Brass had a worried expression as he rubbed his forehead.

“Boy, you’ve got balls of emperor steel but the brain of a scrapper.”

Aisael had met up with Toby, Dina and Brass. Reiz stood awkwardly nearby. Aisael had explained what happened while he was exchanging with the Ability Merchant.

“Why did you have to interfere in the affairs of the other Houses? You don’t even know anyone in House Oxborn who will back you up.”

“It’s not that big of a matter, Brass.” Aisael wore a nonchalant expression. “2,000 Digeets is a low price to standing up for what’s right.”

“But he’s a Demi…” Toby muttered under his breath.

“Toby!” Brass reprimanded.

Aisael was at a loss. He heard the thugs use that terminology on Reiz too but did not think much of it.

“What’s a Demi?” Aisael asked.

Nobody said anything for a while.

“A Demi, short for Demi-astral, is an astral with a defective-…” Dina broke the silence.

“Different.” Reiz interjected.

“A Demi is an astral with a different astral circuit.” Dina continued. “Many of them rely on eating and drinking to live. Some even need to breathe…”

“Some of us can also wield more than one type of ability.” Reiz added. “And this particular quirk makes others afraid.”

Reiz’s thought that Aisael was like his brother and many others who only took pity on him. But what Aisael said next lifted his spirit and improved Reiz’s impression of him.

“People are afraid because you’re different?” Aisael was baffled. “Let them stay afraid. The way I see it? You’re stronger than them and you should be proud of who you are.”

Reiz stood a little straighter. He seemed to have gained more confidence in himself. He could not remember the last time someone had faith in him.

“Well, what’s done is done.” Brass folded his hands. “The next stage should be starting soon. Is everyone ready?”

“Yep!” Toby was glad for the change of topic.

“Not really, but I’ll make do.” Dina said casually.

“I’ve yet to exchange for some agility abilities. I’ll be right back.” Reiz left to exchange his sigils with the face with red cheeks.

Shortly after Reiz left, Brass signaled Aisael. Aisael followed Brass to a distance out of earshot of Toby and Dina, while still having them in their sights. The two siblings were busy testing out their abilities and weapons.

“What is it?” Aisael asked plainly.

“Be careful about making friends with Demis.”

“Why?”

Brass sighed as he thought that Blue One’s sudden change was beneficial, both for himself and for House Clovis. But others may find his insistence in matters insensitive and obstructive.

“You may or may not have heard of this. Roughly a decade ago, a group of Demi-astrals carried out mass-murder just outside Milestone City. They left a deep scar on those that lived near where the tragedy occurred, especially those that lost their families and friends. Toby and Dina’s parents died as unfortunate victims.”

Aisael looked at Toby and Dina. He was an orphan so he did not know what it was like to lose parents. But that did not mean that he did not know what loss felt like.

Brass saw a sympathetic expression on Aisael and understood that his message was received.

The both of them regrouped with Toby and Dina. Reiz returned just in time as the announcer’s voice rang around them.

“All participants, prepare yourselves. Obscurity Invasion will begin shortly.”

Participants all over the soot-filled land immediately took out their weapons and gathered into teams. Those that wielded axes and swords were at the front with those that wielded shields. Meanwhile, the ones behind them could be seen holding wands. Some seemed to wear rings on their fingers.

“Gear up, everyone!” Brass’ voice was heard throughout Point 142.

Toby and Brass took up positions at the front. Toby with a shield. Brass with a broadsword. Dina stood behind them with a wand. Reiz postured himself off to the side with a pair of daggers twirling in his hands like playing knifes.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Aisael was not sure where he should position himself. He decided to adapt as the situation dictates. If the front needs assistance, he’ll be ready to jump into the fray. However, his current position would be protecting Dina, who was the only long range on the team.

“Obscurity Invasion will start in 3… 2… 1.”

All was silent as everyone held their breaths.

It was not long before a soft scratching sound was heard. Participants looked left and right but could not locate where it was coming from.

“Gahhhhh!!” One of the participants from a small group screamed. Those that heard him turned to look. The man was being attacked by a large rat-looking creature. It climbed and clawed all over the man’s body. There was a hole on the ground next to the man when it did not exist a moment ago.

“Scrappers below!” Someone yelled.

The menacing face of a large rat jumped at Aisael just as he looked down. He swung at it quickly with his battle fork. But it dodged just as fast and leapt towards the next available target, Dina.

⟨⟨Boost⟩⟩!

Reiz appeared out of nowhere and cross-slashed the scrapper with its daggers swiftly. It then disappeared into a ray of black light.

“T-thanks.” Dina was visibly shaken. Either from the sneak attack or the sight of the rat-like Obscurity, only she knows.

“Don’t mention it. Teammates look out for one another.” Reiz calmly replied.

