Cyber-knight: Pathfinder

*Many years ago

A gust of sandy wind swept through the barren landscape. Through the yellow mist, Athena's crystals shined with a piercing blue light. It was a day of casual training as Mike stood by the side while Athena used her abilities in an abandoned quarry. Mike would use his ability to raise stones and obstacles from the ground while Athena had to destroy them through an intense parkour session combined with combat.

In the first trial, Mike conjured a storm of pebbles and rocks at Athena. At first, Athena managed to hold her own in defence but the stones would only come back to strike her every time she failed to destroy it, thus resulting in a stalemate. 

[Mike] - "Again! "

Every time Athena tried to defend herself, she would only hold on until she fell under the sheer volume of strikes against her. Every time she tried to go the offensive, the rocks would immediately overwhelm her before she could fight. 

[Mike] - "Again! "

Time after time, Athena would succumb to either the devastating volley of stones or be stuck unable to move until she was overwhelmed. However, Mike didn't try to lower the difficulty of his attacks despite Athena's apparent inability to adapt. It didn't matter if she gave him looks of plead for mercy, Mike simply kept shouting "Again" as if nothing happened.

[Athena] - "I can't! I'm not like you, I don't have your omnipotent power to simply find a solution to my problems. I have abilities which are the way they are. I can either defend or attack, that's all! "

Said Athena as she fell exhausted on the ground.

[Mike] - "Sigh... For now, you view your ability as a weapon. However, let me ask you something: Is a sword only made to strike a foe? Is there something more you can do with a sword? I don't turn my sword into a shield when I need to, no, I still have a sword. Bridging the gap between a single-purpose tool to its other possible uses, that's what our current lesson is about. "

Said Mike gently as he kneeled down.

[Athena] - "I don't understand. A thing is created with a purpose. What else can you do other than cut with a sword? "

Mike raised an eyebrow as Athena expressed her opinion.

[Mike] - "Alright then. If you think I had it easy, then how about this? "

Mike suddenly pulled a pair of gloves from his bag but there was no area for fingers. Instead, it reduced the wearer's hands into a pair of knives. 

[Mike] - "I'm going to live through our whole training session here wearing these only. I will not use my ability and I will not use my hands. I have nothing but knives for hands. "

Athena was confused and shocked by Mike's action. However, as sunset fell below the horizon, Mike signalled for her to follow him back to the nearby Imperial base. That night, as promised, Mike made use exclusively of his gloves. He handled dinner preparation using only the knives and handled the cooking and stir-frying with knives for hands. 

For the spatula, Mike inserted one edge through the hole in the handle while his other knife hand controlled the movement of his spatula in the pan. Athena was shocked to see her master cooking up a whole meal using nothing but a pair of knives. Slowly, Athena came to understand her master's motives. The fact that he cooked a whole meal using these demonstrated a level of control Athena could not imagine. 

In addition, Mike even ate using the knife gloves without issue. Mike wanted her to learn, not through words but through actions. That night, Athena understood the path she needed to take in her training as she looked at her arms and realized that she had a long way to go still. 

As a result, the following day, during her training, Athena practiced her control as she attempted to stop her ability just before hitting an obstacle. With every failure, Athena simply refused to give up as the scene of her master's knife hands manipulating a wok and a spatula played inside her mind. It was a set of calculated moves with a precise usage of forces and a quick reaction. 

[Mike] - "Didn't expect you to get up so early in the morning. "

Said Mike as he casually strolled toward Athena.

After wiping the sweat off her forehead, Athena saluted her master.

[Athena] - "Morning, master! I was just testing some stuff about my ability. "

[Mike] - "Testing? I thought by this point you had already determined all the parameters about your abilities. "

Said Mike with a raised eyebrow. 

[Athena] - "Please, master, allow me to train in my own way. Yesterday, you made me realize the imperfections of my abilities which were detrimental to my progression. For this, I wish to refine these flaws. "

[Mike] - "Will these trainings yield results in a way which will benefit our lesson? "

[Athena] - "I believe so, master! "

Said Athena with confidence.

[Mike] - "If you are confident enough to think you can handle my test with your method, then I'll approve of it. However, the test at the end of this month will also be much more difficult and if you fail, you will no longer be my disciple. Are you confident in yourself, Athena? "

Athena looked at Mike for a moment before resolutely nodding her head. 

[Athena] - "I am confident in my words, master. However, I want you to keep using the gloves as promised for the entirety of our time here. "

[Mike] - "Hey, never took them off. "

Said Mike as he waved his hands in the air. 

