A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol 3, page 1
VOLUME 3
BRANDON VARNELL
Illustrations by XuaHanNin
Contents
Title Page
Publishing Info
Prologue: Empress of Sand
Chapter 1: Punishment
Chapter 2: Hot Spring Disaster
Interlude I
Chapter 3: An Unannounced Visitor
Chapter 4: Jāhilīyahn Crisis
Chapter 5: A Past Unremembered
Epilogue: Returning Home
Afterword
But Wait, There's More
American Kitsune
The Executioner Series
Arcadia's Ignoble Knight
Social Media
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
A Most Unlikely Hero Volume 3
Copyright (c) 2018 Brandon Varnell
Illustrations by XuaHanNin
Kindle formatting: Lia at Free Your Words
All rights reserved
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PROLOGUE
EMPRESS OF SAND
Jāhilīyahns rarely left their home planet. They were not isolationists who believed in remaining on their planet from birth to death, in segregating themselves from the rest of the galaxy. It was simply a matter of genetics. Jāhilīyahns were not built with space travel in mind. Their bodies were naturally predisposed toward surviving in the harsh deserts of their home, and they couldn’t survive long periods of time outside of that ecosystem.
That said, they had created spaceships to travel the stars specifically designed to mimic the environment of their home planet.
The reasons they traveled to space were few and far between. While some had left their home planet of Jāhilīyah to seek adventure, using a unique eco-suit that mimicked the arid environment of their home planet, most journeyed into space to acquire resources—namely, water. Because their planet was a desert, there was little water to be found. Even moisture vaporators didn’t work well. After all, one could not pull what didn’t exist.
There used to be water beneath the surface, flowing through subterranean veins. Such was not the case now. Their water had long since dried up. Without water, her people would die, and so they took to the stars to import water from other planets.
However, there was only so much they could import. Aside from that, Jāhilīyah did not have much in the way of natural resources. Their planet did not contain any precious minerals, no unique treasures specific to their planet, so they lacked anything of value with which to barter. This meant that all of their water came from a few brave souls. These Jāhilīyahns wandered the galaxy, doing odd jobs in exchange for water.
Unfortunately, odd jobs could only get them so much. That was why, when the message from King Lucifer spread to their part of the galaxy, Al-lāt had ordered her eldest brother to marry Princess Gabrielle at any cost. If he could become the ruler of the galaxy, the emperor, then their people’s livelihood would be secured. That was her hope.
Things hadn’t turned out like she’d expected them to.
Kneeling before her, his durable exo-skeleton chipped and cracked, was her brother. Ibn-Al Kalbi had definitely seen better days. He reminded her of this one time where she’d used her powers over sand to slowly crush a rock. She wondered at what sort of trouble he’d run into that could make him look like this.
“I am guessing things did not go as planned,” she stated.
Her brother flinched. “No, they did not. It is with great regret that I admit I wasn’t able to make Princess Gabrielle mine.”
“How is it that you, one of our best puppet masters, was defeated by a mere human?”
Jāhilīyahns were known for their unique puppeteering skills. By manipulating the energy inside of themselves, they could create threads that they attached to objects and controlled them. To this end, they built puppets forged from an alloy that was stronger than adamantium using a unique forging process where they melted the sand of their home planet, which had the alloy their puppets needed.
Of course, the sands of their deserts did not have much of that alloy. Certainly, there was not enough to make these puppets for everyone, which was why only their most elite members of society, their nobles, were able to have these puppets made.
While most of their puppets were not made for combat, her brother was one of their Guardian Warriors, a group dedicated to protecting the peace and prosperity of their planet. His puppets were made for battle.
“The person that I faced couldn’t possibly be human!” Ibn-Al Kalbi shouted. “There’s no way! He was way stronger than any human I’ve ever heard of! And he had this weird power that completely destroyed my most powerful puppet!”
“A strange power, you say?”
“Yeah. A really strange power. The first time I fought him, this strange red aura appeared and nearly melted my puppets, and when I used Iblīs, he created this giant sword out of blue energy and cut right through my armor!”
Al-lāt frowned. “That does not sound like a human.”
Humans were the most numerous species in the galaxy, but they were also the weakest. They had no powers, no unique attributes, and their only saving grace seemed to be their ability to survive in a variety of different environments. Killing a single human should have been easy.
But, if he isn’t a human like King Lucifer said…
Could it be that King Lucifer was merely toying with everyone? The man was not known to be a joker. Al-lāt had heard rumors that King Lucifer had a terrible temper. He had destroyed a planet once just because its representative had pissed him off.
I must get to the bottom of this.
