fake Quinn, although assigned a primary task at the academy, was allowed to operate as he desired as long as it did not cause trouble for Quinn when he returned home; therefore, the clone could keep himself busy with all of the other things that Quinn wished to accomplish outside of the academy.
———
"Ughh... what the fuck..." the clone lazily and lethargically raised his head from the arm of a sofa, a fresh drool of saliva dripped down his right cheek due to how his head was tilted. 'Ahh... I hate having the body of a Human; I miss being a Shadow,' he rubbed his eyes and massaged his forehead before gulping down a sphere of water made with the help of Origin Energy, "Uh-cough-! cough-!"
'I did not miss the ability to cough... but, why the fuck...' the clone looked down at his legs that were covered with a blanket over Luna, that was fast asleep on them, '... is she just fucking dead on my legs?'
The area that Cuinn[Clone Quinn!] was in was more than familiar to him; it was more like home for him now than even his previous apartment—especially after his parents left. It was the living quarters inside of a warp-ship that was afloat in space—not drifting because of the anti-drift feature that was turned on along with the automatic defensive maneuver system. Cuinn had been living in this ship for the entire time that he was allowed rest, when he was not performing his necessary duties. Since when was money a problem for the strong? Because of this, Cuinn was able to get one of the more advanced warp-ships for his personal use that could not be detected out in the cosmic voids; needless to say, it was beyond just fast, as far as warp-ships go.
"What the hell happened last night? I remember the guys from Kai Faction and the small mercenary group wanting to celebrate the successful mission with me, the invaluable asset to the team," Cuinn racked his brain. "Uhh, me and Luna are both fine, so it should be all good... I can't help but worry, though. ...I feel like I'm forgetting somethi~ng-fuck," he realised the date and the opening day of the military academy to be just one day apart as he looked at the holographic display on the table opposite to his sofa that showed the time and date on Earth—the pacific region, to be precise, since that is where the academy is situated. He had just barely enough time to reach Earth on full throttle, considering that he only had a little more than 30 hours to work with.
"Hey, ship! Favourite Locations, Location: Earth. Saved coordinates: military academy. Full speed ahead, hurry the fuck up," Cuinn demanded the warp-ship's integrated AI. The interior lighting of the ship only flashed with blue lights for a few seconds, and the warp drive was then initiated.
The clone looked at Luna, that was sleeping on his lap, pulling the blanket closer to herself. "Are you cold? Hmm, it is around 280 Kelvin inside the ship; too bad i like this temp'," Cuinn insulated the blanket and covered it with warm Origin Energy. He kept staring at Luna as she showed no signs of waking up, 'I suppose I'll stay still and try to remember if there is anything important that I must,' he pinched her cheek, pulled and let go.
———
All the way back, over a month ago, on Earth, when Quinn had just transported his clone to his apartment...
"Hey, at least transfer like 30% of the amount of money in your account to the other one so that I can use it here," the clone requested of Quinn before the latter left without a word. "What, why? Just make some money yourself out there; there's plenty of ways. You already know what to do. Plus, remember that I gave Andre a fair share of the credits from my pocket of Human credit? I only have beast cores and the currency of Nyxterra and their Realm in my possession. Help yourself~"
With no words coming out of the mouths of either person, Quinn burst into dark particles and dissolved into the ground, and left the clone alone to figure out his next steps. "Haah," he breathed a long sigh, "Let's hope this is fun..."
After the surprising circumstances were revealed to the clone, he wasted no time in heading out to set things right back on track so that he did not have to worry about the money. After he achieved that goal, he could then gather the information as requested by Quinn; 'Requested, my ass. I wish that fucker would wake up one day and realise that he's just a fucking clone.'
———
Things progressed quickly as the clone was solely concerned with setting his foot on solid ground and have enough money to not even look at the price tag of whatever thing he needed to purchase. The easiest way for him to secure the big bucks in a short time was to be a Dungeon Crawler and a Mercenary—not just a regular one though. He needed to be around S-rank in both fields to reap the best privileges.
With this in mind, he was evaluated as an S-rank the moment that he passed his examination for the license of a Dungeon Crawler. It was rather simple; all he had to do was utterly defeat the Association's exclusive world-class, S-rank Dungeon Crawler in the mock test, and prove that his Ability excelled in offensive, defensive, supportive or utility based tactics. Being an S-rank Dungeon Crawler also meant that he was beyond just skilled in certain areas of his expertise; meaning, he was also allowed to link to his Dungeon Crawler license his handle as an independant Mercenary of the same rank.
