THE VROL TRILOGY (153 page)

Bierle found it amusing that he was in such a
large family. But beyond being amused, he felt a warmth he had
never experienced before. It was an odd, eclectic mix of
somehow-related individuals, each with a terrifying amount of
power. Despite the fact that he was aware that Draagh and his
archangel sons, as well as Captain Gunnarsson had unearthly
abilities, he feared Liliana most. She had an innocent savagery he
knew was uncontrollable, and he meant to keep an eye on her -
especially if she returned to Azul with her parents after defeating
the Vrol.

"President Bierle, you have a big day
tomorrow. You'll be going through phase 2 control training, and
then some advanced sword skills with Ohiro," said Max, nodding over
to Janice and Ohiro, who were nuzzling while whispering in
Japanese. They both heard their names and looked up with
inquisitive expressions.

"I understand Mr. Ohiro trains in the way of
the sword, but who shall be in charge of my phase 2 control
training, as you call it? And of what does it consist?" asked
Bierle.

"That would be me," said Clarisa, "and I will
assist you I your efforts to wantonly enter into your battle state,
while maintaining your wits. It really is not a difficult thing,
Mr. President." She had taken over the temporary duties after
having proven to be an expert at enhanced lycan skills control and,
of course, being a university professor. Her methodology was
effective and, fortunately, not as brutal as that of the previous
instructor, the traitorous Alea.

###

The following morning Jorgen Bierle woke up
with a slight hangover. Reaching over to his bedside table, he
downed the glass of water Draagh had given him the night before as
a precaution. To his amazement all ill feelings instantly
disappeared.

Hmm, I believe there could be a market for
this concoction.

Climbing out of bed, he walked over to the
washbasin, and what he saw in the mirror shocked him. He looked at
least ten years younger, if not more. His body fat had shrunk away
and as he thought about it, he felt a hell of a lot better. He
quickly washed his face and underarms, thinking he would take a
shower after eating, and leaped to his bed in a single bound.
Totally surprised at his increased strength and agility, he quickly
dressed and exited his quarters. As soon as he entered the hallway
he could smell things - and nothing non-descript. Everything had a
picture to it in his head. He saw roasted sausages as he smelled
them. He visualized a cat in the ventilation shaft. Moments later
he detected Liliana from behind, as she attempted to surprise
him.

"Ah-HA! You can fool me no longer, young
one!" he yelled as he spun around, but not seeing her anywhere.
Slightly confused, it took him a moment to turn his gaze upward and
see her standing, upside-down, on the ceiling. She was looking at
him with crossed arms and a smirk on her face.

"Scheiße! [Shit!]"

"You are getting close, Mr. President. Would
you like to join me for breakfast?" she asked with a giggle.

Bierle nodded his head slightly and said, "It
would be my honor, Miss Gunnarsson. But may I ask, how are you
doing that?"

"A simple reverse-gravity cantus. Would you
like to try?"

"Perhaps later, my dear. Shall we repair to
the dining hall?"

The two walked down the hallway, with Liliana
releasing her cantus and lithely dropping to the floor after a few
steps. They then took a left and bounded down the stairs directly
to the main dining hall, where Max and Jennie were already seated
and waiting.

"Good morning Mr. President. I must say you
are looking quite fit today," said Jennie, while wearing a kind
grin.

Max nodded curtly to his new political leader
and held out a hand, beckoning him to take a seat.

"Please, President Bierle, have a seat.
Breakfast is about to be served."

"Thank you, Captain. I must say, I feel
extremely… belebt… invigorated, today."

"No small wonder, sir. You've completed the
reactivation of your lycan genome, so it's completely natural,"
said Jennie. "The same thing happened to my brother after we
rescued him from his prison apartment."

"So he really was held as a prisoner in his
own home," he responded rhetorically.

"That is true, Mr. President," boomed
Bagatelle, as he entered the dining hall with his fiancé,
Alicia.

Bierle looked over, almost startled by the
fleet admiral's response, but knew he should have expected more
from the leader of Azul's naval presence.

