COI C123
The shield student wakes up very late, it is close to lunch. After using his blessings through Sanquin’s permission, he was obviously drained out from the experience, twice. His gauntlet left on the table leaving a note from his uncle. He reads it
“It’s all done, you’re training will be coming at night. Please don’t waste the other weekends with your reckless attempts. But I’m still proud of you what you did to rescue your friends, then again, you have to become stronger after what is happening in this city. Let’s show your mom when we get home that you are her superhero”
He stops reading where the rest of the letter are the jokes and prayers. He gets ready and head out for lunch. Once he gets out of from the room, he forgot he is in Taiyou Industries and he is in the living quarters of the workers. He sees Haw and the other Dexter Guild members talking to him with their power armors on. They pointed out across the distance. A wall of smoke already spreading outside of the barrier. The shield student runs to them as he wants to find out.
“Teacher Haw, what’s going on there?!”
His shout reaches their ears, there are some people who is with Haw are the same people he met during that night. R-cord and X2L turn and see the young boy coming to their direction. McS4 and the Repair boy scratches their arms that the boy holds a piece of Dexter equipment.
“The boy still has no upgrades for his Armguard”
“I see the components are replaced and fueled up”
The shield student looks at his gauntlet as it is fix and has brand new components without him knowing. Sadly, there is no upgrades yet.
The shield student repeats his question “Are you guys didn’t hear me? I said . . .”
R-cord heard him and said “Nothing too important, they are expanding the barrier to secure some factories needed”
He didn’t understand about recovering some factories, because by the look from the outside of the barrier, it seen as like there is a volcano erupted near the barriers. Large clouds of smoke moving upward rapidly, no normal fire explodes such amount of smoke.
X2L and the Dexter Guild members left, where the boy watches them go. The horn blows near the canteen, it’s time for lunch. Haw says to the boy
“Since it’s lunch time, let’s better talk there with you uncle. We are planning to have an adventure with you”
The shield student suddenly becomes energetic, hearing him saying an adventure. Which is rare because they always mention about questing, learning from him, and checking his progress in his training. They head to the canteen, where he sees another canteen with a sign ‘No adventurers allowed: Brawling rights for the dwarves are here’.
The door was already destroyed when he takes a look at the sign. Out of curiosity, he checks on the door and sees what lies inside. A wild mess like there are still people fighting. No noise coming from it, and the people who are fighting are now the goblins. Such a strange signs only for the dwarves. They get back to the actual canteen, get their meals, and meet the group; Archivist, Tabitha, and Rusic are on the table. The two listens to the dwarf about what happened last night.
“I can’t believe someone using a spell to seal the noise in our inn. There are chances for more people going to join the brawl. The music changes drastically when the first bottle thrower went flying with his body . . .”
The two sits down and saw a random person asks to take sit from their vacant bench. Tabitha was about to say no, but Rusic speaks out first. “Certainly, a fellow stranger from Enders won’t hurt. Please, we don’t mind”
Tabitha turned and look at Rusic from the opposite side of the table, where there so many vacant seats and tables at the far back. It becomes quite awkward where Tabitha, Archivist, and the shield student sit their side of the table. While Haw, Rusic, and some random person to the next. Archivist listens her thought and asks him.
“So, why didn’t take another seat somewhere else. I’m not being rude here, but why sit here?”
The random person is from the Dexter Guild, mostly from Codices group from the technocrat department. The random person understands their suspicion then said
“Sorry, old habits. Mostly we segregated ourselves in tight spaces, leaving those tables for the higher ups. You could say it is more a hierarch principle”
Haw understood, but there is one exemption “Social problems”
The random blatantly complies the statement “I’d say I would make excuses, but you have sharp analysis”
Rusic laughs while the three witness some random excuse.
The person explains why he did it. “It’s because of the rumors, I have details I heard among the higher ups, your fellow citizens”
Rusic continues to laugh “This Lad is too new about the city’s mysteries. What makes you think your itchy ears could hear their conversation?”
He gives only a hint and shows them an old phone and what inside that they couldn’t understand. Lies inside is the file filled with messages, the dates show recently back it was lost before the siege.
“I found it among the rubbles. I am sure this is one of the old devices during their first stay in this world. I already know the updates and upgrades, don’t say to me otherwise”
The shield student takes a look at it and checking the files, he found one. Pictures that are hidden from a special file. He opens it and sees the content.
“It is just normal photos, there should be personal information inside”
They continue to search for something as Haw is talking with the person “What’s so dangerous about this device?”
“A rare collection that survives means something. I know people want to shut up about conspiracies, just let me finish my lunch and take that device with me”
Tabitha’s turn to take a look of the device, seeing someone’s private info is bad, except knowing who is the owner is. There is no one she could recognized, and the people in the pictures were not as reliable because of people’s magic changes their appearances. She checks one last time, the list of contacts. Then she sneakily copies the info into her own device. Trying to be sure to whom this device belonged to, she returns the device to him without a single notice. After him leaving the table, the group were very in odd idea why the random person being there. Rusic plays along with the man’s idea.
