Eogis. A forgotten land most people avoided.

The landscape appeared ordinary, the same green grass, the same trees, the same animals... Except one area.

Two individuals were perched atop a hill, their gaze directed to a single building standing in the middle of a wide expanse a few kilometers away.

This building reminded them of a holy place, with stained-glass windows, and built with white marble.

A few guards posted at the entrance carefully observed their surroundings, blocking any chance to enter inside the normal way.

As both kept observing the location, a very few number of individuals entered the place. With more of them entering, armed soldiers representing each Apostle's army lined up around the building.

With no one coming out of the building, Orion deduced that they were the Apostles, meeting here for the 'Ceremony' he heard about.

"Amelia, fourteen people went inside. Eleven men, and three women. The man I saw in Thaalgar also went in."

After waiting for quite some time, no one else joined the ones inside.

"I think they're all here."

"There are so many people... Armies are stretching left and right, making it impossible for us to approach undetected. We either die fighting thousands of soldiers, or we find another way in, which might not be feasible."

Orion shook his head from side to side.

"Correction, I enter the place alone. Do you think I will let you go inside such a dangerous place? I'm not sure if I can protect you in case something happens. It will be easier for me to escape alone."

Amelia tried to disagree with him, but rapidly acknowledged that it would indeed be better.

"I... No, you are right. It's not like we're going to kill the Apostles today. If it's just to get information out of them, you're definitely a better choice."

"Glad you understand. I'm not saying you're not strong enough for the job, since I want you to wait close to the building, in case I need your help."

Orion's expression darkened.

"I'm even thinking it will be inevitable to use your power. Something is going to happen in this 'Ceremony'. The moment I come out, there are two outcomes..."

With a severe expression, he looked at her.

"Either nothing happens, I leave the building without alerting anyone, and we leave without being seen, which, realistically speaking, might be impossible."

Nodding, Amelia asked.

"And the second outcome? Alerting everybody of your presence, while the moment you come out, I have to activate the 'First Gear', before fleeing as fast as we can?"

"Precisely. You know me well."

"It's simple enough. When are you going to sneak in?"

"Since there appears to be no other guests, we should move closer now. I don't want to miss any important information about them if I can."

Once the plan to infiltrate the building began, they stealthily walked across the forest they hid into, and stopped before heading into the plain. It was the only place close enough that had few soldiers around.

The rest of the way, Orion had to find how to cross the distance without being found. The distance wasn't much, but it felt like a good hundred meters nonetheless.

(This is as far as we can go. How are you going to get past the surrounding armies? There's no tree to hide you once you get out.)

As Amelia began to whisper, Orion fell into deep thoughts. He tried to remember the books he read when one idea popped into his mind.

(Amelia, could you create a string of water between those two trees? Activate the 'First Gear' for ten seconds when I ask for it, too.)

(You know that using it hurts you. I don't want that... But I guess ten seconds is reasonable. I can do it, but what are you aiming for with this idea?)

(I will become a projectile. Using the string as a slingshot, I'll make it without anyone noticing, and it'll help me get to a safe spot to enter.)

(You are crazy...)

Amelia placed her hand on her brows, rubbing them as if his madness had caused her a headache.

Then, the pointed her palm at the trees Orion pointed out before, and used her water magic on them.

(Thanks for the compliment. Are you done with the water string?)

(It's done. It wasn't too complicated.)

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(I made it more or less elastic, so you can get some distance. I believe you already made some calculation for the power or angle you're going to be launched at?)

Orion shrugged.

(I haven't yet.)

(...)

She gave him a death stare, which made him nervously smile in return.

(Don't look at me like that. I'm not going blindly, I swear.)

She couldn't believe in him. The man she followed was a reckless fool.

"Amelia, at my five, activate it."

Placing his lower back on the string, Orion walked a few steps backwards, stretching it with each step even further.

"One... two... three... four... five!"

"Left Leg, First Gear Activated."

The familiar monotone voice echoed in their mind.

'Here I go!'

Orion jumped off the ground, releasing the pressure on the water string. He aimed his body towards the intended target, and focused.

Before being launched by the string, he activated both 'Calm Mind' and 'Eagle Eye'. Time slowed down drastically, while he began to calculate the precise distance and angle between him and the building.

'The place I want to be at...'

His eyes scanned each part of the church-like building, before resting on the perfect spot.

'The roof is definitely the place, but what can I use to stop my acceleration? Grabbing is out of the question, as I'm risking serious injuries if I slid down, or miss a ledge.'

As he looked across the roof, a long, and thick metal bar appeared, waving a flag.

'There's a flag pole at the top! There!'

'Okay, I remember a book about parallax and angles, so I'll use these.'

His eyes glowed yellow as he continued to analyze at an absurd speed.

'Let's see, the building seems to be a few hundred meters away, something around five hundred... fifty meters. The flag pole is quite high. It might be a little below a hundred and thirty meters high.'