Barely an hour had passed since he got his license that he raided a newly opened A-rank dungeon portal on his own, and made a name for himself. The clone would operate under a disguise wherever it was possible; his personal details were listed as required on the Dungeon Crawler license, but being an independant Mercenry, he was allowed the privilege of operating under a set name as his disguise.
It was not long after his continuous feats of unheard prowess as a Dungeon Crawler were spread around the vast cosmos, as occupied by the Humans, that he encountered a rather troublesome bunch.
It happened when Cuinn was just about to leave the main branch of the Dungeon Crawler Association, somewhere in the vastness of the cosmos, through the teleporters made exclusive for the most valuable assets of humanity and the Association after buying intel about the Elementals, the military and the various Factions that are participating in the upcoming war.
It was one of the representatives of one of the four leading Factions that had stopped him in his tracks; not without apologising for his rudeness, of course. "Forgive my rudeness, but I must speak with you on some pressing matters, sir Quinn. We need talents such as yours for an important mission for the sake of humanity, so if you would, please follow me to the vice-leader of the Zeta Faction."
'He knows my name even though I operate under a disguise and have never spoken about myself to anyone else—I even hide my face under a hood and mask; and, here I thought that the Association would be rather trustworthy with my information,' Cuinn was rather ticked off due to the fact that the person in front of him had looked into his information that was supposed to be locked behind the strongest vault of information. It made his blood boil, 'I wanna kill his ass for not just blocking my way, but also for looking into me just because he wants me to talk to his vice-leader? I wouldn't have gotten as pissed if the vice-leader himself had come to me.'
"You seem to be rather confident that I will just happily oblige and follow behind you for some reason?" Cuinn sighed and recollected himself, "If you think these small-fry can so much as touch a strand of hair on me, then think again. Don't think I'm not going to make you pay for digging up info on me after this."
"I apologise, but you must understand that this is an incredibly sensitive matter that I cannot discuss with just anyone. My name is Zeke; I am an augumented Trans-Human, and I stand at rank 7 in the entirety of the Zeta Faction. Please, follow me to our vice-leader for the details," the man spoke nervously, shaken by the threat. He wore a white robe with golden outlines and circuits flowing across it; it hid most of his body underneath, but Cuinn could hear the machinery under the robes. The man was covered head to toe in cybernetic implants and prosthetics that replaced the weak human flesh.
The person in front of him was certainly from the Zeta Faction: an organisation at the forefront of innovation and technology of today's age. "I request you to calm yourself, sir. These people are from the Kai Faction—one of our subordinate Factions—and this is their leader: Gustave," Zeke introduced the leader of the Kai Faction and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I hope that you can keep a healthy relationship with each other; you need not be friends, but it is necessary that there are no variables arisen due to personal feelings for this mission if the master and prodigous new mercenary is willing to accompany us."
"Lead the damn way already. And, don't forget my payment," the clone said, 'From the intel that I've gathered so far, the Elementals have been quite active on multiple planets—although no activity was recorded anywhere near Earth. The larger Factions must have been pressured a bit by the military to quell the embers of war by weakening the Elementals' forces; they're probably acting independently from each of the other big Factions and want to divide and conquer. We don't have enough information on the Elementals as they have about us; it's really hard to act in any manner considering our situation, but it's not like we can just sit still either. If my guess is correct, and the matter is regarding the Elementals, these guys want me to join their Spec Ops or need me to infiltrate into the Elemental ranks.'
Zeke's face lit up and he smiled as he asked Cuinn to follow him to another exclusive teleporter with the coordinates already set to the Zeta Faction's main planet and city. "Please, head inside," Zeke stood near the teleporter and bowed slightly, "I have other duties to attend to, so I cannot accompany you any further. When you are through the teleporter, you should find yourself in the main building of the Zeta Faction. I have already informed the staff in charge of managing the teleporters to find capable assistants to escort you to the vice-leader. It has been a pleasure!"
"Hmm, right," Cuinn stopped right before the teleporter and besides the man, "So, about my payment..."
Zeke looked up with a confused look, a soft smile still lingering on his face; the next second, a fist was planted in it.