Chapter 907 T.D.O.N.B: Waiting For The Signal, Part IV - The End

- I can't watch this. This is waste of time - Druoag said to me while standing up. - This needs to be fixed.

Do you know what happens when a plane goes supersonic right next to you? You die. You die, unless you are tough like me, so I just got sprayed in the face with bits of sand and little stones, that would turn a human being into minced meat. For me, it was just uncomfortable. I was forced to close my eyes.

The massive alien landed between the two groups, just when Sanders wanted to rush at Martin. In this way, the fight got stopped.

Soon everybody gathered around the towering, dark figure with a toothy maw. They spoke for a few minutes, with Druoag clearly explaining a lot of stuff. With the distance between us, I could hear most of it.

He pointed to them, that the way they are fighting is pointless because they are not cooperating at all. They go off as individuals fighting individuals. Not as any kind of a team, with the small exception of Martin and Hailwic, who showed some signs, but only briefly.

Then he offered a solution.

- I'll give you a task to perform. You will be participating in two groups. The group who finished the task first, or perform better wins. Observe each other, and learn from each other - he offered. - I trained this way many years ago, and the results were great.

- I guess it's worth a shot - said Hatta.

The rest agreed right after him.

- The first task intercepting and blocking the target. We will start with just one. Me. I will run from here, too - he briefly looked around, trying to find a landmark he could use, but since everything around was completely trashed, it was quite hard.

I decided to help using some 'Telekinesis'. On the edge of my reach, I started to rise to the ground, forming a pile tall enough so it could be spotted even from such a distance. We are talking a few miles here. It didn't have to be that tall since they were practically at the lowest point of the crater, but I still had to rise it enough for the damn thing to be easily identifiable.

- Right there - said Druoag pointing at the landmark I created, then briefly switched to me, and nodded acknowledging my help.

It was easy to spot that I was behind creating it since my hand was extended towards there too.

- Your team will start  - the alien pointed at Martin. - You can pick a spot around me. Not too close. Those not involved should go to Peter.

The whole group followed the instructions. Martin decided to start directly between Druoag and the landmark. Hailwic picked a point good for a flank, while Will decided to stay in the air, further away, slightly on the side, but still between the alien and the pile I raised.

I'll spare you the details, but they failed, and the second group went to give it a shot. In such a way the training with the massive, former champion began. From time to time I would switch with him, so the whole group could try to defeat me, including Druoag. Nobody was going all out, but it looked awfully that even if they did I still would emerge victorious.

Days passed quite fast since we all were very focused on preparations. I'm not really sure how many since we would train even at night, using artificial light provided by our skills.

Sometimes the one behind it was Hatta, sometimes Will, and a few times even I decided to contribute.

Nobody paid attention to the flow of time.

You would think that some of us would lose our minds without any news from the front. Yes, we were not informed about anything. You would be wrong though. With an army as big as The Great One muster, all of us was was pretty much confident that it would take a long time for them to even arrive at the spot. To add to this, Druoag, who had the best grasp of the empire, only reinforced this thought.

This, combined with the focus on training, made us completely calm.

But, just as with anything in this, and the other worlds, things had to come to an end. At some point, I was contacted by The Great One.

"Welcome, Peter", He started in my mind.  "The progress of the campaign has been very fast. We overtook the planets we desired, and are reinforcing our positions. The enemy armada is coming, so the largest battles will start very soon. Prepare yourselves, because it's time to begin your missions. I'm giving you twenty-four hours. After that Hope will contact you, and transport you to the place from which you will start. Good luck."

I had no other choice, but to inform everybody. We returned immediately to Loistavadvaar. Everybody, except me, Druoag, and maybe Ki'rai, was in a grave mood. We fixed ourselves, and healed up, replenishing all the energy, then separated into the few buildings around.

People just wanted to be alone, to contemplate, to prepare. It was a very quiet period. For me also very boring, as I didn't want to bother anybody.

My skills made me numb about this whole matter, so I didn't feel any different. I ended up walking around a bit, looking at the places I remembered clearly.

The building where I used to stay back in the day, as I barely started hunting ghosts. The very same one where I rested, writing down my story. The one where The Great One used to stay. I even went all the way to the place where I, before defeating Ixa, sat down with Tihana, observing the city.

It was very nostalgic. It made me almost feel like back then, but then I realized that those were just echoes of the past. I was no longer the same me. I was different. Very different.

Then he appeared as a silhouette of a human being. Standing right next to me, faceless.

- It's time.