COI C119
Ironno is carrying large bags of junks, mostly empty mana batteries. They found it inside the ruins. Maser and Haw continue to search around and able to find them on the most dangerous areas. The siege, the failures of the defenses, the correct use of specific strategies to go through inside, and finally put the end where the train enters the city. There is something they thought it shouldn’t have been done, but masterfully planned out. Someone is spying inside the city. The Dexter Guild is already checking it out, with the archscientist secretly setting up her meeting and away from the citizens’ eyes and ears.
“Raker Mawn, or we just call you Spokesman”
“There is no need to further the introduction, let’s focus on the priority your guild in”
The archscientist skips the rest of the phase by phase in her program. She gets to the point “That’s good, less work for all of us here. Ahem* EVERYONE! It’s been sometimes for the Technocrats and the Machinists been working around the factory. It’s good though they provide hospitality to one of their facilities. Unfortunately, this place is better. Under the roads, inside the underground utility they called it sewers”
She punches the wall where the screen statically shaken with blurry images starting to form. They see the map of the original city, reverts back to architectural design, to the basic diagram would fits the words of her presentation, and lastly the locations of the unknown magic phenomenon.
“We already know about why we are here, and Lady Coheld still station at our base of operation with the higher ups. Codices and Mechanics, your mission continues here. Once we collaborated them carefully, we will take our true objectives to find the secrets of their city. We have more than two months left, be ready to the next phase . . .”
The archscientist stops herself as she watches them taken notes on the map. Spokesman sees the resemblance like Ironno’s map. It has more details than Ironno did, the difference is only a few descriptions. The origins are from the rebellion, abandoned gangs’ hideouts, and the smuggling trade chains. Surprisingly, they are not all connected. Proving that Myrrkei is wrong for once, he is able to find the realms and still lacks to whom who owns it. This is the superiority of the guild with their handful of members.
After looking at the maps and only in the first panel, she called to everyone “Like it or not, you only have a handful of Enders available at their service. That man with us here is fully classified and you know all about her. With this clarification is done, let’s now make it quick through our head of Archscientist on screen”
The screen shows the video of their guild mistress. They called their guild master/mistress as Archscientist, and the woman before them is just here to fill the role of her absence. The temporary archscientist will must say head as to not confuse for the other departments.
Lady Coheld shows herself on screen “Greetings, to all my fellow guild members. You have done well to your service inside Isekai City, you were acting what they needed during their struggle. Don’t forget your purpose why you are there; the sources from the undergrown, the connection of the infamous fraud, and the conspiracy of origins are matching between the two statements, I have said before. My command is ceased your personal projects on the third statement. We are not ready to go against hundreds of thousands of inevitable upbringings . . .”
“. . . Or you’ll be one of the examples as I did to our predecessor. You were not the random people we always did in every work force. I have your mental documents, and you people as obedient as the data said. Like any archscientist, for my studies, I want facts. So, don’t try anything smart, there will always be fun going around in our guild as we almost break and reopen an ancient ruin. An excavation area, a place that is a massive hole hiding secret bunkers during the war. I’m saying this as you’re the next generation for this opportunity. You know all too well what I’m saying here”
The Spokesman is starting to understand what Haw meant about this. They make it so less elaborate for them to be this secretive. An excavation area, but where is it, filled with bunkers. It’s everywhere, just like the undergrown itself has a bunker. He got only three things she said. Not very informal, that is already been mention but except for the third one. They are all connected for some reason. Their maps show the realms are separated to three certain groups. This is too speculative for him to understand. What is his purpose for being here?
The Lady turns to him “Guild Master Daygen Naim is passing a message from me to you . . . “Spokesman”, do you still used that name?”
“Please, continue”
“Pardon my words, he requests to play along in our research and do the other direction, parallel path, where both of us going to be part of the operation closely but not involved in cooperation. I heard that Nun friend of his is wanting help a young woman. I don’t care, take her business along with the boy I read from the marine corps’ reports. It will be bearable for the both us”
After the live video from the head archscientist, the archscientist herself explains to him more briefly. “It will be easy for me too. Few days later, we will be going through a complete mission operation to take control to the northern parts of Taiyou Industries. Don’t worry about going somewhere dangerous. We will be going to the outskirts to rebuild their old borders”
“How about the inside of the city?”
“We will be provided the equipment for them, and they need now are their armed forces to deal with it. Their men are rested enough, we will see them soon”
Spokesman finally receives the document, after all that secret meeting. He opens the document, if Haw said is true, Dexter Guild never revealed their secrets. He sees the files. Those are the same plans for the workers should’ve been doing since the end of the siege. It’s kind of pathetic to those who already know what they are going to do at the very beginning. This makes them look stupid. He points it out the most covered up plan they are trying to do. What are they truly been doing from all this time?
