System Hunt: Regalia

“Most intriguing! The Regalia must have some sort of in-built mechanisms that allow for energy transformation of various kinds. I imagine it might involve breaking down the prismatic energy of the Belua nuclei and rearranging it to a form that can repair cellular and tissue damage with rapidity!”

The dwarfish General Sir exclaimed with a joy as he conversed with scientists in a lab while Sam and Alex waited with their haul of small or as the System called them, Common Grade Belua Nucleus.

The Doom Suppression Force base wasn’t far from the Doom Tower at all, it was underground several feet sure but it wasn’t far. The drive back was more joyous than the drive to as this time Sam got to enjoy Alex’s wild driving without worrying about the little things.

It was an odd change even for him and he was still deciding what kind of activities, places and even person he wanted to do, visit or be. All Sam knew for sure now was that the DSF needed him far more than he needed them and with his newfound confidence in his Regalia given abilities, he was ready to leverage every second of his time to ensure he was living the best life he could.

“Meow.” Nyx cooed up at him and his heart melted some more. They’d been separated for a day or so at most but it’d felt like an eternity. Sam fed his dear Bombay fish sticks and drew his hand across her slick fur as the General Sir continued to prattle on with the nerds.

Alex had reported everything that happened in strict military fashion, thankfully saving Sam some face as she excluded the more embarrassing bits of his pleading and begging to be spared the fight and skipped right to his glorious execution of several Belua as well as his miraculous healing.

General Sir was most intrigued by the healing part as were the scientists. They wanted to poke and prod him but Sam had had enough of being strapped to a table so a fixed glare and the promise of glass up their arses kept them all at bay for now. He did acquiesce to having his blood sample taken yet again but that was the extent of his compromise.

Sam yawned and continued to pet Nyx as he asked, “So, what now? I’m getting sleepy and hungry by the way; I’ve done all you’ve asked so isn’t it about time I go home?”

General Sir turned his attention as he gasped, he waved the scientists away with the haul of Belua Nucleus and walked up to Alex and Sam shaking his head, “Oh Sergeant, you ought to take proper care of your new recruit!”

Alex was stoic as stone, all emotion Sam had previously bore witness to bled away the moment they entered the base. He wondered if it was a military thing or just an Alex thing.

“Recruit? I don’t mind helping out once in a while but I still don’t want to be drafted and considered a solider.” Sam said as Nyx snatched the last fish stick from his fingers.

General Sir smirked, “Be that as it may, you are the first and only Regalia wielder we have discovered. Until we recruit more your priority will be putting an end to the chaos that Tower wreaks.” He paced between the sterile desks and chairs as he spoke dreamily, “The scriptures tell that only you Regalia wielders are imbued with the power to bring the Towers down, the DSF will aid your attempts but as I’m sure Alex has explained, there are eleven other towers across the world that need to be contained as this one has been.”

Sam nodded and dusted his fingers, “I get that but the Belua the tower vomits seem infinite, how am I supposed to bring it down?”

“Why by ‘conquering’ it of course!” General Sir cackled. “The scriptures do not discuss this process in as much detail as other facets but entering the Tower and ‘conquering’ it is the only recorded solution. During the world wars we had no Regalia wielders and so bombing them to oblivion worked well enough to send it and its monsters back to whence they came but…we’ve tried that already. This iteration will not bend or break for anything that isn’t a Regalia wielder it seems.”

Sam gave a hum at that. What the General said aligned well enough with what the Regalia System greeted him when it first seized his phone. A hundred Regalia wielders invited to pioneer its Towers of Regalia. If a hundred Regalia wielders were born as he was then perhaps they ought to be cooperating to bring it down? A hundred people with powers like his would be a veritable army against anything currently existing after all.

Though he’d come to accept his powers as the key to a brighter future Sam couldn’t help but worry venturing into one of the towers by himself would somehow spawn a sore reminder to the limits of what a single man could hope to accomplish.

He flashed a grin at the dwarfed General, “I hope there’s not too much of a rush or anything, I’m still getting used to these powers.”

General Sir mirrored his grin with one of his own, “Ah yes, we have yet to see the extent of your strength or even test the other two abilities the Regalia has gifted you. Bolster and Fortify was it?”

Alex nodded and spoke up for the first time since her report, “Yes sir, the recruit reports that just those two abilities will expend a Common Grade core for a single use of each.”

Sam blinked for a moment but did the math and shrugged. “I did reap quite a bit of Belua Nuclei on my first try, where are you even carting it off to? I should absorb them all right?” Before the General could respond Sam gave an exaggerated gasp, “Don’t tell me you intend to steal credit for it!”

He laughed heartily for a moment before nodding, “Use my words against me will you, recruit? Fair enough, we will allow you to reap the nuclei but since we’re on the same page now we ought to come to an agreement ay?”

Sam shrugged, he truly couldn’t care so much about how things would be done from now. He felt powerful enough to overrule anything if he didn’t like it, he stuffed his hands in his pocket and felt for his Regalia in them. With it he could do anything he wanted.

This world doesn’t have anything to stop people with superpowers. The villainous thought made him feel quite silly but it was the current truth and he was done denying his reality, bent and skewed as it might seem.

The General merely smiled, “I can see you’re exhausted, if you’d like to you can rest here at base or-”

“No, I’ll go home, I have everything I need there.” Sam said, already hoisting Nyx up in his arms. “You can come up with whatever agreement by yourself and send it over as a contract. I’ll look it over and decide if I want to change anything. Alex will take me to the Belua Nucleus to absorb before I leave, is that alright?”

The General’s smile turned terse, but he couldn’t argue and gave Alex an approving nod instead, “Just remember that the Doom Suppression Force exists for humanity’s survival against this ancient unknown.”

Sam followed Alex out as he thought back to just two days ago when his life was normal, poor, hapless but normal. He shook his head, glanced at the General who’d turned his world upside down quite rudely and smirked, “Oh, trust me, I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”