“Well, he was a bad talker. I think we just waste our time for your important conversation”
Tabitha and the shield student agreed, then Tabitha throws some left overs at him.
“Huh? you miss”
“You were the one who let him join us. I got distracted from what he is carrying”
“Believe me, I think he was just there being low life. Don’t forget that we are Enders, he might pay you guys in return with little favors on your own. I think that man still don’t know his value as a codex”
Rusic continues to laugh, where the rest of the crowd notice the man who is with them just left. With tech hidden in surveillance, the Dexters won’t be bothered by it. The man who carries a functional old phone continues his way out, his last sight where a group of people he doesn’t want to meet, then moves on.
Back to the main focus, the young boy needs description for his journey. Tabitha was consulted last night, and it is going to be his turn to talk about tonight’s adventure. Haw explains to him briefly, he simply said
“You’ll be experiencing your own travel, for only tonight. Because there is a specific group of people will be available, and you’ll also get to try to form a party within the Enders. Party included with the people you saw me with, this is such an experience because of your involvement last week”
The shield student receives all the details needed for his own journey tonight. People who are guiding him will join, and others won’t be due to their explicit decisions.
Tabitha has her equipment, already set inside her inventory. Hearing the details, she could invite him to join her journey if he decided to go there. The shield student couldn’t decide as he was overwhelmed. Soon after lunch was over, he was given the time before night time comes. It thrills him to find his uncle, but he was not there and a note left behind inside their quarters. It says,
“Dear nephew (lol) I got lazy to text you and I leave a scarp paper for you. I won’t be with you tonight. I’ll be tired after my work outside the barrier. Let me remind you again to not allow people from Fuku City to join your journey. My co-workers were still suspicious about those rumors”
The shield student then checks his device for any message. Friends and including Haw texted him, he tries his best to fill out the details until he is ready to go. There is one person who has posted a video of Joanne next to Archivist, the comparison the use of the gauntlet had sprung wildly in social media. Many people want that gauntlet, while he himself needs the parts needed to upgrade his gauntlet. Such event like that to see makes him to use his gauntlet affectively.
Made into to where a crowd of people wanting to get a hand of their own gauntlet. The Repair boy, sees them wanting their version of the gauntlet. There is one problem though, they don’t have the facility to manufacture it properly. The machinists were given them the plans, but they are already made their own with flaws. Of course, from what he had in mind to shake them off were being deluded as the ‘experts’ come to him with powerful traits. The people didn’t know that the gauntlet was personally made by R-cord. Materials he brought were from the undergrown itself.
R-cord is there, along with the people had already found out the maker of it. They tried to excuses him off to have such important discussion. The man took off his power armor and worn the worker’s version as he is suiting up,
“. . . I have no interest of gaining money nor fame”
“But Sir! You had made a mythic like item. We already see the flawed thanks to its maximum capacity of your gauntlet, the utility however is easy to use and masterly done with two different users. We are hoping we could make this done before you leaving”
Busy to the point of no breaks for the Dexters, the workers finished their lunch and see the line continuously formed a new line. Faces are different, no people who were there from the past hour. There is even a rating box to see the performance. The woman checks the box and read the hour before. All writes almost the same, but added with titles and names
“Fastest service alive”
“The living machine of Taiyou Industries”
“Dexter Guild is god like manufacturers”
“A race from the deposit to the claim, no one is able to get there before their orders”
She looks at the deposit and claim counters, it was 3-4 meters apart.
As the queue once again quickly moving on, where everyone, the citizens, are only given lists and letters of their orders. The fast-reading machines already takes it up and magically finished at the claim counter. From items for repairs to rare orders needed to make, it was already done in such excellent process. They even have a little fun with to make jokes and games while they are in a fast queue. Wasting such amount of money for some gag, but they have their devices recorded from what was happening. It all stops suddenly, when the shield student comes in and didn’t prepare.
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The people shook in awe to hear that someone didn’t know about the procedure of this workshop. More importantly, the shield student doesn’t even know once he was step in the last line, then suddenly disappears as he tries to follow it. Reaching to the end, he hurriedly tries to get what he needed to do. The person at the back pats his back, it was the woman who worked at the workshop.
“There is no need to hurry, people here are having fun of our service, right?”
The Repair boy sees someone is actually new, the boy who held R-cord’s gauntlet.
The shield student recognized him with Haw, he thought he could be part of his party but he really looks busy, especially in this workshop. He pulls out a letter and some money, in coins, where is kind of rare to see when everybody else uses their digital credits as payment. It is the first time someone comes to the counter to get the coins, and the Repair boy picks it up personally. Everyone gasps, the woman shouts back at their annoying reaction
“Would you please stop making this workshop, for five minutes, as a gaming room? For five whole minutes!”
The robots pick up the note and guide him to the claiming counter, the shield student tries to leave her be as she is getting angry for some reason. The claim counter is already giving him the set, he tries to grab it but the tray shows molten and freshly made items as he stops. The woman pulls it out for him and said,
“I know it looks dangerous, but you can immediately place it on your inventory . . . What’s this? Wow!”
The woman looks at the equipment all designed and made to look like Dwarven runes, they look prohibit by its looks, then she remembers another customer with writings in their language. She gives it to him and watches him smiling to have his own full set.