Aisael was slightly surprised at the speed Reiz arrived. Being caught off guard made him forget that abilities existed in this world. Many participants were quick to withdraw their frontlines closer to their backlines. Some did not react in time and the scrappers that leapt out of the soot underneath ruined the team’s positions.

“⟨⟨Find⟩⟩.” Dina searched for the nearest hidden scrapper.

ELZB?

[Using an ability is similar to summoning a trove from the previous stage. Simply redirect astral energy into the ability tokens to activate them.] ELZB had already analyzed from the surrounding participants when they started casting abilities.

“⟨⟨Taunt⟩⟩.” Brass drew the attention of a nearby scrapper and swung his sword across the Obscurity’s neck. The attack went through without resistance and the scrapper disappeared into a ray of black light.

“⟨⟨Block⟩⟩!” Toby blocked the attacks from two incoming scrappers. Reiz did not hesitate and sliced at the scrappers. It took a while, but Toby and Reiz turned both scrappers into rays of light.

[Are you not joining the fight?] ELZB asked.

I’m not needed. If this simulation adopts a game-like system, then there should be a “boss” scrapper appearing soon. I don’t want to be occupied with these minions when it appears.

Aisael stood near Dina in the event of an unexpected attack. But the scrapper “boss” has not showed its face so far. And with the element of surprise gone, most of the scrappers attack upfront instead from underneath them.

The skirmishes with the scrappers lasted about half an hour. And by then, a small portion of the participants had already turned into a ray of light. Most of the survivors took this brief period to form new teams and rest.

“You guys okay?” Brass wiped his sword with a cloth.

Both Toby and Reiz laid down on the ground, exhausted. Toby used his battered shield as a headrest.

“A little tired.” Dina was breathing a bit heavily but was otherwise fine.

Aisael was the only one who did not look worn out. The four of them stared at him silently.

“Brother Blue sure is strong.” Toby was once again filled with admiration.

Dina lightly laughed. “Blue One did not do much actually. He only took care of the scrappers that got past you guys, which were few. So good job!”

It was during this time of rest that something strange occurred. Dozens of semi-translucent cat faces appeared floating in the air all over the Point 142 while most participants’ guard was down. No matter how tired one may be, seeing a bodiless creature out of the nowhere could be frightening. Even a grown man would find it unnerving.

“What is that?” Aisael stared curiously as a wide grin spread in front of him. Two captivating feline eyes opened above the smile and an eerie feeling ran up and down his body.

“A Cheshire!” Brass warned and shot a beam of astral energy from his hands at the floating face suspending in front of Aisael.

The cat face bobbed in the air and avoided Brass’ attack. Other participants became aware of the situation and started shooting astral energy at the evasive Cheshire faces.

The second wave of Obscurities has arrived.

The participants tried their hardest to not to let their shots go wild. But what with everyone still weary from the previous fight, friendly fire was bound to happen.

“Hey, watch it!” Reiz sidestepped an incoming astral attack.

“Oops.” One of the thugs from before made a show of an apologetic shrug.

“⟨⟨Astral Shield⟩⟩!” Reiz defended an incoming beam to his left with astral energy in the form of a shield.

“Tch, maybe you’re not a weak Demi after all.” The other thug who supposedly shot the second beam of astral energy at Reiz commented sarcastically.

“What are you doing?” Reiz was visibly upset.

“Did you seriously think we’d pass up an easy opportunity to gain 2,000 Digeets without contributing?” The thugs were not alone. Four other participants with a greedy look on their faces accompanied them.

“It’s not about the Digeets.” Aisael placed himself next to Reiz. “It’s about protecting their pride.”

The two thugs shot a few beams at Aisael but he blocked it with his battle forks.

“Spot on?” Aisael smirked.

“No shit! Who would apologize to a Demi? Not after the mass-murder they did.”

“A group of Demi-astrals doesn’t represent the whole community. Just like how two fragile egocentric individuals from House Oxborn don’t represent the whole of House Oxborn, right?” Aisael retorted with furrowed brows as he looked into the eyes of the four participants next to the thugs.

The four participants exchanged nervous glances with each other.

“Don’t listen to him. It’s an easy 2,000 Digeets for us.” One of the thug started shooting astral energy. The other thug and the four participants followed suit and fired recklessly at Aisael and Reiz.

Aisael noticed Reiz’s astral shield was slowly crumbling under the weight of the attacks. He stepped forward to absorb additional energy attacks.

Toby wanted to help but Brass held him back.

“Have some faith in Blue One.” Brass was staring at the battle forks Aisael used to defend against the astral beams. They were giving out a dangerous glow. The two groups were not the only ones having a feud. Chaos ensued wherever the Cheshire Obscurities roamed.

Suddenly, a deep and fearsome howl caught everyone’s attention. It came from the horizon. Aisael turned and saw two pack of wolves making their way past the Sub Points.

The third wave of Obscurities announced their arrival.