COI C165

On the public streets of Fuku City, normal rush hours, and the people finished their daily jobs. Traffic occurred abnormally when they use magic to go place to place, causing a powerful hierarchy to people who owned businesses prioritized the premium customers to come here first than the VIPs. Obviously, the people to come there for free have to travel a safe area to go to. It was fine, they could continue to live this convenient life to no end. Endless cycles of doing so little and consume so much with their magic. The dependency on magic proceeds further as none of them know of their excessive consumptions.

Magic have engulfed them to remove the limits of their human nature. Clouded, yet still not losing their lives over their excess luxurious lifestyle. The beads of Azin were able to remove the addiction off from them. They were able to dissatisfy themselves from their ignorance filling with bad experience. The cycle never ends, and now on the bus they are moving out. Tabitha sees the realm she didn’t understand yet. The message from the Wheatley app voices it out.

“‘I understand people have this called ‘gold fish mentality’ and I still don’t get it. Fine, fine’”

“This realm is the most cost effective, secretly meant for something else. The down side here is everything that uses frequencies are lost. This customized realm won’t be the replica to most magic realms. The most dangerous of it all, no healing effects. The best way to get healing now is the two remaining mana left were not researched used in this city, Elven magic and Archscience. What’s worse, they will find you with runes. I will wish you luck with your partner . . .”

The rests are gratitude as the next voice comments are from them, the people behind her. Her faith now is on them, the Raker Mawn Guild.

Outside from the realm, Haw is brought a stone tablet with him. Ironno is somewhere in the city preparing the pathways and Archivist is distracting the thugs as of now. Haw is installing it near the power grid, places it there led to an electrical surge as the static electricity goes out from the grid and electrify to the nearest metal pole.

“Wrong one, where is this called server grid”

People come and check where those loud sparks. As more and more people raise their devices to record the incident. Haw keeps it going again until he finds what they instructed him to do.

These distractions led many of the guards check the situation as if someone is sabotaging the city. Haw see them coming and brought out a magic scroll then switches position. The guards come by and only see a cat wearing some electrical gloves.

“Those kids, how did they causing trouble by dressing the cat?”

“You think a cat would!!!”

The cat leaps up to the wires and caused another electrical surge going to the metal pole. They quickly caught it and removed the gloves on its paws. The childish buzzer fabric, it gives short electrocution to the person who touches it. But it made them question how it made the power grid annoys like that.

Later, Haw finally finds the LAN wires. Haw places the stone tablet and able to hacked through their system. He was sucked into the internet as he finally gets into the realm. Wheatley notices him entering the internet realm.

“Just like that, the girl has a Dexter Guild member. Why am I not surprised from all this? Still, he knew the procedure. Playing the power grid has something to do what I knew. Testing it for, for, for? I feel he is playing around. Ok, now I’m starting to block the cameras, and, great. That was easy, hmm. This one is not activated, let’s see here”

Archivist had done all the tricks he could do. The run is now limited into the enclosing realm. The limited resource is getting smaller in order for the passage to move while this pre-existing realm to keep them in place. The thugs are adapting to the new environment. Tabitha’s magic field card can do so much as they can able to manipulate their powers with it. Without the owner of this magic, meaning they could use it to their own advantage. His sash quickly reacts as the surrounding strikes already appeared to him with their sudden fast punches.

The words he needs to follow from Ironno “They have failsafe, these people you can disguise as were removed to use it. The rest of them you mustn’t let them give them the finishing blow”

“Then the rumors about you being with the hitlist . . .”

“It’s business, helping her is a guild’s duty. Say one more thing relating to your mother is one thing, but lecturing me from you is already done since I came here”

The game of chasing the Pion, the rabbit like creature, it is impossible to catch unless forming in packs. Very inefficient to catch one small creature, yet its meat and furs are exceptional for the demands of the skilled.

He did like that, with Tabitha’s pre-battle cards. Their intelligence weakens by time, without realizing the existence of the failsafe and might it to beat each other to death to escape or manually used it. Added with the ‘Banished! Coward’ None of them will figure it out and naturally goes back chasing him without a care. However, the struggles are overwhelming him as no fear as they are skilled and daring. No hesitation means, confidence booming in a matter of seconds. The rhythm kicks in to them, the sight of a single motion of his body is a quick respond to blocked his movements.

He hears them confused rather exhilarated. “How are we coordinate so well?”

