One realization hit hard:
He never got to see them.
Five jets were wiped out, and Everlearn never even got to see one of them up close.
And what was more, all Dumbledore had now resumed talking about was how amazing Boss Ash was back at the base.
He just wiped out five jets, and he genuinely thought nothing of it.
The way he was speaking now made Everlearn doubt if they had just been in a life-and-death situation in the fucking sky just moments ago.
The words of Boss Ash couldn't help but echo in his head.
______
"Everlearn meet Dumbledore. One of the most Competent men on Nvidia."
_____
At first, he had thought the man was anything but competent with his mischievous, unserious aura, but now he had been proven wrong.
In aerial battle, this man was a monster.
While he didn't know what those ships looked like, at least he knew they couldn't be helicopters with no firearms.
Most likely, they were battle techno-jets.
'He's just like Boss Ash, too.'
Back then, he had also watched as Boss Ash cleaved through the neck of the Corer that Everlearn had struggled with his life against.
And she had killed that Corer with such precision that he never even saw Boss Ash before he lost his life.
The level of skills these people possessed was insane, and it just made him wonder.
What was this secret organization they all just call base?
"So, that was how it went down."
"Hahaha! I know it sounds bad at first, right? But things went well, didn't they?"Dumbledore said with another boisterous laugh, and finally, Everlearn responded.
"You know, through all your stories, you never made the mistake of revealing the true name of the organization."
Everlearn said, as Dumbledore burst into a loud laugh once more.
"That is a secret I can't say unless you're truly part of the Organization."
"But I am part of it! Why am I in this helicopter otherwise?" Everlearn said, dumbfounded, and out came another boisterous laughter.
"Base doesn't work like that."
"You got recommended by Boss Ash. It's a Recommendation," he said, emphasizing the last part.
"You still have to talk to The Boss and get your mark to be truly part of Base," he said, and Everlearn's eyes furrowed.
"The Boss? I thought Boss Ash was, " he said, and Dumbledore shook his head.
"I can't say anything about The Boss."
"Just know there are quite several bosses, though I'll confidently say Boss Ash, with her ability, still ranks in the Top Ten Bosses!"
"You are to understand, Everlearn. She is a force of nature…"
And once more, the unending flattery of Boss Ash continued, making Everlearn chuckle in his heart.
This man had to be the real definition of a die-hard fan.
Six hours later…
GRRRUUUUUUM!
The heavy sound made Everlearn's eyes open up, releasing a blue glimmer.
To think he had eventually fallen asleep.
When he turned, he noticed the helicopter wasn't in the sky anymore, and it had landed upon a helipad with a large X symbol instead of the usual H.
"You up, Everlearn?" Dumbledore said, looking at him, and Everlearn sat up straight, only for the hatch on the other side of him to open.
"Don't worry, we're close," he said, as his hatch also opened up, and he got down.
Everlearn followed, stepping out of the helicopter, but the second he did, he noticed it.
He turned his head to the sky and found out it wasn't there.
The usual three big moons in the sky were nowhere to be found, and the sky itself was… dark?
"What happened to…"
VROOOOOM!
The roaring of an engine distracted him as he turned to the far side, and there he found it:
A truck with six massive tires, both its headlights currently illuminating the far distance.
Dumbledore appeared from the side, signaling to Everlearn to follow him with an arm wave, and both of them continued toward the vehicle.
He thought Dumbledore would be sliding through to the side where the driver's seat was and maybe having a couple of words with the driver, but the window was tinted pitch black.
And Dumbledore didn't even look at it.
Instead, he shifted the sliding door on the vehicle, stretching his hands within in a politely bowed gesture, asking him to go in first.
Everlearn entered the vehicle, only to watch Dumbledore shut the door without entering himself.
At the last moment, Everlearn looked into Dumbledore's eyes, and for a moment, he saw the man's eyes rippled with different emotions.
They weren't joyful; instead, they looked somber.
"Hey, Why…"
"Everlearn Snowfall?"
The call suddenly came from the side, the suddenness almost making Everlearn jump out of his seat, though he didn't move a single inch, instead turning his head to look at the end of the vehicle.
Only now could he see it.
The vehicle wasn't exactly a passenger-like vehicle but more like a mini-room instead.
There was a round sofa, and Everlearn sat at the opposite end, while in the farther end was a figure, between them, a glassy white desk.
It was a man, dark-skinned, with thick dreadlocks for hair falling over his back.
He was muscular, incredibly so, his fingers folded into each other on the table as he silently stared at Everlearn.
He had an angular, sharp face, a peculiar scar running from the far left of his eye and diagonally across his face, ending just beneath his nostril.
It was the type of scar that could have only been done by the sharpest of blades.
Yet even with the scars, it wasn't the most arresting feature of the man.
What was arresting were those eyes.
They were pitch black with freckles of silver in their far depths.
Looking into them gave Everlearn the illusion of him staring into starry space.
He had not noticed this man at all until he had called his name, almost as if he had no presence at all.
"Yes," Everlearn replied to the question as a deep
Hmmmmmm
Echoed through the room.
"What is your name?"