For the entire day, Athena trained with Mike's help. From trying to balance small pebbles using her conjured hands to shooting her lightning arrows with controlled strength, Athena tested every single aspect of her control both mentally and physically. However, she soon became frustrated with her lack of control as her lightning obliterated boulders when she only wanted to crack them while her giant hands trembled like waves when trying to perform precise tasks. 

As night came, Athena could only sit in frustration while Mike prepared dinner as usual. As Mike cooked without breaking a sweat using his knife hands, Athena could only observe with envy as something so difficult was so easily handled by her master. 

[Mike] - "Eat up. I didn't become a master of my ability in a single day either. "

Said Mike as he put a plate of food before Athena.

[Athena] - "Yeah but it was easier for you. You have hands while I have weapons. "

[Mike] - "A baby also has hands but does he know how to write, how to build an electric circuit or how to demonstrate a quantic formula from the first day? "

Said Mike as he sat down on his side of the table.

[Athena] - "Yeah but you have hands. They are universal, they are the basis for all of humanity's creations. If this baby was born with blades for hands, does he still have the same opportunities as a baby born with hands? "

[Mike] - "Yet they both have a brain. If you define what is a limitation for yourself, how could you ever hope to surpass it? Are you going to be held back by stairs because you don't have legs? "

Athena shook her head and hands to signal to Mike that it wasn't what she meant.

[Athena] - "What I'm saying is, what you perceive as easy might not be so much for me. Maybe your standards aren't appropriate for someone like me. "

[Mike] - "Sigh... Athena, we all face the same challenges in life. Yeah, I won't deny some people had it easier compared to others. However, forcing life to adapt to your needs is never going to work. As humans, we make due with what we have and make the best out of it. If you were poor, envying the rich won't make you rich. "

Said Mike as he crossed his arms. 

[Athena] - "Well... I just... I'm afraid of failing. I had achieved nothing today. Not even a single breakthrough! I have only one month, master! To master blades like how you did with your hands will take years of practice. "

Said Athena in an anxious tone.

[Mike] - "It's not the hands that matter, dear Athena, it's the mind. You didn't fail today because you can't control your abilities. You failed because you didn't have the right mindset. You will find it impossible to cut through fabric using a rock but the minerals you can extract from this rock will allow you to build a knife and cut through that fabric with ease. "

Said Mike before showing her a smile. 

Athena stared at Mike with a look of realization before gently nodding her head. With an assured look in her eyes, Athena finally felt at ease enough to begin eating her meal. 

[Athena] - "God, this is good, master. Whoever marries you in the future will surely be one lucky gal. Just saying... You know. "

Said Athena while trying to bury herself in her plate. 

Mike took a long look at the blades attached to his gloves as they reminded him of someone else. 

[Mike] - "Yeah, maybe someday. "

Later, as Athena prepared to head to bed, she noticed Mike walking out of the bathroom after taking his shower. To her shock, she noticed how Mike wore the bladed gloves even as he took his shower and managed to not even cut himself once despite washing himself clean. It was a demonstration of precision to a degree she could've never imagined. 

[Athena] - "Hey, master! "

[Mike] - "Hmm? "

Athena quickly ran up to Mike and placed her finger against his blades. In an instant, she felt a burning pain as blood leaked out of her fingertip. 

[Mike] - "Don't worry about it, I wasn't cheating. "

Said Mike with a grin. 

However, instead of being worried about her bleeding, Athena's gaze wandered onto Mike's muscular physique. 

[Mike] - "Hey, go back to bed if you want to get up early tomorrow. "

Said Mike tauntingly as he gently tapped Athena's nose with the brunt side of his blade. 

As Athena turned around to hide her red cheeks, Mike casually went back to his room. Unbeknownst to Athena as she walked back to her room with a dreamy look in her eyes, behind her back, Kadyn quietly snuck out of a dark corner. Discreetly, Kadyn kissed Mike and pushed him into his room before following him in while undressing herself. 

The next day, after a morning spent training by herself, Mike finally arrived by noon. 

[Athena] - "Geez, I thought I was the sleepy head. "

[Mike] - "Ah, suffered some insomnia last night. You can never expect when will it hit you. "

Said Mike while rubbing his eyes.

[Athena] - "Wait... Lavender perfume? Really, master Mike? "

Said Athena as Mike passed by her. 

[Mike] - "Huh? Oh, I might have mixed up the shampoo last night. "

Said Mike dismissively. 

Although suspicious of the unusual smell, Athena quickly returned her focus back onto her training. With yesterday's conversation still deeply entrenched in her mind, Athena was resolute in finding a way to improve her control and precision for today. She vividly remembered Mike's metaphor about using a rock to cut fabric as she focused her mind on her abilities.