“Coordinate?! We can’t catch him”

“Just chase him down and surround him with every man we got”

The intelligence is surely is dropping, the imbalance of their experience brought them into a frenzy. Their muscle memories were not affected. There are certain power reaches when it comes to their inner mana. Their resistances are high, but in this realm. Limits reached by forced. Mad dashes come to him with no limits, willing to stretch their arms to the impossible air for the grip of Archivist elusive speed.

The rhythm grew louder as the sounds alternate between the environment and their twitching swearing voices. The floating environment with no solid foundation floats where their feet and hands are colliding together to keep moving forward, while Archivist controls his balance to go through such numerous attempts. The thugs were more experienced than that, the minds of their daring heads start to do the spells they not yet practiced. Theirs are still focusing on him without delay. The fiery magic comes forth and the metals limbs prepared for themselves.

Lightning occurred and they form up together as more and more passed him. Archivist has no time to witness their abilities. The barrage of their techniques went in, as the first strike goes out to his feet. Archivist uses the powder casts a barrier on the ground as the entire forces of unknown attacks appeared around him. The powder splashes like water inside of his barrier, he able to position himself and bend the flow of the powder and crystallized then pierces of it inside. The powder spread to a small radius, many runes weapon tried to break it through but it bounces off.

Archivist disappears leaving them hold off as the powder spreads, flows out, and returned to him to a different location. The thugs stopped and see where they are now. Blinded to get him on their hands and the magic they used being easily countered by using only earth magic. They hear the voice in their heads, their worries turned for the worst as the frozen man lastly come to their side.

“Breathe* That’s bullshit. How can he able to escape with that much numbers? This is not going to work, does anyone of you have a better idea to get out from here? A magic item or anything?”

They start thinking, the moment they remember the failsafe, their pride able to continue to forget about it. Much more to their personal magic items to escape this realm were also being blocked with the same magic card. The pride keeps in and the actual draining of their intelligence lose their mind to full pledge actions. They flat out ignored the frozen man. They see the trail of powders going down. They see Archivist running down, the thugs use their spell to trace his footsteps. The others cast noise magic to hear his steps and the things he touches makes a sound. Archivist hears the noise within every step he makes, he touches a random obstacle and caused a noisy clang.

Archivist lays his hands on the noise to break the magic spell. Someone suddenly appeared and grabs his arms before doing so. Tabitha’s card activates and forced command the thug to punch him to a far distance, letting the others not reaching him. The cracked on his mask as the LED mask shows blinking lights as it tries to show an expression. A normal punch, able to break through the natural endurance of any man. The concussion is cursing in his head, he blows the negative effects from his mouth, as the others appeared from behind, giving him the time to use his technique.

A quick shuffle of his hand moving in one direction, the mana inside of the thug comes out from his mouth as the piece of his inner mana. Breath taking, he uses it cleans off the negative effects from his breath. Wipes clean by their powerful neutral mana altogether, equal in strength with them turned to his advantage. He breathes back the air he breathes and coughs off the over excessive mana he takes. Not the right proportion, but the sash was able to held him down to the ground when the magic spells are passing through. The trajectory turns over as it misses the thug, and curving it around like a homing missile. Then it lands on Archivist.

Archivist sinks himself below the ground and quickly slides away from their spells, the explosive spells burst holes while others follow him with movable mounds in the safe distance. The powder was able to reach him and quickly shattering the spells into crystallized dust. He dug up from the ground like a rabbit then rushes forward jumping around as the opposing thugs are charging right at him face to face. Cornering him further as they finally closing him with their own magic circles. The spell breaks open and the chase has stopped, Archivist quickly touches Tabitha’s card on his armband, shuffling the cards and reading them only by touch.

They stop for the moment as their magic circle takes them a breather. After the circling around, they caught him, utilizing only the attrition now, limiting only to their mana control. They figure out to the slightest intelligence they have left from the affecting magic card. Pure luck to Archivist’s patience, they are starting to think a little bit with their numbers were countering their chances to fight. However, with their perspective should be better to keep switching back and forth, it is mini-replica of switch using the failsafe as the basis. Tabitha thought about it and made magic card appeared in mysterious way.

Still, the first punch is painful enough to put him down so easily. The magic cards are helping him keeping himself awake. The Circoston’s power within him are flowing drastically to let loose. The first spell he did before is the took a piece of their inner mana and use its integrity to fix his, the excess was too much for him. Now he will do it again in such mass numbers. To only distract them or the failsafe will be their escape or his death. The powder on his side is circling the flow of his mana, they are all waiting for him to react. This is the day he will show off the way of the warring hands, a name he shamed to lose its cultural tongue.