'We have five hundred and fifty meters away... oh, the flag is further away than the wall! I need to take that into account. It might be a small distance, but it can lead to a bad trajectory. Ten meters seem to be the right distance away, so sixty meters away instead.'

'The building's a hundred and thirty meters high, paired with the distance, this should give me an angle of... around 13.2°? Let me put a bit less weigh, aaaand... this should be perfect!'

His view became aligned to the flag pole, his whole body tensed, and his arms bulged ready to catch it.

'My gloves... Never mind, I'll put them on in the air.'

Before launching, he made a peace sign directed at Amelia, merely catching sight of it for an instant before a strong gust of wind pushed her back.

Holding her hair from blocking her vision, she looked in the distance and watched as Orion spun an unnecessary number of times around the flag pole.

(He's having fun, isn't he?)

...

Orion slipped down the flag pole, moved on the roof stealthily, and stopped at one of the windows. He carefully examined the room before going in.

As no one was in sight, he entered unnoticed.

'I'm in. First, let's find a place to hide.'

He seemed to be in an old storage room.

Exited the dusty room, he found himself in a brightly lit wide hallway with many chandeliers, and a beautiful blue carpet spreading to an arched doorway on both side of the area.

Orion looked up. Wooden beams where the chandeliers were fixed on caught his attention.

Promptly realizing this was the best way to move without being seen, he ran, jumped on the wall, caught a chandelier, jumped on the wall at the other side of the hallway, and grabbed onto the beam.

'This space is pretty narrow. There's not enough place to move around. Still, this is more than enough. Alright, I have to find the Apostles.'

Since the place seemed pretty empty, he listened for voices. After walking on the beams for a couple of minutes, he began to hear an angered voice coming from a room further in.

'This way?'

He entered the room through an attic space above a room. He couldn't see much of what was happening under him, but he could hear what the people inside the room were discussing.

"Do you want us to believe that mountain of lies? Since when, someone apart from us had the knowledge to harvest the corrupted cores. No such things happened in our history since our Lord Elliott left the world to us. We will always be the strongest!"

"I'll say it again, as it is a fact. Two corrupted beasts' cores had already been plundered before we could reclaim them. The report does not lie, as the only part missing from the bodies are the cores."

The tough-looking Apostle, Eric Layman, and a commander like man were having a heated conversation.

'They're talking about this again? Was killing those beasts such a big deal for them? I should have let them be if I had known.'

Orion carefully walked around, before finding a small crack in the floorboard. He laid down carefully, and looked down.

"You two can stop there, since nothing can be done at this point. Maybe it isn't even a threat to us. Being at each other's throat in front of everyone is disgraceful."

"Florian, stay out of this. Keep to your books, or I'll make you eat them on the spot."

The commander looking man barked angrily at the man named Florian.

"Kiel, shut your mouth immediately, or I swear you'll be the first to die in our ranks."

A dignified voice echoed in the room, putting a stop to the quarrel before it could degenerate further.

"Thank you, miss Layla."

Florian slightly bent his head toward her.

"You're welcome. Now, who else has something to speak off before the ceremony begins?"

'It seems like that woman is the strongest here. Layla, was it? I will need to treat carefully around her.'

Out of nowhere, a voice more powerful than hers overtook the council of Apostles, sending a bone-chilling shiver down Orion's spine.

"Do any of you remember the pillar from twenty-two years ago? This is your culprit, the one killing my beasts."

'Elliott! But there's something strange, his voice feels too stiff, and I can hear another tone behind it...'

Orion was about to make a move, but was immediately remembered where he was. Hearing Elliott's voice confirmed it at last; he was still sealed.

"My Lord! Do you have enough strength to speak to us today? Thank you very much!"

The fourteen Apostles kneeled where they stood.

"The seal is still draining my life force as I speak, but it is getting close to its breaking point. Soon, I'll be free, and we'll cleanse this world of the filth that walks on this earth."

The disdain in his voice was deeply familiar to Orion. It was the exact tone he heard mocking his parents.

"We're glad to hear about your recovery. Our ancestors would have been delighted to hear about it too."

The head of the Apostles, Layla, kept answering to him with fanaticism in her voice.

"I have a few words before returning to rest. Beware of the Forbidden Child. The pillar of light that shook the world so many years ago was definitely linked to the cores being removed from the beasts recently."

An ominous tone surprised everyone, especially Orion.

"Find him, kill him, and bring me his dead body. Once done, I would have finally conquered the continent!"

His voice's faded, as everyone stood up.

'They know about me now. It's great to hear Elliott is still sealed. This gives me peace of mind for the future.'

His mind relaxed, before he returned to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Lord Elliott's return is upon us. Everyone, you've all heard him. We need to find the offspring of the angels and demons after we finish today's ceremony. Everyone, let's begin the annual ritual."

'This is what I was waiting for. Let's see what you were hiding so secretly, Apostles.'

Orion placed his worries about Elliott's return in the back of his head, and began to watch the 'ceremony' through the cracks of the ceiling.