“Go to the hospital and get your wounds healed, please.”
“H-hold on! Let me make up for my failure. Send me back to Mars and I’ll—”
“No,” Al-lāt interrupted, holding up a hand. “You will do no such thing, not while you’re in this condition. Go to the hospital, rest, and heal your wounds. I’ll deal with Gabrielle’s suitor personally.”
Ibn-Al Kalbi looked like he wanted to argue, but he seemed to think better of it. Standing to his feet, he bowed to her, trying to mask his pain, and limped out of the room. When he was gone, Al-lāt turned to stare at the stars.
The place where she stood was her meditation chamber. There was nothing within it—nothing save the viewport that allowed her a glimpse of the world outside, of space. The sight beyond her eyes was beautiful. Billions of stars swirled around her vessel like a desert mosaic. She remembered admiring these stars on her planet for many years, but seeing them while floating through space was something else entirely.
Within the viewport, however, was another object aside from the stars. Mars. The planet where Gabrielle and her current suitor, the one who garnered her favor, lived. Several vessels orbited the planet, massive ships that she didn’t want to tangle with. The single ship that she’d brought with her did not have the firepower needed to fight off a fleet. It might not even be capable of defeating a single dreadnaught.
Jāhilīyahn vessels were not made for combat.
“I see that our esteemed elder brother has failed,” a voice said from above her.
She sighed. “How long do you plan on remaining hidden up there?”
“Sorry. I would have spoken up sooner, but listening to Ibn-Al Kalbi talk about the princess’s suitor made me intrigued.”
A dull thud behind her let Al-lāt know that her youngest brother had dropped to the floor. She didn’t turn around to face him, but she didn’t need to. While her youngest brother might have been playful and mischievous, he’d never betray her. It was only because of him that she was still alive to begin with.
“Do you plan on trying to go after Princess Gabrielle’s suitor yourself?” she asked.
“Naw,” he said, his voice still playful. “I’m not really interested in marrying anything that looks even remotely human. I’d much rather find a nice Jāhilīyahn girl to settle down with. Let my brother have the disgusting princess.”
While humanoids were often considered the most beautiful species in the galaxy, for certain species, such as Jāhilīyahns, they were the most hideous. Even Ibn-Al Kalbi had protested marrying her at first. Only his sense of duty and the knowledge that he could practice polygamy kept him from refusing.
“Is that so? Should I feel insulted?”
“Oh, no. You’re not human, Sis. Come on. Sure, you might look a little… weird, but you’re definitely Jāhilīyahn—no matter what those old bastards say.”
“Then what will you do, Manāf?”
“Hmm. I think I’ll test this suitor that my bro
“Then you may do as you please.”
“Thank you, Sis.”
Footsteps echoed behind her, the slow clacking of numerous legs. A hiss sounded out as the door slid open and then closed. Al-lāt took a deep breath as she was engulfed in silence.
Beyond the glasteel window, the stars continued to shine.
CHAPTER 1
PUNISHMENT
It was a grassy plain filled with flowers, a beautiful alpine prairie situated within a valley. Mountains surrounded him on all sides. The scent of grass, a sort of sweet and sharp smell, wafted into his nose and calmed him. To his left, a crystal-clear lake glittered like a sea of gems with sunlight coruscating off the water’s surface. A forest sat on his right, a fervent viridian copse that was so thick he couldn’t see past it. Everything was so beautiful. So peaceful.
“Is this really fake?” Alex asked in awe.
Gabrielle’s voice came to him from across a vast distance, echoing as though she were a god speaking from the heavens. “More or less. Technically speaking, everything in here is real. You can see it, feel it, touch it, smell it. However, it’s all been artificially created using dimensional warping technology.”
“This really is incredible. You’re so amazing, Gabby.”
“Tee-hee! Thanks! All right! Now that everything is in place, let’s get started with the experiment!”
“Right.”
It was the day after his battle against Ibn-Al Kalbi, and Alex had decided that it was time he understood more about those strange powers that he had used. He didn’t know what they were or where they came from. Truthfully, he didn’t care. These powers could help him become a true hero like his father, and they could help him protect Gabrielle, his sister, Jasmine, and Selene. Those were the only things that mattered.
Unfortunately, Alex had no idea how to use his powers.
“Hm… that does sound like a problem,” Gabrielle admitted after hearing his confession. “Hmm hm… I know! Were you thinking or feeling anything specific when you used your power?”
“Thinking something specific…”
Now that she mentioned it, the first time he’d felt that strange, blue power, he had been thinking about how much he wanted to protect Gabrielle. That had been during his fight with Azazel.