The frozen man walks up to the surrounding thugs. Finally, they caught him and in stasis with high praised that the others a nurturing themselves with the mana they throw out to this black and white realm. The zone is becoming less recognizable, only to see the differences between Archivist and them now is the blank cracked mask and two black shades on their eyes. All twitching their mana for the right moment and rune weapons are going to taste his bones.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Archivist moves in small frames, and so are they. The black and white portray an unbelievable scenery, slowly gaining on him by as the front took the first step. Frame by frame the magic circle keeps his movement in check to see all of his move set while the others observe what he can do. The magic circle had enhanced with one of them using their ultimate. The small frames begin lap with large big frames. Delaying the movements for 3 seconds per frame, all of them trapped inside will be colliding with such a large gap of sudden movements.

Archivist couldn’t break free by the sudden delayed frames. Forcing his turns to move his eyes and senses in the vulnerable direction. Breaking his unrelenting speed, agility, and dexterity into one single frame per 3 seconds. This is must be how they able to stop their enemies from evading. Their muscle memory was able to use it when they are desperate enough to get him. The pain suddenly appears where his eyes never look, his senses of his feet only suddenly appeared without reacting to it. The number of milliseconds lost by their clever reactions.

Forced to use Tabitha’s card as both of them will left him into an almost fatal position. He is trapped, and have to use it. The cards were meant to use with Tabitha’s permission, and the cards pulled differently. Cheated to pick manually than randomly, the armband keeps it from picks out a card for him. Now he is in control and those two cards he chose always phasing up, this will be the dent of his endurance. He broke the frames as the first strike comes to him with full force. Head cracks by their fists, ribs untouched by any contact, flows down with their magic erupting his bones like an earthquake, and breaking through to every bone of his body.

They never ceased their attacks, as the fatal blow is already reached. He could only do much to keep himself alive with Tabitha’s card. No blood spilled, no internal organ hemorrhage, and much more with such brute force. The mask breaks apart as his face open wide for them to see. He exhales from his breath and left with a black mist covering his face. The thugs were relentless and blows away the black mist covering his face. To the last final blow as he fell to the ground. Many jumps up to the air and rains down fury of punches and a random god size hand poking him down to his puny body.

It breaks him, and his face is revealed. His eyes show exposed, and caused a powerful technique slowly building up inside of them. His eyes are not normal, it is more of a symbol than biologically. It spread to everyone who sees it and others remember it into their heads. Archivist’s body disappears and the dark mist escape leaving them fighting out of nothing. As the chaos clears, they see the key left behind on the ground. They able to get him and took the key off the ground. They didn’t hesitate to use it and the door appeared behind them.

“QUICK! GET OUT THERE BEFORE WORSE COMES TO OUR MERCH!” Screaming at the top of his lungs, they rushed to the door while the others stop them. The group collide each other with extreme force. Desperate and unnerving to what happened inside the black and white environment. The other groups tried to hold them off.

“This is not good. They don’t even listen to us. What did that guy do to them?”

“They are trying to get into one of our traps. This is getting out of hand”

Their magic circles were tapped by one of them trying to get to it. The deception on their views becoming thicker as the people who saw Archivist’s eyes had become more desperate to what they can see. The touched on the magic circle starts to bend unimaginably as the magic drawing shifted into a different spell. Using their own mana as the fuel of his unknown magic, they couldn’t stop themselves. All of them were distracted and the magic circle is unleashed into them. The horror casts out to them as everyone got caught from the blast.

The thugs become blind and their mind erased only bits of it. The moment when they see his eyes were forgotten. The fear didn’t take affect because of the other cards are active. The frozen man phasing through his other hand to get the card hiding in his frozen cast. Picks up the card and closed it. The degrading of their intelligence had ceased and it is a matter of time they could think straight. The frozen man sees the other patrols come out from their hiding. They take off their masks, as their skins able to blend in with it. All revealed only a dark blank face.

Their bodies are the dolls made by this city. Life size figurine remade and controlled by Archivist’s bending. He comes out from the dark mist as his face is revealed. Everyone around them were caught by the horror technique. A skill that haunts the inner mana of their opponents. It requires the least wise and the dumb could ever believe it. Because that technique he used are poor for his own apprentice style techniques. As a literal book keeper in the archive, this is something he dared to do. His true intention revealed, and Tabitha didn’t notice it. He is loyal to her indeed, but she didn’t know about him. He said to himself

“The lowly demon technique, what is its actual name again?”