By separating her abilities into tame and strong variants, she ensured better control and precision as more energy could be focused either on destruction or specific tasks. In line with her more lighthearted nature, Athena even gave her tame version of abilities more ridiculous and funny names compared to the serious and polished names of her regular strength abilities.

As the days went on, Athena stuck with the routine where she first reduced the number of arms summoned by [Thunderstorm Above Mount Olympus] by improving their versatility beyond simple attacks and defence. By controlling a single arm instead of a hundred, she was able to finally balance the pebbles and even strike targets behind solid structures without causing collateral damage. 

As for [Burden of Eternal Damnation], she reduced the power output and lethality of the ability for crowd control and tracking. Finally, for [Champion of The Titanomachy], Athena conjured a single arrow instead of letting loose a rain of electric arrows. This way, she focused on controlling the power output and precision of her attack. Instead of absolute lethality, she can even tone it down to stun only. 

On the last day before the end of the month, Mike presented Athena with the same meal as they ate daily for the entirety of the month. 

[Athena] - "Ah? Again? I ate so much of it I've learned the recipe by this point. "

[Mike] - "And what exactly do you realize from this experience? "

[Athena] - "That you want to flex on me about how good you are with these knives? "

Said Athena sarcastically. 

[Mike] - "You are smarter than that, Athena. "

[Athena] - "Yeah yeah, I know you want me to cook the same way as you did tomorrow. "

[Mike] - "You think really this lowly of me? Did you think it was going to be this easy? "

[Athena] - "Eh... What do you mean? "

[Mike] - "Why don't you find out tomorrow, Athena? "

Said Mike with a menacing stare. 

The night quickly gave way to daylight. After getting dressed properly, Athena headed for Mike's room and knocked on his door. 

[Mike] - "Yeah, wait in the kitchen, I'll be there. "

As Athena walked away, she sniffed the air and grimaced at the strong scent of lavender. Meanwhile, in bed, Kadyn kissed Mike on the cheek as he prepared to get up. 

[Mike] - "Why are you doubling down on the lavender perfume? Oh, god, that's all I can smell from you. "

[Kadyn] - "Because I'm not sharing my man with anyone else. "

[Mike] - "I never was a communist, so quit with the chemical warfare. "

Kadyn giggled before helping to put Mike's coat on his back. 

In the kitchen, Athena arrived at the counter and noticed the spotless state of the kitchenware and stove. Suddenly, Mike appeared before her and took off his gloves.

[Mike] - "It's a straightforward challenge, Athena. You will cook me a beef Wellington, a bowl of Chinese fried rice and a mixed berries cheesecake. "

As Athena confidently reached for Mike's gloves, he suddenly slammed his hand on them.

[Mike] - "However, you will not access to your hands or mouth. This challenge can only be done using your abilities and since you failed my test at the start of the month, I will add a few extra rules. First, not a single drop of oil or a grain of rice or vegetable is allowed to escape the wok and stain the spotless counter. Second, if your ability damages any of the equipment or kitchenware, you fail. Third, while working with the flour, I don't want to see a single grain of flour on the kitchen counter other than on the cutting board. Finally, I will periodically throw rocks at your workstation. If any of these rocks reaches their intended target, you fail. "

As soon as Mike finished his sentence, a plastic tray on the counter deformed under Mike's ability and bound Athena's hands behind her back. Athena's face was livid as she wasn't expecting this level of demands from Mike. However, it was also time for her to demonstrate her capability. It was all or nothing. 

[Athena] - "Guilt Extension: Thunderstorm Above Mount Olympus! "

Mike's rules quite literally forced Athena out of her comfort zone as without several hands as a barrier against any piece of vegetable attempting to roll off her cutting board, the tame version of her ability with more precision would cost her dearly. 

As she bent down to get the flour, she noticed that the bag was still sealed. If she attempted to pry it open, flour would certainly spill everywhere and fail her. As she struggled to find a solution to her dilemma, Mike threw a rock at her. After barely avoiding disaster by firing an arrow which vaporized the rock, Athena suddenly had a brilliant idea. 

[Athena] - "Guilt Extension: Divine Violation! "

By neglecting the channelling period, Athena conjured a small arrow which burned through the seal of the bag and vaporized any flour particles attempting to escape. However, as she attempted to reach for the flour, she realized that flour is extremely volatile when disturbed. 

