On the ground of the rage continent, every few miles a person seems to pop into existence for a few moments, and then disappears shortly after.
This person is the first one that headed in the direction of the Fool Island. He wears black clothes that are intertwined with golden stripes. He looks to be in his thirties and normally carries a look of confidence, however right now his face is dripping with sweat.
“ARGHHH. That monster woke up!?”
He looks behind himself for a moment and thinks about turning back, however that just causes his body to shudder in fear and he again disappears and then reappears closer to his destination, the Fool Island.
“I’ll take the risk and hope that thing wasn’t talking to me. If she comes back and finds out I didn’t do what I was supposed too…”
More sweat pours out of his face and he continues his journey, quickening his pace. Eventually he reaches his destination on the coast of the Rage continent. Sitting in the sand that lines the coast of the Rage continent is a woman wearing a blue robe. The man in black blinks away before she can see him, quickly wipes the sweat off his face, fixes his hair and then arrives back to the coast. He clears his throat and calls out to her.
“Miss Rei of the Mind’s Eye, what a pleasure to see you here.”
The woman known as Rei stands up as she hears his voice, and her mouth turns into a frown as she realizes who exactly had arrived here.
“Void thief, I assume you’re here to help me?”
The man smiles and walks up next to her, though keeping on constant vigilance.
“Yes I believe I am, though I’m not exactly sure what I’m helping you with. All I know is that we’re helping her kid with something. Care to explain with what?”
Rei looks out to the waters surrounding the Rage continent and her brows furrow. She speaks hesitantly, not completely trusting the man next to her.
“I need you to open up spacial voids from here to twenty two different locations.”
The mans face drops the moment he hears the words coming out of her mouth.
“I’m sorry? Do you know how much it takes out of me to make individual rifts and now you want me to make twenty three different ones? No, no deal.”
Getting ready to leave the man starts to walk back, but is stopped by the next words that come out of Rei’s mouth.
“Are you sure you can refuse? From what I know, she’s coming back in less than two years.”
Comically the man spins back while standing in place and the sweat that he had wiped away once again appears on his face.
“You’re serious, she really is?”
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Rei nods in agreement, however what she’s saying is completely a lie. She had no idea when Arc’s mother would return, but she was sure enough that the fear the man had for the woman would lead to him assisting her.
He runs his hand through his hair quickly and mutters something to himself. He then walks back next to Rei and sighs in defeat.
“So where do you want these rifts? The more info the better.”
Rei closes her eyes and speaks without looking at the Void Thief.
“Open a single rift in front of me. That rift will lead to and from the multiple zones of inheritances from the Fool on the Arcana chain. Then… I need you to protect me.”
Scoffing the Void Thief sarcastically replies to her.
“Protect you? What for, you’re plenty capable of protecting yourself.”
Reis eyes slightly gloss over and her voice shakes a bit as she talks.
“I will be sending my consciousness through the rift to those multiple locations. At those locations I will take the fragments of the fools memory at each location and send them each to the Fool Island. After her child has received the inheritance from those fragments, I will return them to their rightful spots. During that time I will be defenseless.”
The Void Thief’s eyes go wide.
“That’s- are you serious? You won’t just be defenseless after you do that, you’re probably gonna die! I get that the Mind’s Eye specialize in stuff like this, but that’s still unbelievably dangerous! Why are you risking your life for this?”
Craning her head up to the sky, Rei speaks solemnly.
“Because like you I have a debt to pay. And, more than that I am scared. If I don’t deliver on what she expected out of me, my death will be an inevitability. Although I am risking my life and it is possible I will die, I will gladly take that possibility if it means I could live without worry in the future.”
“It’s easy to say that but actually risking your life is... “
The void thiefs voice trails off, not knowing what to say. He shakes his head disapprovingly, however he lifts his hand at points it forwards, his palm facing out towards the ocean.
“I won’t judge you, because you’re making a choice that I wouldn’t be able to. I can just run away from any problems I have. The only reason I’m here to repay my debt is because I don’t want to leave this place, because just like you I’m scared. I’m afraid of the world outside, the place where that monster came from.”
Rei looks at the void thief with surprise and she attempts to say something, but is stopped by the void thief who simply shakes his head.
“Don’t say a word. I’m not important to you at the moment, just focus on the task ahead of you. Your life and death trial is about to begin, Miss Rei. I hope you come out the other end alive and well.”
In front of the void thief’s outstretched hand, a black ball forms from thin air. The ball is about the same size as a small dog, and it silently floats above the area the void thief had pointed at with his palm. The void thief takes a deep breath and begins to recite a phrase out loud.
“From this point, a path begins to form. Forming entrances into unseen ancient places, allowing their treasures to be stolen by the greatest thief under heaven. This technique has been passed through the annals of time and has been received by me. By the name of this technique, I order space to open up and find a place for this path to end. This is “Void”.
The black ball spikes for a moment, its size and shape fluctuating wildly but managing to return to its original form. The void thief’s knees buckle and he pushes out a hand onto the ground to catch himself. His breathing is quick and out of rhythm.
“Miss Rei you… you have three hours until this rift closes. Carry out your task and while you do I will protect you.”
Rei nods her head, immediately taking action not wasting any time. She closes her eyes and a blue mist seems to exit her body and flies into the black ball in front of the two. Her body slumps over as the wisp leaves, now seeming as if holds no life.
Catching his breath and standing up, the Void thief stands guard around Rei’s now unmoving body. Although he is quite fatigued he still makes sure to absolutely be vigilant.
He scans the coast of the continent looking for anyone hiding in the waters, but his attention is instantly pulled over to a few feet away on the treeline that lies before the coast. The outline of a body appears in his eyes, and he puts his hands up in a combat stance with a fierce look on his face.
The outline he saw walks out of the treeline and reveals a bulky man wearing a mask that has a bulls face inscribed onto it. Horns pierce out of the mask reaching towards the sky. The man has his hands raised as he walks out of the treeline, and he speaks in a low gruffly voice that matches well with his appearance.
“Hold on. There’s a person of interest here and I’d like to make a deal with you, one that I’m sure you would very heavily consider.”
A response is yelled back immediately.
“How about I make a deal with you, you leave and you won’t die.”
A gruff laugh can be heard underneath the mask.
“Well then, I don’t really want to die so...”
The man’s previously raised hands fall down at a lightning quick pace, he plants a quickly forming fist into the sand in front of him. The sand then explodes out without warning, forming a barrier of obscurity that blocks the void thief from seeing through it. He takes a deep breath and begins to ready himself for the battle that would surely come.
“Making a deal with death, aren’t you the bold one!”