It’s the last day for the schools to test their performance inside the water realm. The students learned so much to dealt the sea, or less where this is not the training they have to do. Throughout their work yesterday, they were convinced to continue further on the experience when next week or so being rumored to have such a chance. The teachers are committed or was the department told them to do so. Quail is going to be busy having a conversation with Quill about this. While the rest of the students cheered as they are going to face the city’s ruin wasteland for their opportunity to become adventurers.
Archivist and Tabitha received messages from the other school teachers, as they are doing this for only a job. They request them to help them venture deep within the ruins next time. Tabitha is starting to feel up her schedule
“Today, they want something special for you to do something for them as the final event in this water world. Now, they want to plan something for next week for us. Am I wasting my time for my enlightenment?”
“Wasting time, sure. A reward to act such kindness, another seed for your heart to grow, and no regrets should be carried forth as your meaning forces you to advance”
Archivist speaks for himself as he quoted to her. Tabitha has no understand what philosophy he meant. Archivist sends his thoughts to make it clear. “It is the same what you are doing in Enders Bridge, while you find a way to leave this world, there is a path blocked by people who are helping you. You did your best to be accustomed by our culture and even open to experience it. The search for getting you home, it is still won’t come even close. You have others at your side who will be bringing you there. This time, you are truly alone. Like you enter your friends grave, you carry something I’ll never know. You continue to go, even you are forced to do it yourself”
Tabitha understood, and only left for the both of them to get their equipment done. Haw’s quest is around the corner to finish it. Adding more people to get the best items she could get and Archivist too, there is one thing she can’t ignore from the agreement. That time, when Archivist said to Haw
“Could you make it into cards?”
It was her set of cards for Archivist’s skill sets infused together with her mana. The reason was because he wants nothing on him to carry one. Tabitha thought he is a gentleman to her, and realistically, her carrying his stuff is more of an advantage of conveniences.
Now approaching at the entrance of the water realm, they were asking for a specific monster they wish to face. Archivist offers them a very old being, they don’t know what is it, even dared to say a monster in value. Tabitha stays silent as their mind bending together as if they dared to, or was this idea meant to challenge the students to the full extent. The warning has spread the words of the students, once they get inside the water realm, the bright under the sea world turned dark. This being lived beneath the depths, a dangerous monster that probably be their equals.
“There is a special monster inside this realm, to anyone who knows about this new dark under water environment. Please share . . .?”
Archivist was supposed to be the one will be explaining to them, yet there are more Agatheans know about it. Their eyes express in worrisome, and their voices slowly tremor then stuttering
“T-th-this something you shouldn’t be doing”
The citizen teacher responds with an example in hand “We have it, it can be found beneath the mountain shrine. It would be a good example to . . .”
The Agatheans are moving away from the realm and said “We’re not expecting to you guys getting to use your failsafe. Just flee like us”
They all left leaving the students infecting the fear factors throughout the entire groups. The Sister’s Hope students were almost afraid, thanks to the sphere, they found something scarier than monsters attacking them, not able to hit them. The High Borne Knights students stared at the abyss, whereas something lurks inside is blinking a feint glow, nothing scary but the glow moves tremendously fast somehow. The International Private students test their magic on it, phasing through with their light magic, they couldn’t find anything. The dark sea is becoming more terrifying with every test.
Since they didn’t give a proper introduction to the new biome, the Agatheans left with such a great scare. Alche has to show to them what it is “Ahem* Excuse me, for anybody wants to know what is going on. Please, everyone comes closer and I’ll show you how they have planned for this event”
The students were also coming to the term of leaving, because how unrealistic it is to have this kind of experience as they won’t be going to the sea just staying inside the region. On their other side of their heads, others keep speaking about what kind of monster hidden in the watery abyss.
The school students watch Archivist doing something near the dark sea. Archivist quickly acts out inside the dark sea, he forms the dome and suddenly turned dark once the monsters revealed. The monsters’ magic is natural emptiness of light. Hard to examine on anything through the darkness, where the sounds already ruptured outside of the dome while rippling flow outside of it, then lastly splashes out the monster in its true form. The horrendous image of a monster quickly fades away on the exposure of the sun or any light, it faded itself back to the shadow, continuously ventured to the nearest shade. Then returned again to the abyss.
The students heard about their teachers when they mention it exist beneath the mountain shrine. Out of their curiosity, they also talk about the machine through the rumors from the city guild.