However, during his fight against those four puppets, he hadn’t actually been thinking anything. The red power had come to him as he was on the verge of losing, and a voice had spoken to him.
Yesterday, too, he had felt the surge of blue power, and he’d been thinking about protecting Gabrielle again that time. Another voice had also spoken to him, different from the one he heard when the red power appeared.
Does that mean the two powers are different?
“An angelisian’s power is based on the strength of their emotions. Things like wanting to protect a loved one, wanting to help a person in need, that sort of stuff.”
“I see.”
Alex closed his eyes and tried to remember those feelings he had during his fight with Azazel. As he thought about the desire he’d had to protect Gabrielle, something strange came over him. It felt like he was being covered with a blanket, a warm blanket that had just finished drying. However, upon opening his eyes, he saw that, rather than a blanket, he was covered in ethereal blue flames that flickered like a fire caught in a breeze. Staring at his hands, he watched as the flames danced across his palms and fingers.
“That’s it!” Gabrielle exclaimed. “There’s no doubt about it! That’s an angelisian aura!”
“An angelisian aura?” Alex was confused. “But if I can make something like this, then doesn’t that mean I’m an angelisian? That can’t be right. My parents were both human.”
No one had ever mentioned his father having a strange power, or his mother having a strange power. Then again, Alex didn’t even know his mom. Even so, his father had never said anything or displayed any blue or red aura powers like Alex had manifested the day before. Did that mean his father had simply been hiding it, or did it mean something else?
“Are you sure about that? I don’t know anything about your parents, so I can’t say whether or not they were an angelisian, but that is definitely an angelisian aura. I can produce one, too, though not for long. Go on, Alex, try and create something with your aura.”
“Try and… create something? Like what?”
“Anything. The only limit is your imagination and the laws of Conservation of Energy and Mass.”
The laws of Conservation of Energy and Mass stated that energy and mass could neither be created nor destroyed, and that it remained constant. This meant that, so long as he didn’t try to change how much energy or matter he was using, even if he converted energy into mass or vice versa, it would remain the same unless he pumped more energy into it.
Alex decided to start with something simple. Holding out his hand, he closed his eyes, and pictured a small knife appearing in it. Nothing happened at first, but as Alex continued to grit his teeth and concentrate, his hand suddenly felt slightly heavier in a metaphysical sense rather than purely physical one. He looked down. There, in his hand, flickering with blue energy, was an ethereal knife about twice the length of his palm.
“You did it!”
Alex stared at the small knife before a smile appeared. “Yeah, I did do it.”
“Would you like to test your powers now?”
He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. I’d like to see what I’m capable of.”
“Okay! Let’s change the setting to something more appropriate for a battle.”
The prairie melted away to reveal hard bedrock. The ground was craggy and filled with pit marks. Rather than a crystal-clear lake, magma bubbled up from the former lake’s surface. Brimstone, ash, and sulfur hit his nose, making him reflexively gag. This place looked absolutely nothing like before. Where it had once been something out of a dream, now it was the stuff of nightmares.
“Is this really a good battle setting?”
“Of course! Aren’t all battles done in places with fire and brimstone?”
“Only if you’re in hell. Well, whatever. Let’s start the simulation.”
“Okay! Now that the setting has been changed, we just need to create an opponent for you to fight.”
Alex first thought about Azazel, the powerful angelisian warrior and Gabrielle’s bodyguard. He would have made a good opponent. However, another potential opponent occurred to him, though Alex wasn’t sure if making this opponent was even an option.
“Could you make your dad my opponent?”
“You want to fight Papa?”
“Well, I figured I’m probably going to fight him at some point anyway, and you did say that he was the most powerful man in the galaxy, right? I’d like to know where I stand against such a strong adversary.”
“Well, all right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Gabrielle said.
Alex didn’t heed her words. He pounded his fists together and prepared for combat. With this strange power coursing through him, he was confident in his ability to hold his own.
1
Not even five minutes later, Alex was lying on his back, staring up at Gabrielle, who was leaning over him. The hard, cold surface beneath him told Alex that he was no longer in the simulated world. He was back inside of his laboratory. He couldn’t remember when he’d gotten back.
“W-what just happened?”
“You died.”
“I… died?”
“Yep. You faced off against Papa and got killed within two seconds.”
Alex grimaced. So that’s what happened. He remembered now. Gabrielle’s father had appeared, or rather, a simulated version of him had appeared and proceeded to wipe the floor with Alex, killing him in a single attack. The last thing he had remembered was seeing a bright light coming toward him, and then nothing.
I didn’t even last two seconds? That doesn’t bode well for my future.
“So, that was your dad? I had no idea he was that strong.”
