Chapter 1

"Being a hero doesn't mean you're invincible, it just means that you're brave enough to stand up and do what's needed."

-Rick Riodan-

***

Warm puff of breath gathered in the air as he exhaled his first breath in Moscow. The first  thing he saw as soon as he left the airport was the vast amount of snow gathered on the side of the road.

People around him were mostly wearing fur coats or a thick layer of winter coat. He wondered why he thought visiting the place in winter was a great idea. Yet there he was,  dragging his luggage to find the nearest taxi.

Damian had a high expectation for the next week. He did not know what made him decide to  visit the city after all these years, he had never been a fan of the colder weather and always preferred to stay in the warm.

Perhaps it was due to his change of perspective toward the world, after hitting his 30's, he had tried to be more open toward the possibilities in life which he had actualized by traveling all around the world for the past three years.

Damian has stepped his foot on most part of Asia and several regions of Europe, but for some reasons he had never visited Russia before.

He had to admit, it was a bit different than what he had expected. Much colder than his initial  thought, that was so sure, but he was wrapped in three layers of winter outfit, so he would be just fine.

After fetching a ride, he gave the address to the driver as he fastened his seat belt, enjoying  the drive in peace. Thanks to the advancement of technology, he did not have to book a hotel during his stay.

Instead, he was renting an apartment in the middle of the city which would be much more reasonable than spending a week in a hotel without actually staying in the hotel  the vast majority of the time.

Looking outside the  window, he caught his own reflection on the car's window, which  encouraged him to reflect on himself.

For the past four years, Damian had tremendously changed both physical and personality wise, to the point where he could no longer recognize his old self had someone shown him a picture.

Mentally, he had definitely matured, he used to think of the world in a narrow way, where there was only one fixed solution to everything while ignoring other possibilities, but there had been many things over the course of the years that changed him.

The robbery incident he experienced a few years back made him learn martial arts as well as  street fighting techniques, both had influenced his mental growth, as  the body and mind are connected. It also came as a package with a workout routine which had built and shaped his body for the better.

Damian was a lot more muscular and ripped. His shoulder had slightly  broadened and he developed a six pack, though he was not as muscular as Jordan, he had what women would call "a desirable body" for men. Just the perfect in between skinny and massive.

His physical change was so drastic that most of his old outfits had become too skimpy for him to wear, furthermore, as of lately, he had been gravitating more toward simplicity, which made him wear mostly black from head to toe. He also underwent a lasik surgery just like his sister Scarlett to maximize his efficiency during his training.

Beside physical training, the change in his diet and routine had also made an impact on his facial appearance, he was a bit more youthful despite being thirty.

Most would say he looked better than he was four years ago, though he was not as chiseled as Carter nor as smoldering as Enrique, but Damian was definitely a hunk in his own way.

Career wise, he was promoted as a Tech Engineer Specialist, as well as the second person in  command on the technological and cyber security section of the company  he worked for, which was not all that surprising considering his work ethics and history.

On the flip side, he had become busier than ever. Therefore when he had the chance to take vacations, he ensured he would enjoy it to the fullest.

Overall, he was content  with his current life, but there was still something missing, like a  part of his purpose has not been achieved yet, and he did not know what  it was. Traveling had become a great source of escape from his city life, and more often than not, he would intentionally seek out more daring adventures such as skiing or sky diving, just for the sake of  feeling alive.

It was a way for him to get out of his comfort zone and broke his shell, because he suddenly realized that life was so much more than sitting in front of a computer typing codes all day.

While technology has become a huge part of human lives, the experience of living itself mostly happened outside the technological realm. Yet there was still that one thing in the back of his head that still bothered him but he could not wrap his fingers around it.

Oh well, might as well just forget it.

The taxi arrived in front of the building, he paid and went inside to the lobby, he dialed  the host of the place and waited in the lobby as he went down.

After five minutes, a middle aged man approached him and both exchanged a handshake, he led him to the tenth floor where his room would be located, as well as giving a brief tour of the place before handing the key over to him.

It was not that big but it was comfortable and cozy enough for him to stay for a few days. It had a full functioning kitchen, a clean bathroom with a shower, a living room which double as a  dining room and a bedroom with deluxe sized bed.

After fifteen minutes, the host eventually left him alone. The first thing he did was to unbox  his luggage, he placed all of his clothes on the wardrobe, taking out  the basic hygiene products, as well as taking out his shoes and cologne.

