Reinhardt Freimann watched his son with unblinking blue eyes. The tall, German man leaned over the table and had his hands clasped like in prayer, his thumb pressed against his lips. Marcus had just delivered the basic Xeen information package and was now waiting for the reaction of his father and Sophia, who looked deeply shocked. Marcus knew his father's posture all to well, he was thinking, judging and eventually… "Is there a way for Xeen to change his host?" his father asked, while no muscle revealed his emotions.

It might be theoretical possible with enough research but with unknown consequences to myself and you.

"Theoretical but with unknown consequences to myself and Xeen." Marcus relayed the information and his father nodded without taking his eyes of Marcus. More sharp question about the exact nature of their connection followed and Xeen answered them all.

"Reinhardt, your son might want some support from you and not just scientific rigor." Sophia said after some time. For the first time in minutes he changed his posture and took her hand, but his eyes stayed on Marcus. "The only thing outweighing my excitement for the existence of Xeen is my concern for Marcus. He has already started to walk a path of exceptional danger and glory, this stroke of fate puts him even more into the focus of the world. As a father I can not help and wish to protect my son from harm. But as it seems you are destined to be part of great events, shaping the path of humanity into the future."

Marcus took all of that in and thought about it carefully. You always had to do this, with words from his father.

He clearly made up his mind about all of this. He also has grasped your importance to the future of humanity.

Are you two not going a bit overboard?

Kim, the ginghi, Azaa, me, how many more important connections do you need to realize you are quickly becoming "important".

Very well, but I do not like all that fate and destiny talk. I like to think I make my own decisions.

One does not contradict the other, Marcus.

"Thank you for your caring words. I expect you have many questions for Xeen but first we should discuss the problem, how to deliver Xeen's information to the world without revealing him to the world." Marcus quickly outlined the basic idea he had created with Kim's team. The expression of his fathers eyes slightly changed. He is disappointed, Marcus thought. "This will not work and you should know that." Reinhardt said.

This was the genius man Marcus remembered, he expects everybody to move at his speed. Failure to do so is met with disapproval. Marcus thought about his words and analyzed the situation. "Because we will not be able to fool the scientific community with a simple fake artifact." Marcus said and his father nodded. "Giving the impact of the information, scientific groups around the world will analyze every detail of the source. It will quickly be revealed as fake." And I should have known this from the start, and that disappointed him, Marcus took a deep breath.

What if we use a real artifact?

Like what?

You still has that Eshfa device, you told me about.

The one that shows the scaling attributes?

Yes, I'm confident with enough time and effort I can teach you how to manipulate it and we could change the displayed message, adding a small library of vital information. That would be amazing Xeen! Marcus quickly told his father and he also seemed pleased. "That would be a possible solution. Pretending you found the device on your travels and then have a team decipher the content over time would keep you out of the spot light. It is also good to know that Xeen has a firm grasp on "Eshfa" technology, including their language." Reinhardt said and Xeen squirmed.

I can see how working with him can be exhausting. He does not really miss much.

You have no idea. In the end they decided to do it that way and they discussed the necessary preparations for the operation. They had no great time pressure and planned a careful execution over the next months.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

After a long talk about the many information Xeen held, Marcus saw the need to inform his father about another development. "I am in a relationship." Marcus said and his ears got a bit red. "That is wonderful!" Sophia said right on the spot, his father looked surprised. "You just returned. Is it one of the women of your clan?" he said, adding a lot of judgment into the small sentence. "No, it is a ginghi woman called Azaa." Marcus replied and for the first time this day he saw his father perplexed. Even the reveal of Xeen did not have that effect. "You and Azaa are in a relationship?", true surprise was in his voice. "Yes, she is courting me. Do you know her?" Marcus asked, feeling he was missing something.

"Do I know the singular most brilliant mind I have ever met? What...how…. Why would she choose a human male as her mate? What did you do? You are far too young for her!" Seeing his father so confused was a first for Marcus and he also felt a bit hurt. The problem was, he really did not know why she chose him. He had a thousand reason why he loved her but he could not really come up with even one why she felt that way.

Maybe next time you should ask her?

"Her reason are her own, but it stands that she approached me and we are courting." Marcus said with a firm voice and his father was joyfully laughing. "Sophia! My son is going to marry Azaa! Imagine that!" He gave Sophia a kiss and she laughed too. From that moment on Azaa was the big topic and Marcus got to see his father as happy as he had ever seen him.