His dolls bending to move around them and bended it’s faces to the shape of his natural face. The eyes he carefully made with that technique. The horror around him as they flee and their magic succumb to the infestation of their mana from his eyes. One of them recover their mind and tries to use the failsafe. Archivist sees him and trembling trying to use it. The wild trembles only led him into not using it at all. The intense fear only stiff them in place. Archivist is now able to learn this forbidden technique’s effect.

One of the dolls he bends start to lose his control. The voice behind him sounds familiar and yet, she knows. “I never thought you use such dark technique in front of Tabitha, I guess she already starting her “reflection”, as I quote. Now turned around and look at me”

Archivist’s face exposed and around the thugs are in horror. The rest of the dolls are moving close to him as his controls have been taken over by her. She is not patient nor she wastes time to his improvements. Archivist turned around with his eyes straight to hers.

“Your mother is always so proud to see you have her eyes. Yet, you disappointed her with your incompetent commitment. The techniques, and even the people around you weren’t fell into the lowly dark arts”

Archivist faces Sanquin, still able to haunt him through the techniques reference between her and the Circoston’s origin. Now fading again as her time only giving him a reminder. Archivist didn’t say a thing, only leave him to remind himself as before. The dolls returned back to his control and thugs are far from his reach, they all turned around facing at them. The dark arts are demonic to him, powerful enough to beat them and weak enough for his unskilled hands to do it.

This is his last stall as everyone is able to use their heads affectively, those thugs won’t be this easy to fear. The thugs fear more in this city than him. The thugs are blind and falling and going anywhere to nowhere just to let the duration of the horror to end. More of them become stiff trying to use the failsafe as they can get out of here. The dolls found them and removes their blindness, once they see the dolls. The dark arts reopen the technique and refreshes their fear, an endless loop until Archivist will traumatize to ever remember anything what happened here. Archivist’s last stage of distraction is almost over.

Playing around and sneakily wanting to use this technique. Loses the mercy of distraction into absolute mental torture. Wielding the cards of Tabitha, keeping what’s left to keep them alive. An Enders, keeping someone alive. He felt like the unworthy guild. He tries his best to remember any magic spell to suppress them. His pain was too lenient to the reality they have brought to him. It is a matter of time as torture is his solution against these thugs, and nothing will they could do to endure it.

The bus driver sees the end of the realm, into a new one as the portal opens up as the same as this realm before. The emptiness of this passage remained silent and at the same time intimidating. Tabitha calls the driver to stop and opens the bus door. She walks out while everyone watches her. The realm is quiet, to no end of such a lifeless cleaned space. Someone is coming from a flash of light. Haw enters the realm and Tabitha quickly spokes out about what happened.

“You guys should lay off with the horrendous disguise”

“What are you on about?”

“This one man with his throat burned with his lower bone jaw exposed”

“Huh, I don’t know who do kind of stuff. You should focus on the next stop. Ironno helped you with the others. He gives a message to you to hurry up”

The next portal is opening up, wide enough for the bus to go in. Haw gives the driver a signal to get in, but the driver didn’t.

“I’ll get in the bus. We need to get this done before anything else happened”

Tabitha left him as she needs to hurry. Ironno told her to be quick as they don’t know the other part of the city might find them in this realm. The driver sees her get in the bus and begin their way into the next passage.

Haw follows along with them outside the bus, wearing a protective gear on his face. As the place they entered is dangerous, signs of digital existence occurred inside as if it was intentionally built that way. Stepping into the unknown realm that not fit the lives of any ordinary people. Most realms have purpose to make, and this one is clearly something to store from. The bus gets closer to the portal and everything start compressing. The bus makes a crushing sound, and the force inside this realm is crushing them like they are on underwater.

The bus is getting crushed and still able to move, Haw suspects as such and the place they venture now from the real world is the center area of Fuku City. Before he gets inside the realm, he pulls out a potion. Continuing even further as the materials he was provided are all meant for this part of the realm. Now he is starting to think about this equipment on his hands, this is no fighting against normal human enemies. On his hand is the neutralizers, meant to fight against Rune Isles’ mechanical abomination. With the empty battery pack on him with dischargeable tools to drain the enemies’ electrical power.

Alone, the alchemist felt disappointed to the least that Archivist is the one will be facing them while he is going to face it. All ready as his equipment is fully on set. When he steps into the realm, his gears reactivate into an armor suit. The nostalgic power armor on him, light, fast, energized, and jammer with detector along with it. This is not what Tabitha wants. This is an extermination suit, Haw will be facing the robotics of this city, and the loud noise coming from the other direction comes forth with the loudest mobile wheels shaken the road ignoring all physics.

