Zero to Peak: Ascension Online

Ivan and Roger shared a brotherly hug.

"When did you come back?" Ivan asked, excited about his friend's return.

"Today. I don't know if I'm correct to say I just came back now. I flew in on a helicopter. We landed some blocks away from your apartment."

Ivan furrowed his brows, confused by the details his friend was revealing. "So, you came straight to my apartment? Why?"

"I asked the same question. Why?" Roger said, his arms gesturing forward. He looked behind him at the person who had accompanied him.

Ivan shifted his attention to Roger's company: a light-skinned man who looked almost exactly like Pope Afram Sarr. Beside the man were two orange hard-shell suitcases that Ivan rightfully guessed belonged to Roger. The colour of the suitcases was a big giveaway; Roger liked his luggage to be orange.

"Forgive my impoliteness, my name is Saint Afram Angouleme. I am an Emissary of the Church sent to accompany his holiness the Pillar to his home. Unfortunately, there has been a security compromise at his apartment, so he can't stay there for a while. The security team has asked me to come with him and plead with you, Mr Ivan, to let his holiness stay with you."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Roger reacted, a look of shock and near panic on his face.

"Sure. His holiness the Pillar can stay with me," Ivan said, making way for Roger to pass. "Step aside so that Mr…?"

"Just call me Mr Saint," Saint Afram Angouleme said, maintaining his professional smile.

"Hello, gentlemen. Sorry to bother your small meeting," a voice said from the corridor outside.

Saint shifted his stance to allow the speaker to stand before the doorframe. Valentine appeared. He was dressed in a dark brown button-up shirt tucked into slim-fit khaki trousers, matched with a pair of white low-top trainers.

Valentine gazed overtly at the faces present.

"Sorry to bother you gentlemen. I was just concerned about my neighbour's safety." He gazed at Ivan, a friendly smile on his face. "Hey, Ivan, my good neighbour. How are you doing?"

"I'm good."

Valentine gazed at Roger. "I guess this is your work colleague, yes? Wait… wait… he looks familiar. I have seen him somewhere. I just can't recall where." He stroked his chin with his right hand in thought.

Ivan sighed silently, mildly exasperated. "He is my friend. Roger, meet Valentine, my 'lovely' neighbour. Valentine, Roger, my best friend."

Valentine smiled sheepishly, flattered that Ivan had used the word 'lovely' to qualify him when, in truth, it was a sarcastic remark. Valentine shook Roger's hand.

"I will be on my way. I just wanted to know the people speaking to my good neighbour." Valentine tried to squeeze his way past Mr Saint, whose figure filled the empty space within the doorframe.

Mr Saint did not make way for Valentine to leave hastily.

"You didn't ask for my identity," Mr Saint said, peering into Valentine's eyes.

Valentine laughed nervously. "I didn't think it was necessary. I saw your gentle appearance and figured that you are not a threat."

Mr Saint's professional smile remained unwavering. He extended his hand for a handshake. "I'm Saint Afram Angouleme, you can call me Mr Saint."

Valentine had been aware that Roger was coming to stay with Ivan. He had set up secret surveillance gadgets around the building to track people coming in and out. He had not been decommissioned from surveilling Ivan. For an inexplicable reason, the surveillance system didn't detect the arrival of Mr Saint and Roger. Valentine had been drawn to Ivan's apartment by the voices he heard coming from inside. He came over, feigning to be a caring neighbour. He wanted to know the identity of the visitors he couldn't see on the monitor screen in his apartment. He felt a suppressing pressure emanate from Mr Saint's figure, which was why he didn't want to interact with the enigmatic man accompanying Roger.

The decision for Roger to stay with Ivan was a joint one made by the Liberation Force and the Church of Serenity. They needed Roger to be secured at all times, given that an enemy attack was looming. In Ivan's residential building, there were two strong figures whenever Ivan was around: Valentine and Ivan himself. Valentine packed significant power, being ranked at the Supreme Crusader level.

Valentine shook Mr Saint's hand, a pang of fear for the man before him. Suddenly, he heard Mr Saint's voice in his head.

"We will be in charge of watching over his holiness, the Pillar of Faith. Your acting is commendable. It almost had me fooled."

Something about the way Mr Saint's voice sounded in Valentine's thoughts made him feel that the mysterious man from the Church of Serenity was not real. The mysterious emissary sounded like an automated NPC.

Valentine walked away and returned to his apartment. After they saw Valentine's apartment door shut, the trio of Ivan, Roger, and Mr Saint all entered the living room, securing the entrance door.

"That guy is weird. He acts like those annoying NPCs I encounter in certain video games," Roger remarked with a laugh.

"He can be annoying, but I think he is a good guy looking out for other people," Ivan said half-heartedly in Valentine's defence.

"Extremely good and caring people almost all the time come off as very annoying sets of people. You just have to accommodate their characters because you never know when you will need a favour from them," Mr Saint said. "Mr Ivan, where can I keep his holiness' bags?"

"Oh, I forgot about that." Ivan got to his feet, wanting to take the bags from Mr Saint.

Roger also got up at the same time, his arms reaching for the bags' handles in the emissary's hands. "Please, stop acting like a servant. We are not different from each other."

Mr Saint manoeuvred away from the duo, leaving them defeated. "Please, let me handle it. I won't be here for long. I just want to make sure that you, your holiness, are settled well in your friend's apartment."

Ivan led the emissary to the storage room in his bedroom, which they modified into a makeshift wardrobe for Roger. The contents of the suitcase were emptied and arranged in the space. The suitcases were also fitted into the makeshift wardrobe.

The emissary made sure that a bed frame and a mattress were delivered to Ivan's apartment. This was to make a bed for Roger. Thankfully, two beds could fit into Ivan's bedroom.