[Athena] - "Guilt Extension: From Sisyphus With Love! "

It was a stroke of genius she herself hadn't even expected. It was a subconscious action as she realized after she had executed the command that she managed to trap the flour within a smaller version of Sisyphus' boulder. Soon, everything became a piece of cake as she contained the oil and rice spill using her Sisyphus boulder while multiple conjured hands did all the tasks at the same time. 

Despite her steady success, Mike suddenly added a layer of difficulty by smashing one of the rocks into the oven. As Athena moved to intercept, she pulled too hard on the door and ripped the oven out of the wall before it smashed against the floor. At that instant, she raised her head and stopped to look at Mike with a terrified expression in her eyes.

[Mike] - "Well, what are you waiting for? Again, continue! "

[Athena] - "But... The oven... "

[Mike] - "Usually I would've considered that you failed. However, basing all you had worked for on one mistake is not how I do it. I believe in redemption and second chances. "

Said Mike before swiping his finger. 

In an instant, the floor moved like a liquid and swallowed the debris and broken oven. Before long, Athena was left with a clean kitchen just without an oven. 

[Mike] - "What will you do now, Athena? The oven was an incident which compromised your plan but are you truly out of options? Like what we agreed upon; Hands are universal because of the mind. "

At that moment, Athena went from fearing failure to unwavering determination. Despite her mistake, she had been given a second chance. So far, before her, the beef Wellington had not been cooked alongside the cake which was ready for the oven just before she broke it. She looked at how she was working with all three of her abilities at the same time; She was at the doorstep of an opportunity to rise above her limits. 

[Athena] - "Say Mike, you said Existential Judgement is the pinnacle of mastery for a cyberknight over his abilities, right? "

[Mike] - "Your mastery of your abilities certainly makes you a potential candidate. "

Said Mike in a suggestive voice. 

[Athena] - "I've been thinking about this for a while. All this training was not meant to make me become simply the strongest or the sharpest. You're trying to make me the best. You knew I was already strong and sharp, yet you knew I lacked the push to make me better. "

Said Athena as her gaze met Mike's.

[Mike] - "Guilty as judged. However, do you judge my methods to be too excessive? "

Said Mike as he leaned in closer with an intrigued smile. 

[Athena] - "You can see things I can't. If you think I can do it, then why should I deny my potential? Amp up the voltage, because no heart beats without the heat of a shock! "

Said Athena as arcs of electricity began to flash around her body.

"It's not the tools which determine what you are capable of, it's how you use them. If a fire is what is needed to fuel my path forward, then let's get that flame going! No matter if I'm armed with swords or guns, you've shown me ways to push their potential beyond their purpose. Let us cook, master! "

Thought Athena as she stared at her targets.

[Athena] - "Existential Judgement: Greek Kitchen! "

It was an all-or-nothing gamble as she executed her new ability for the first time. In an instant, the combination of her abilities created an oven-like condition around the beef and cake. With a carefully controlled electric current, Athena baked the two dishes at an approximate temperature of what is required for each in the oven. Even Mike was impressed by Athena's display of control and ingenuity. 

By the end, all three dishes were prepared while respecting all of the rules set by Mike. At a closer inspection, Mike noticed not even a speck of flour on any of the kitchen's surfaces. 

[Mike] - "You did an amazing job, Athena. The only thing I can complain about is the oven and the beef Wellington being well-done. "

Said Mike in a lighthearted voice.

[Athena] - "You don't need to be such a nit-pick, haha! I tried my best after all. "

In truth, Mike was beyond proud of Athena. While he only initially intended to teach her a simple lesson, she somehow managed to pick out all the points Mike never intended to teach and apply them to her abilities. She identified the flaws in her abilities and showed a level of creativity that exceeded expectations. Most importantly, she demonstrated restraint and morality. To her, the goal was not to become the strongest but to become the best. 

[Mike] - "Athena, with my authority, you shall skip the rank of knight and be promoted directly to the rank of senior knight. I believe you will uphold the rules of the cyberknights and use your powers for good in our crusade. Let us fight, no longer as master and apprentice but as fellow soldiers. Arise, Chimera Knight Athena! "

Said Mike as he saluted Athena. 

Faced with this level of respect from her master, Athena began to weep emotionally before straightening herself to salute back at him. 

[Athena] - "I accept my new position but you'll always be my master. "

[Mike] - "Aw, quit being so emotional! Let's go drink something, the bill's on me. "

*Back to the present

Athena put the picture she took with Mike on the dashboard of her ship with a nostalgic smile on her face. Slowly, she drifted her gaze toward the structure of the Inverted Monolith which protruded above ground.

[Athena] - "Like you once said; Again! "

To be continued...