“Yeah, I remember that”
“Could we have our first dungeon there?”
“We should ask our teachers about it”
“What if it is just as impractical with the sea monsters?”
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“This one found under the new dungeon. It’s dark and I heard is so deep that you could found both the secret dungeon from the machines and abyssal sea monsters”
“Abyssal-sea monsters? Well, I heard is nothing but an underground lake”
From fear to curiosity, then quickly turns to opportunity as the words got through to them because of the unknown machines. Archivist heard about it with Sanquin’s part of the story, her reports. Mentioning it about being the essential trading materials for the both of their cities, which guilds are driving it into demands? Those materials can understand to be useful inside Rune Isles. He keeps cranking his gear to the sense of examples like the Dexter Guild, slow and more imaginative than real.
Finally, everyone returns to order as they listen closely to Alche’s description on these monsters. Sheer luck for his exploration through the sphere, after hearing about it from the mountain shrine. He kept himself shut from all this time as the usefulness is not important unless the city will be experiencing something as a threat. The city barrier is the invincible solution for the wild animals for getting in. The rest are mutually interacted from most people in this world.
“Listen closely everyone, either you all want them something from it or learn anything useful when you are going to enter the dungeon appeared on the mountain shrine. These monsters are what Agathean believed to be a waste of time. Truly I understand their concern about the complete set of monsters being rediscovered after the apocalypse. Enders told me that there are valuable to them, don’t try capturing it with your own skills for now. In my personal time, those monsters are like trappers and . . . I second thought, why not try to experience it for the first time. You can move on while I will be start sending instructions”
All of them didn’t move, they all know and seriously won’t take their chances away as the words keep spreading around “Robots . . . Mechs . . . AIs”
Alche understood them clearly, he pulled out his UI and shares them the full data of the dark sea monsters; “There are multiple different species, and most of them have the same weakness when contacted with lights. The dumb action is you keep scaring it with your light magic. I call it dumb because of how scarce the light it is, the harder for see their prey. Once the light is out, then suddenly you were being engulfed by their dark magic. Remember, their weakness is light and their dark magic couldn’t materialize. So, prepared yourself with that . . .”
Alche has shown his remarkable presentation to all of the students from different schools. They are starting to learn the basics of those dark sea monsters. The girl wants to raise her hand, but Joanne stops her and said,
“Stop asking if those monsters are edible, you have teacher Haw on your chat list”
“I know! I already sending a video live”
“You! Ugh! What’s with you being a mad chef”
“Believe me, if we are still not going to leave this world, I have to be just as successful as with my family. We have our own lives to take care of”
Joanne stood there, silence, where the girl is acting up as an adult, making her feeling down for what is her future here.
Alche teaches only the basics, the most awing to reveal them is to change their RAP on the most required skills needed. Expensive points that cost them 50, because as it called in the list as useless or preferably never going to use it as fire magic or dark magic users are the easiest spells they can muster. It is the night vision, a skill or ability that would greatly bolden than other magic visions such as mana tracing or true sight to see the illusion of the demons. Daringly, they could combine it but how could they do it? Their mind can’t focus enough and at the same time adapt their eyes on something it was already adjusting.
Their brains are already reaching maximum limits of their reactions and reflexes, it is easy to observe how the adventurers are overwhelmed themselves for being cramped of using their abilities affectively. To themselves, they are powerful until someone with rune weapons hit them that changes everything to their linear approach. The dark sea monsters are able to use magic, and everyone have to set their RAP for the night vision. Finally, they see it. Finally, they reacting in shock. Finally, they calmed down.
Surprisingly, they saw the dark sea monsters’ original forms. Alche takes a good look at it with smile and laughs to boost up such a discovery. “Behold, the true forms of these under the sea trenches of this world. Normal, like we all get our mind blown and this one is the mystery of our own imagination”
The dark sea monsters are nothing but just ordinary fishes, they have the identical shape of other sea creatures but in different patterns of color and less showing of its teeth. Remarkedly, they are actually look like their own fishes back in their world, the differences are so slight, and the only thing stand it apart is the magic.
After seeing them in its true form, their UIs are now deliberately spamming information about it and its abilities. So far and wide leaving them speechless as it said
“Magic abilities; Mind, Dark, and Water magic”
Those are the only attributes the monsters have. Comparing to the near the shore of sea monsters, they have almost everything besides Air and Fire. Commonly, the dark sea monsters only have three. It is one of the oldest creatures ever survive the entirety of this world’s creation and destruction. Makes them wonder why it has so little attributes. It is a history will be for told.