Bierle stood up in deference to the admiral
and nodded curtly as he took a seat. Thinking momentarily, he
decided to ask some questions he previously hadn't the time to
ask.

"Admiral, good morning. I would like to
inquire about your house arrest. I have some details, but were you
truly imprisoned on false charges?"

Bagatelle gave Bierle an odd stare for a
moment, and then responded, "Were you not paying attention when
Tech Olsen made his statement?"

"Well, yes, I was… but I…"

"Then you should remember what you heard. I
expect more from our President."

Bagatelle's statement was harsh, and meant to
be so. Liliana nodded her head in agreement, only to have Jennie's
hand redirect the girl's face to her breakfast.

"Admiral, what I believe the President needs
to hear is a direct account from you. Not because he doesn’t
believe, but to solidify his knowledge of Johnson's true nature,"
said Max, in between mouthfuls of sausage.

Bagatelle nodded his head and then gave
Bierle a stern glance, meant to invite him to agree. The President
did so, and Bagatelle took a seat, with Alicia at his side, and
began to recount the story of his travels from Earth and his
consequent arrest by Johnson.

"So, you actually encountered an alien race?"
asked Bierle.

"An alien
species
, sir. More profound, to say the
least."

"That's astounding," Bierle responded to
Bagatelle. "All evidence of your travels was made off-limits upon
your arrest, I'm sorry to say."

"Of course, my good man. They feared the
truth. However, I believe we can provide some footage of the
K'Long'nesh," Draagh interrupted as he sat down at the long wooden
table. Then, casually waving his hand, he created an infoscreen
that showed the oddly shaped creatures as they skittled around
their town.

"Um, so they're real?" queried Bierle.

"They are, indeed," responded Bagatelle,
having a bit of annoyance to his voice. He had tired of answering
questions multiple times.

"Mr. President," replied Max, "do you not
recall how Admiral Bagatelle was repeatedly tortured for
information?"

"Yes, I am sorry. I shall cease with any and
all questions regarding the veracity of your travels, Admiral."

"Good. It's about time. Plus you need to get
over to Clarisa. She's waiting for you," said Bagatelle.

"I must admit, I am a bit nervous regarding
this new training. We are all conceptually familiar with things
such as swords, but to access skills long-ago locked away from men
- that is on a completely different level," said Bierle.

"You have nothing to fear. Anyway, it can't
be worse than the way I was trained," explained Max.

"Oh? And how was that, Captain?"

"I was repeatedly punched in the face."

###

Jorgen Bierle entered into the small room
where Clarisa and Janice were waiting. Neither said anything, and
Janice merely gestured to the man to take a seat in the lone chair
in the middle of the room. Bierle became mildly concerned when
Janice strapped his arms down, restricting his ability to get up.
She then followed up with ankle cuffs.

"Good morning, Mr. President. As you
are aware, I am to assist you in mastering your phase 2
transformation, also known as
battle
form
. This can be quick and simple, or it can become
an arduous task. It is all up to you. Please look at the wall. Max
prepared a vid for your viewing pleasure," said the beautiful lycan
mother of Max. Gunnarsson.

Bierle looked at the wall and was surprised
to see a vid start to play with the clarity and quality of any on
Azul. He knew from his prior lessons that the vid could have only
been created via magic in his current world, making it all that
much more impressive. Comically, Max appeared on the screen as the
narrator. Jennie had prompted him to do that, feeling it would
eventually help him to be a better public speaker. Bierle watched
as Max discussed the pros and cons of transition to phase 2 -
increased strength, slightly longer reach/limbs, hyper-enhanced
senses and elongated canines, as well as a massive increase in
caloric burn. The secret to going to phase 2, Max explained, was
all mental. It was an act of pure willpower. He also went on to say
that if one was unable to voluntarily enter into phase 2, he or she
would then have to be goaded into the state - usually via a form of
pain. For him it was getting beaten. Severely. As Bierle watched
the video he became determined to avoid being beaten at all costs.
Following Max's video instructions, he concentrated, trying to well
up a feeling similar to a pang of regret deep from within his gut.
That was the best way Max could describe the method for accessing
the battle state. In a matter of moments, Bierle felt a burning
sensation in his arms, all the way down to his fingernails as they
elongated. Something reminiscent of a toothache struck his mouth as
his canines grew to sharp points. The increase in body hair was
more of a ticklish sensation, as follicles pushed out through his
skin. It was less than a minute and he had voluntarily transformed
to phase 2, without any sort of violent repercussions.