The sentinels, branded on the name of anonymous gang group. No solid structure, fully loaded with data. This is the first time he had face this computerized realm, Tabitha has connection that he shouldn’t know about. This technology is reviving the old design of this world past civilization. Noted down on his mind and report about it this to Lord Lori’es, if there is a day when this city turned against them. Then they would easily find other ways to shut it down. He proceeds to move on, only the strength of his pride to use chemical potions. To fight against the data, he needs to have their energy to fight against it.

The passengers notice the sentinels are coming to their direction. Automated to attack, the presence of intimidation, and the threat with its digital weapons. This realm is dangerous to anyone to be exposed their flesh in this place. The digital space is filled nothing but small acute electrical current. The man who is talking with Tabitha before is slowing down as the realm feel like they are under the sea. The sentinels, they are not slowing down as they fired their weapons on the bus. The strong quiet laser hit their bus as the pressure feeling up inside with small electrocution.

Haw throws the potion at the laser, the quiet laser beam phases through the potion. It was supposed to refract the light into the glass and interact with the light inside of its fluid. Now fell and bouncing away from his reach. It is stated the obvious, this is what the old project he knows about. The simulation program. Barely he knows it, but it was mention to the military corps. The last facility to host such an equipment was to test out the old models to be able to work after all those years in Rune Isles.

The sentinels moved in whereas Haw is in difficult situation. It was the obvious response and time is needed to stop the artificial digitals. The fires continue and the damage is already setting as the runes are being melted off its writings inside the bus. The passengers are no longer stay silent for long, inside the bus is now feeling the pressure of electrocution. Their magic feels the sting and couldn’t use it. This realm is compressing the use of their magic. One of them finally scream, the sentinel charges forward to the bus. The bus shakes, all of them are screaming. The bus driver remained calm and focus on the road.

Tabitha almost steps out from the bus door. Haw blocks it with him launches himself at the bus. His power armor is building up showing the exterior of it being flowed with static electricity. The voice from his helmet made a static sound.

“Open that door, and all of the people inside will be electrocuted”

He is being slammed on the door by the sentinels, then drag up to the bus window to the side. The sentinel detected him as the signal jammer blocked enough the existence of the bus and leaving him being detected alone. Trapped in between, Haw needs to find a way for all targets on him.

The passengers see him on the window, the electric flow moves like water fissuring around him. Seeing being charged as his power armor is slowly hardened his shields, another laser is charging up as it aims at him. Haw feels the pain both crushed and electrocuted. The silent laser fires and the energy shield reflect it in a bizarre ricochet effect. It bounces all around, ignoring to hit the sentinel. This part of the realm is too unpredictable. The sentinels are strong within this realm and it can only focus what it supposed to do.

The energy backing up inside Haw’s armor tech system, a protocol interaction to be able to study them. This is a digital realm, there’s no point to stop data to create and delete. Haw’s body is reaching to his limit. The bus is almost tipping while driving to the portal. The portal is close, Tabitha watches Haw being pushed alongside with the bus getting off the side of its wheels off the ground. The sentinels are jumping to the side and takes aim to the bus again. Haw’s jammer wasn’t strong enough and his warning to Tabitha cost this incident to happen.

The armor finally fully shielded him, and that power inside of it is released. A shockwave dispersed on his armor to the area, a disrupted explosion, bugged out the digital models of the sentinels. Forces them to reset. Haw falls down next to the bus as the tipping bus returned back in all four wheels on the ground. The wheels at the back hits Haw’s foot as he falls. The armor didn’t stand against the runes and the crushed his limb. The passengers watch him left behind as they yell out to Tabitha

“He’s hurt! Please, anyone save him”

The bus driver didn’t stop and Tabitha suddenly tries to stop the bus, the break screeches but it was too late. The portal got them in and Tabitha left herself in reoccurring trauma from leaving someone behind. It stops where more passengers are outside with Ironno. Ironno forces open the bus door and let the passengers in.

“Get this mad machine moving, they found us”

Tabitha is being pushed further inside the passenger seats as she accidentally falls down and take an empty seat. She sees the bus expands in the inside as there is a small ladder to the upper seats.

The old woman is with her. The worries of her eyes to the man proceeds to break her silent. “Will that young man be alright?”

Haw, the man who acts like a human shield because of his armor to reflect the laser. Tabitha don’t know what’s going on inside that side of the realm, and only tries to ease with her.

“He will be alright, those people who are here to save all of us”

The old woman looks at her honest face, either it’s a lie or don’t know anything. Same as her, but she knows the feeling and held her hand. The tears are there, no one is going to lie like this.