Alche finishes his teaching as they are already getting the information out of it. “I see that you already updating your UIs, then there is one last thing that the information you have is still incomplete”
Everyone stood there as they are becoming more behave, for giving them night-vision is enough for them to listen, barely. Alche sends a big chunk of the bait into the abyss. It entered and completely disappears, like the abyss that will consume everything to nothingness, but with the night visions. They stood their quietly where the monsters are using their magic, a powerful strength tears like they have mini blackholes. Quickly put to shred then scatters to the void, every matter of it, gone.
“You have seen over there. Your failsafe is going to be used, everyone. You have until the afternoon. The final hour will be the special event. Try practice your plans as a team of adventures, you will be facing for the worse experience”
Alche laughs his way out. Archivist joins in and clapping for him in such orchestrated tunes. He casts his own magic to duplicate only his rhythm of his hands, channeling, echoing, menacingly . . . then he gets hit from the back by Tabitha.
For the morning, they prepared themselves. The shield student has no hesitation to join Archivist and Tabitha’s side, along with Joanne and their friends. The girl comes along just for the last rounds of hunting the remaining fishes. All gathered together, where Archivist sees the shield student already wanting to ask about the event. Both him and Tabitha starts to get a little curious though. Words weren’t not properly understood from Yui’s statements. Last night contact was a bit, surreal for Tabitha and Kiege’s conversation. Would they?
The shield student looks at Archivist has he declines the offer of his gauntlet. “What? Will you not join the last hour?”
“I am, but me and Tabitha here had heard some special abilities that you have without yourself knows about”
The shield student’s friends come closer as words got out that he has another ability besides the gauntlet. Archivist’s mask hid his face what he truly expressed. Yui’s intention to reveal Sanquin’s secrets, the shield student’s sealed high tier magic from his inner core of his body.
Tabitha wants to stop the motives to figure it out from what Yui said, now the kids are joining in. They mumbled around as their curiosity gives in to the boy himself
“. . . About this ability I don’t know, can you please do it now? You make my friends peer pressuring me”
All excited faces from the looks of their eyes. The shield student had already given in, so much more that Joanne was against the idea. Yet the words of her mouth as she guessed what’s up
“You mean it’s from Sanquin, herself”
Tabitha carefully responds without exciting them “Well, it’s true . . .”
Archivist stops her, that moment of silence shook everyone around them. An empty blank mask face to face with Tabitha, her face changes slowly while Archivist remained blank, then line pops open from his mask. She said,
“No . . .”
The mask starts beeping and the line statics in vibration. The students were confused by their interaction. Archivist says to them
“We could . . .”
“No!”
“. . . It’s just playing pretend”
“We are using a powerful ritual to this kid”
“Yet it only be this once, no one will get hurt”
“I said no!”
The two quarrels while they are all trying to figure it out. Coral and Quail come to their aid as they hear a fight coming from those two. Coral shouts
“What’s going on?!”
Archivist responds as the mask’s vibration is getting stronger “We are going to open the secrets for this boy’s power. Sanquin’s blessings lie within him and the reason for his belittle power”
They turned to him and remember what happened after the party. Besides his friends who were not joined the party, they kind of agree as they playfully want him to do it anyway.
Tabitha was really concern about it. The shield student is having trouble to unleash his old power again, and what’s the eyes of everybody else looking at him like he is being chosen something amazing. He broke out the silence
“Why not join the guild then?”
They look away as they are hesitating. Tabitha explains to them that it wasn’t a good idea for the young kids to be involved unless
“That won’t be necessary, I know you have something important to bargain with the guild as do as I did. The struggle to get here is so slow and you clearly see where I am now. You have your UIs to identify about me”
Quail sees it and confirms the little details she found “Her progression are pretty low, but I’m not going the lie your special abilities”
“What?” Coral comes to Quail’s side and sees the rest of her profile. She didn’t hesitate to say to the shield student.
“Do it, your guild member has connections with unique abilities, a little too much and I’m still worried of his conditions”
The shield student is continuing being barrage with words with friends, classmates, and his teachers. He had enough and play along.
Even with Tabitha’s rejection of the idea, it was the peer pressure kicks on to him as Archivist ready to perform the ritual. Everyone surrounds them, Archivist already touched his forehead and his chest. The lights coming out from the shield student’s eyes beaming to where his sight look directly up to the air. Joanne had already seen this type of light glowing back when Sanquin uses it, it’s a different interaction and it already starts to blinking out of the proportion.