After unpacking everything, he took a seat on the bed and pulled out a note from his pocket filled with the places he wanted to visit. It was quite tight and jam packed, he might need to adjust them later, but first, he needed to buy some groceries.

Eating out in a restaurant everyday just did not sit well with him. Unlike his sister Scarlett who made and spent money like no one else, he was a bit more calculative and responsible with his earnings, even after having his salary increased to 250K per year, he was still careful with his lifestyle.

The market was not that far away from where he was staying, instead of fetching himself another ride, he chose to walk and took a walk around the place, really taking his time to see what the place had to offer.

As he was picking an apple from the stall, a brief thought entered his mind, it was about one of his habit, he was not sure what it was but he had always fancied flea and street market over giant chain markets, perhaps that was simply because he loved supporting the local economy wherever he traveled.

Despite the extremely cold weather and temperature, which came as a consequence for visiting the country in January, the market was still filled with people of all ages.

It was not deserted by any means. He could hear the stall owners promoting their merchandise in Russian. He learned a little bit of the language prior to his visit so he could  grasp some basic understanding of what they were saying.

With the help of his digital translators he could make the transactions smoothly. By the end of his tour, his bags were filled with some fruits, vegetables, starches, lean meat, sauce and spices for him to cook later on. His arms  were full of groceries but it felt oddly satisfying.

It's funny how the smallest things you do in life make you feel so much more put together after doing it.

After he exited the market, he mapped out the way back, and to get back to the place he had  to walk through a side road where there was an alley in the middle of two buildings, though he felt a strange sense of déjà vu when he saw it from afar, he was not really thinking much about it.

But then, as if being pulled in by a mysterious force, he accidentally turned his head around right when he passed the alley, where he saw a crowd which appeared to be some sort of gangsters, but when he looked closer, he could see another figure that looked like she was out of place.

It was a woman whose face he could not see very clearly from where he was  standing, but it did not take him long to read the situation.

The woman was in danger.

He had to think for a second whether he wanted to help her or not, but he was reminded of himself in the past when he was going through the terrible experience. It made him empathize with the stranger. In a snap of a finger, he placed down his groceries on the side of the street  before walking in to the alley.

Don't seek trouble

I am totally seeking trouble right now

"Leave her alone." he shouted in English, the group which consisted of five grown men  immediately turned their head around to see who it was who dared to disturb their little play.

They thought it was the police but when the spotted Damian they were laughing their ass off. From his accent alone they could tell he was a foreigner, but the handsome look on his face  made them look down on him even more.

"This American wants to play hero." they mocked in Russian. What they had not realized while they  were talking was that Damian was analyzing their bodies to predict their strength. Three of those men were shorter and more slender than Damian while two were bigger than him. He knew exactly what he needed to do with them.

"We'll show him some  lessons." the larger man who seemed to be the leader began to charge on  him, he was a bit sloppy in his move and it was easy for Damian to avoid his jab. It appeared to him that his main strength was located in his arms, while his chest was left unguarded most of the time.

He noted it and made a mental calculation. After dodging his punches several times, Damian threw a punch in his chest, which seemed to really hit him.

So that's his weak spot.

Watching their leader being punched by this pretty man was a huge offense to them, therefore, they went to charge him at the same time. Most of them still used their bare hands, the smaller ones mostly utilized their legs to create long distance attack, but Damian had practiced years to deal with situations like that.

This time, he did not simply dodge the attacks on him, he baited them to hit each other, when two of them tried to punch him at the same time, he took a step back to avoid their hit range, and thanks to the natural law of speed, they ended up punching each other.

Of course, he did not just avoid them. When one of them pulled out a knife  to stab him, he swiftly caught his wrist and jumped to his shoulder, clenching his neck tightly with his arms while hitting his pulse, forcing him to drop the knife, at the same time, another one was  marching at him bare handed, he kicked him on the stomach, dropping him  straight to the ground.

The fight lasted for around ten minutes before most of them fell to the ground. A few years  ago he would have never imagined he would end up like that. To be  honest, it felt quite refreshing in the darkest way possible.

After he was sure it was over, he took several shallow breaths as he watched them fell  unconscious to the ground. He had made sure to hit their weak spots, as Jordan would say, and because he thought it was over, he lowered his guard, but when he turned around, one of the man stood up in an instant  with the knife on his hand, he marched toward him with the speed of a lightning.

Damian swiftly turned around but was dumb founded when he  found the man on the ground with his wrist locked down by the woman he  just saved. She kicked him on the back of his head, a vital spot and practically made him unconscious.

What just happened?