In spite of the circumstance Marcus' father and Sophia stayed over night and left in the morning with another helicopter. After Marcus had seen them off he watched another person running circles in the courtyard. Grace was waiting for Gamma to come, and she looked mighty nervous. "What if he does not come. What if Kim is disappointed in me. What if I accidentally hurt him in training. What if he hates my guts?" Grace went stir crazy and Marcus had to calm her down until half an hour later a thunderclap echoed through the morning air. Gamma picked up Grace and promised to bring her back in the evening. Marcus waved them goodbye and hoped Grace and Kim would hit it off.

After this emotional intermezzo, Marcus had to get back to the mess that was the big reveal. One thing that helped him greatly was Kim's online tech team. They had created a website under the umbrella of Kim's online platform to allow Marcus to engage with fans. He could stream videos, upload training and practice videos and engage in life chat. The best was, he had several professional mods that kept most of the vitriol away from him. Now that the first wave had come and gone Marcus decided it was time to show some life signs. Together with Janette as emotional support, he opened a live chat with questions for the Titan class.

The mods had to work overtime to keep everything civil but besides that, he had a lot of good interactions and answered many questions. His odyssey had also become public and questions about alien worlds mixed with serious questions about the Titan. Marcus even made an impromptu life stream showing him shattering a granite block in the courtyard, to answer questions about the power of Impulse Hammer. When demand for merchandise started to show up Janette quickly took over the chat and promised products would be available in the near future. Marcus asked for details, but she just wiggled her eyebrows, which caused Marcus terror.

On the same day he gave an interview session for two dozen reporters in front of the estate. Most question were polite and Marcus realized he was answering the same questions over and over since that morning. There were some accusations, some private questions (no way he would tell the world about Azaa right now) and comments about duel request. The last part was a headache he would not be able to completely escape. Kim had warned him, that he would have to prove his might in front of a camera for the world to believe in him and the Titan class. So, Marcus declared he would take on some challengers soon, which caused a great wave from the reporters, and more so in the internet minutes later. Janette promised Marcus to take care of the duel requests, but Marcus had a weird feeling in his stomach about the way she smiled at him when she said it.

Long after the sun had set, a thunderclap announced the return of Grace. Marcus and many others ran out of the villa and watched Gamma descending with her. She looked rough, but she was smiling all over her face. As they landed Janette gave Grace a hand because she could barely stand "This was the best day of my life." She whispered and smiled at Marcus "Thank you so much.". As Janette brought Grace into the villa Marcus approached Gamma. "She was relentless and did not want to stop training until her endurance ran out completely. Kim was very impressed with her, he will invite her again in due time." Gamma said with a faint smile and Marcus felt relieved. "He also wanted me to remind you not to use commercial phones from now on." Gamma vanished after relaying this ominous message.

When Marcus returned into the house, Grace was stuffing her face with every type of food she could find, and between the chewing she retold the happenings of her day. Her eyes were sparkling, and if it was possible, the fire inside her burned even hotter than before. As Marcus watched her, he thought about fate and destiny again. But from his point of view Grace looked a lot more like a "Destined One".

A week had gone by in a blink of an eye, and it was a good thing. He had been so busy, that he had no time to get all nervous about seeing Azaa again. Now that the time was near to meet her, his heart was racing and he yearned for her embrace.

To get to Azaa he had to first travel to the first portal, and that turned out to be much harder than before. He was rather easy to spot, and the clicking of phone cameras became his constant companion. People wanted autographs, pictures or test his toughness. Marcus tried to be polite, and ended up completely drained by the time he reached the base in Scotland. Here too, soldiers, class holders and base personal recognized him which made passing easier, but he had to give more autographs, too.

Stepping through the first portal and getting away from it all was a blessing. Marcus had still some extra time left until the promised date, and he spent it by sitting down in the middle of nowhere. He enjoyed the silence and talked with Xeen, not because he had to or needed information, only for the joy of conversation. Getting to the ginghi had become super easy, a wide road connected the portals and self driving shuttles made the journey a matter of a few hours in total. Unless of course, you get attacked by monsters, Marcus thought as his shuttle car was hit violently and crashed into the protective side wall.

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