Inside of the shied student’s inner core, it is truly being sealed within through a familiar technique. Archivist sees that his mana flow is under guidance by her for all this time, in order to break it free it must be willing to go against her. He wants something else, an ability for the final hour. Then everything shook, a powerful bump on the ground as it didn’t quake but makes a sound. Quail feels like it comes from a sphere, but the two starts losing control. A loud snap coming from Archivist as he lets him go.
A sudden backing out where he starts to breathe heavily, everybody starts to worry. “What’s happened to him?”
Tabitha tries to reach out and touch his hands, she jolted back as she felt electrocuted by touching him. She sees her. The shield student tries to move his body as he can’t even speak, the same tension happened with Sanquin trying to do something to him at the party. It was reminiscence, and more importantly, Archivist is reacting so strangely.
Archivist continues to breathe harder as the vibration of his mask continue to static the lines, the mask starts making a face, lights stay static, and his voice turns feminine. A familiar voice, when Coral thought it was getting creepy for a man sounds like a woman. She says her title once more
“Heavenly demon?”
The kids shook as his aura released and causing them to feel weak. Others recognized it, and Tabitha shouts at him/her
“Sanquin! We can explain”
“There is no need to . . .” Archivist shouts “AAH!”
The mix screams between Archivist and Sanquin begin to slowly changing as everything around them, causing some terrifying presence. Archivist’s voice is gone, leaving only Sanquin’s. Setting her foot on the ground causing an enormous pressure around them, forming her own dome to hide the others who are looking at the incident. It is amazing that she’s not dared to reach the scream further away, only those who are near and knew what’s going on.
The water realm shifts to her control as she manipulated her surroundings, annoyed by controlling Archivist’s body, she preferred to form an avatar based on her appearance. A form that fits her normal size and the body merely made of water. The water reflections give her identical appearance and features as Archivist bends it to his/her will. Sanquin says to Tabitha.
“Tabitha, did Yui taught you about my technique?”
She immediately cowers in fear “Yes! But Archivist is the one who want to do it”
The students can’t move as they feel the numb and motionless feeling around them, they were under control and even their abilities and magic were being gripped once that scream reached their ears. Sanquin continues
“I must say, you dare to fasten the process I lead him out to be. I am impressed how easy it is for you wanting to break a demonic curse. Oh, there is something wrong about my method. I am handling this child and my powers already keeping him strong . . .”
The water avatar sees many of them looking at her. “. . . Yui, you’ll be doing your part with the boy. Dare to interfere rather helping me, I hope you are doing is good for him”
The shield student barely and slowly moving close to Archivist and grabs his hand, once again the same process as his eyes beaming with light once more. Everybody frees from the pressure as they recover. The water avatar is flashing images they could not comprehend, Sanquin laughs sweetly at the boy
“You’ve been improved, your body is enduring the harsh reality. If this much you can endure, then Archivist must be right on something after all. Ready your body, as it is going exert much energy as you will be sleeping more than you normally would”
Another sudden break coming out, leaving them both separate. The water avatar faded back to the waters with her image disappeared. Archivist quickly recovers as he tries move his body from the stiffness, they hear him cracking his body, not from the sounds of bone but the crumbling sounds of stones. The demonic curse is releasing off his body showing the proof of her power possessing him moments before. Archivist turned off the lights from his mask and said,
“We got what we have ask for. Hey boy, you don’t know anything about Circoston ritual, do you?”
“No, she gets her way with me and I end up being a recruit like that”
Archivist looks around him as they have experienced a powerful monster before them, stronger even. However, Sanquin is allowing something the shield student never know from the beginning. He places his hand on the boy, with a palm lays flat to his front shoulder. One small thrust pierced through within him as his body experiencing the same stagnation again. This time, his body felt like something guiding him. Everyone watches them
“The shield student from Raker Mawn guild, your permission for the final hour event is allowed”
“Allowed?” The shield student doesn’t know what’s going on, while everybody finds an update inside of him. A temporary buff, more or less, and he will be capable doing the same skills as Archivist. The down side is Archivist shared the mana with him, the weakest form of mana to the citizen, and on the other hand for the shield student he is receiving techniques and skillsets that negates the requirements and RAP. Something just happened that made him ignore the rules of it.
Jealousy comes forth all around him. The shield student never would believe it to be true, and there are some flaws as he himself is having trouble with. Archivist feels it, Tabitha binds with it, and Sanquin allows it. The mind is become one. Painfully, all thoughts shared will lead to madness if they hallucinated themselves by the mere thoughts of others. Sanquin and Archivist shut their heads off from him. Tabitha however, accidentally shared their minds and their past. The two unknowingly found their past; Miyusuki sheds a tear while Tabitha can’t control this side of his memory
“NO! HE CAN’T BE ALIVE!”