The battlefield erupted into cheers. Granians and Cyclitharans celebrated their triumph with a thunderous roar, shaking the very air around them. Soldiers hoisted their weapons high, chanting Lord Grim’s name as they marched back from the Bastion’s crumbled gates. Mechs stood still in victory poses, their operators saluting the success of their mission. This was a victory that could not be easily overlooked. The Granians and Cyclitharans had successfully raided the Bastion without suffering any casualties or serious injuries. None of their weaponry or equipment was destroyed, none of them were injured beyond healing capacity, and none were "declared" dead. This was a complete victory with no loss, a feat that they celebrated joyously. Of course, Granians being Granians celebrated in the most brutal ways they could. The spoils of War were collected, starting with stripping the dead Ethisian bodies of all their armor, weaponry, and other items that could benefit them. Once the bodies were stripped of all their armor, they were pilled together directly at the front of the Bastion where they had their heads severed from their bodies. This act, brutal and inhumane, was frowned upon by the Cyclitharans. While their allies cut heads and smeared blood on their bodies, the Cyclitharans gagged, frowned, and marveled at how these lizard people could be so brutal and pay no regard to the dead. One Cyclitharan, puzzled by this odd behavior, mastered the courage and approached a Granian while asking, "Why’re the heads being chopped off and hung? Doesn’t their death satisfy you?" "Killing Ethisians isn’t enough," the Granian answered while it dipped its hand deep into one Ethisian’s severed head and smeared its blood all over its face and chest, "this sends a message to the rest of them that live. We will not and will never show mercy to our enemies. DOWN WITH THE ETHISIAN EMPIRE." ""DOWN WITH THE ETHISIAN EMPIRE!!"" other Granians cheered while they danced around the dead bodies which were set ablaze afterward. The Cyclitharans stood back and grouped together while they watched the Granians sever and hang heads on chains, burn bodies, and set up base on the Bastion. As the day progressed, hundreds of Granian ships approached with soldiers and laborers moving in to exploit whatever they could from the planet. At last, the three Bastions were overtaken with minimal casualties on the Granian’s side. Nothing bad had happened to any of them...or so they thought. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝗻𝗼𝘷𝗲𝗹•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝕟𝕖𝕥 In the midst of the celebrations, a Granian withdrew himself along with two Humans, a Cyclitharan, and a few medics in the highest room of the Bastion. Secluded from the rest, the Granian began questioning one of the two Humans with him while the other Human and Cyclitharan simply watched. Grim angrily stared at the scene before him, his molten gaze locked onto Ace, who sat slumped on the ground, surrounded by medics. Ace’s breathing was labored, his eyes distant and unfocused, almost as if he was staring into nothingness. His hands trembled uncontrollably as he clutched the red hair on his head, whispering incoherent words under his breath. For a few hours, the medics had tried their level best to detect what was wrong with the Blood Mutant. His body was in top shape, he had no injuries and there seemed to be no signs of anything concerning, and yet...they had reason to be concerned. This red-haired, male Blood Mutant, the strongest of the others, wasn’t able to do what even the lowest class Mutant could do and that was generating blood on his own...or even blood that was presented to him. The medics ran various tests but all were in vain. There was nothing they could do for him for his issue was above their skill level. "Alright, that’s enough. You can all leave." Grim navigated through the crowd of medics, his presence silencing their mumbles as he neared the Blood Mutant. His voice was a growl when he spoke. "Let Glissk in." The medics stepped out and in came an elderly Granian with bags of fleshy scales hanging from her eyes, arms, legs, tail, and chest. Adorned with weird orbs, bottles, shells, and all sorts of chachkis decorating her neck, back, and shoulders. In her right hand, she carried a long wooden staff and in her right, she held what looked like a bag made of animal skins. The Granian was your typical, stereotypical medicine man, or rather in this case, medicine-Granian. The Granian, who had taught Ace and Cherry a few things concerning aura, took one look at the red-haired man and sighed. She shook her head from side to side, her flesh bags under the neck mimicking the same movement. "His energy has been corrupted and blocked," she explained while she knelt next to Ace. With her wrinkly arms, she held Ace’s head while looking deep into his eyes. "His Blood Energy, Aura, or whatever he called it is blocked." "What does that mean Granian?" Grim, slightly irritated by Glissk’s presence, sneered and questioned. "I don’t see the red, fiery glow he always possesses," she answered, "his Blood Aura, the thing that makes every advanced Blood Mutant what they are, has been corrupted by another Energy." "Could it be the High Grade’s doing?" Skyler questioned, having recalled the purple dome of energy the High Grade unleashed during the War. "Earlier, she released a powerful energy that, in my eyes, looked like it was specifically targeted at Ace." Glissk, hearing this, looked at Ace with great concern. She sensed a great deal of distress from the man, which made her pity him, but that wasn’t all. With Skyler’s revelation, it was clear what had happened. After a deep sigh, the Granian stood up and shoved her staff right into Grim’s face while saying, "This is your fault, Grim!!" "Seriously?" the Granian questioned while removing the staff from his face but Glissk kept doing it over and over again. "You dare blame me for his shortcomings? Do you know who you’re speaking t..." "Your position is none of my concern," Glissk barked back, her raspy voice filling the room as she hit Grim repeatedly, "the Human was clearly pushed or trying to prove some point. Also, this wouldn’t be an issue if you and your higherup buddies allowed the Humans to learn Eneraflux!!" "Ow, stop it, Granian," Grim squirmed and Glissk intensified. Like an old mother beating her grown son, Glissk gave Grim a stern whooping while elaborating on Ace’s problem. "Listen well, all of you in this room," she spoke while giving Grim one last hit on his head, "this is something that we should now worry about. Obviously, the person who did this is an experienced Eneraflux user who has made a new discovery. "We now know that Eneraflux can block, stun, or even cancel someone’s energy. We all have different energies in our bodies. You, Grim, and your higher-up buddies have an energy that makes your bodies stronger, faster, and better than us regular Granians. "If an experienced user blocks that energy, you’ll become frail as I am. That is what has happened to Ace. His Blood Energy or Aura has been blocked. Picture it this way. That High Grade has enclosed his energy in her own, making it impossible for the Blood Mutant to do what Blood Mutants do. "I haven’t seen anything before since it’s a new discovery but if my guess is right, we can override this by teaching him Eneraflux so that he can manually override this foreign energy." "You’re basing your solution on a guess?" Grim questioned sternly. "Are you sure this will do anything?" "It’s my first time seeing something . Obviously, I’m basing my solution on a guess." Glissk snapped and then gently turned her attention to Ace. "If we want to keep the other Blood Mutants safe, we’ll need to teach them Eneraflux as well. They don’t need to learn everything, just the fundamentals so that they’ll override such a move ." After a brief moment of silence, Glissk looked at Skyler whose energy output was impressive for a creature such as herself. Suddenly, an idea encamped in her mind, one that could quicken Ace’s recovery. "Good thing Humans learn quickly and have their own variant," she spoke with her eyes shut, her body marinating in Skyler’s energy. "Whoever taught this Human should teach the rest immediately. Make it quick...before your enemy learns to intensify this talent and use it against you, Grim."