"Excellent work, Mr. President!" exclaimed
Janice, watching Azul's leader as he easily changed. She noticed he
started to look weary, which was a result of burning up his energy
reserves. Clarisa quickly put a straw up to his mouth. It was a
glass of a milky substance - the nutritional shake, meant to force
a massive amount of calories into his system and avoid an energy
crash. He hungrily sucked it down, feeling the nutrients course
through his system.

"Jorgen, now that you are in battle state, I
want you to concentrate on your upper-left peripheral vision. Do
you see colored lines?" asked Clarisa.

"Mmm, yes. What are they?"

"They are your levels. One is health, another
strength and the bottom one your stamina. You'll be able to see
these while in your day form also, now that you have unlocked
them."

"Impressive, Mr. President! And we didn't
even have to beat you like a rag doll," Janice joked.

"Well, that's certainly a relief. What more
do I need to learn?"

"As long as you can maintain this state and
not go bonkers we should be good after today. However, we'll need
to stress-test you," said Clarisa.

"Stress-test?"

"Um yeah. Well, you know how Janice said we
didn't even need to hit you?"

"Yes?"

"She lied. Sorry."

Clarisa punched Bierle directly in the nose,
causing blood to spurt out all over his tunic. His face contorted
into a visage of primal rage as he struggled against his bonds.

"Jorgen! Control yourself. Maintain your
wits. The sooner we get through this and you have control, the
sooner you are finished with the training."

"Ooo, I think he's gonna pop, sister," said
Janice, while she watched Bierle try to calm himself.

Clarisa slapped him across the face three
times, but noted he was still coming down. They both felt badly for
having lied to him, but they needed him to be unaware of what was
to come for the best results to his training.

"I'm good. I'm in control, ladies," he
said.

Janice grabbed another energy shake and put
the straw up to his mouth. Calmly taking down the liquid, he had
nearly reached a state of complete serenity.

"Max, this guy is extremely good at battle
form. 30 minutes and he's gone through an entire day's
lessons."

"No way! Well, he did seem to take it all
very well. Let's get him to Ohiro for some sword training, and then
we can start working on strategies to fight the Vrol."

"Mr. President, congratulations. I just spoke
to the captain, and he says you have graduated to the next level of
training. Please revert back to phase 1, your day form, and we'll
get you over to Ohiro to work with swords," said Clarisa.

Chapter 25 - Reality Lessons

Night had fallen in the Rhönen Dominion, and
the Gunnarsson clan was seated for dinner. At their table was
Jorgen Bierle, who had never felt such camaraderie before in his
entire life. He was a politician, and politics was a cruel game of
deceit and power grabbing, but he had no such need to play that
game with the Gunnarssons and their odd, eclectic group. Seated at
the end of the long, wooden table in the main dining hall, he
listened as Draagh discussed his concern regarding whom he believed
to be assisting the Vrol - the Grigori.

"I have some ideas as to their whereabouts,
yes, I do, but it shall prove to be a vexing task. Perhaps nearly
as difficult as it was to locate young Max. It is most certain they
are looking for me, but if we were to send my sons out… that may
give us an advantage."

Michael and Gabriel both nodded their heads
and looked at each other with smirks on their faces. Since their
involuntary reunion they had become as they once were - a deadly
team that got results, no matter the mission.

"Is there some way I can help too?" asked
Max.

"No way! You are
not
going to look for any psycho archangels,
baby. You're staying right here with me," commanded
Jennie.