He left in a hurry with excitement. The moment he left; someone is shouting out loud at the counter.
“LET’S GOO!”
The fastest service comes alive again, leaving her to move away from the need for speed antics. She shakes her head to see the account is growing slowly on the tens and hundreds of currencies, now this new queue of people is taking advantage of the service. The robots though, there are no stopping like they are wanting the challenge.
Tabitha and Archivist are already in set with their equipment, her eyes never been so stuck onto so materialistic in her life. Archivist only sees his equipment only with the sash and the coin. From the workshop’s repairs to Haw’s adjustment into better accessories, he would never believe to see the sash and the coin attached altogether. He tries it again, the use of two items at the same time leads to secure each other from being dropped or stolen. The coin fell, then tumbles closer to his pocket. The sash let loose, only a single thread left behind filled with silky like protection from all harm. When the sash recovers itself, it all returned to where the thread is.
Meanwhile Tabitha, she has every recommendation and style from her own interest in design. Yui did amazing job to provide her the items needed to become a proper mage and commander. That last word made her being embarrassed but at the same time no choice in the matter of not fully committing the potential she had with her magic. The cards in her deck, two sets, the mage robe stylized in color with violet outlines and dark sea blue for the frames, then she switches the colors to her favorite colors; yellow frames and red outlines, and lastly her own magic wand.
Archivist is kind of glad that the first two colors where blend enough for the Rune Isles environment in regards to dark colors, but mage with a wand looks like a stick. He kept to himself as she tries to test it out. She raises her wand leaving a line of thread like magic, her magic is concentrated and little use of its power. It’s potent enough to create effective spell, and lenient enough not to do any harm until she herself gains the confidence to use it.
Then she checks the card once more for Archivist’s buff, the cards she had is equipping him with armor, melee weapons, and magic. The weapons though it looks kind of authentic and provocative of how the info such weapon made for against. The tutorial for her cards to use only be safe when used during combat, training is not allowed. Tabitha never gives herself so much excitement what it can do, and at the same time made by Yui herself. Yui never gives her to fit her standard. The standard will always fight or survive.
The shield student runs to them with his arms carrying the equipment. He looks excited and at the same time nervous, the things he is holding is rather foreign to him. His gaze stops where he looks at Tabitha’s gear, the get up is really eye catching where the robes actually showing marks of written scrolls into a stylish logos to every designed cloth on. Clearly written in their language, the magic it possessed is very elusive as she turns the colors of her robe once again to be clearer to her colors.
“Is that really designed like Enders? I’ve seen them always wearing dark colors”
“True, you should know light colors attract attention in Rune Isles”
Archivist picks up the gears of the shield student. This shows nothing much originated from Enders Bridge, he still has the gauntlet from Dexter Guild. An armor made out of sturdy cloth, and the shield written in runes from their own language. The format though looks dwarven, he tries to pick it up but he couldn’t. The runes glow red showing the characters he could not read. Tabitha sees the characters and said,
“Not owner? Hey, did you add one of those super heroes’ weapon”
“Ah no, let me check first the letter”
It was his uncle’s letter “Dear Nephew, I don’t have any ideas what you wanted for your weapons, but I added some superheroes movies as references. Secretly, I was having conversation with your teacher, Haw, and this is what I’m come up with. He was supposed to ask for your preferred set, and I was the one who is filling your needs here. Sorry, I shouldn’t have butting in . . . Now I know why I did it. No! Power armor is just too easy for you. Unless you want to be a mechanic like me. Lol!”
The shield student closes the letter as he already knows what he wanted, then again, the equipment he has now is more than enough for him to handle.
The shield student picks up his new shield, it was light and Archivist was struggling. Then he tests it out on Tabitha, he places on the table and said,
“Can you pick the shield up? I want to know this is referring to a movie”
Tabitha grabs the handle of the shield and couldn’t pull it up, the runes shine in red again indicating its protection. Then she raised her strength high enough for her to lift, the red glowing runes continue to shine brightly until it is not strong enough to defend her power. She said,
“I guess it won’t work on citizens, but I’m sure I can’t use the runes neither”
She gives it back as he uses the runewords. The shield has already set up abilities that has only a few. The bright side in his eyes to test his shield so much where he sees Rusic passing by. The smile of his face also cheers on to him
“So, you’re the one I’m been placing runewords for. What do you think? I almost write perfectly with your calligraphies or Khan Jimmy”
Tabitha reacts “It’s Kanji, but it looks like Nihongo”
“Laugh* can you believe I could say something like that?”
“No?”
“But would it be better I give it a name for my kins to remember”
“Then what’s the point to understand our culture”
“Do you know about our culture?”
“. . .”
“Laugh*”
Comparing and trying their equipment, the shield student has the obligation to test it fully. The set contains an armor, the shield, and the new instruction guide for setting the gauntlet to his left hand. There is a special coding instruction from R-cord, it is simple enough he could remove the parts carefully without permanently torn apart without him knowing. In any case, he had seen the utility it brings if he sets his mind into. After studying magic, he can only practice on with his limited spells. The best ideal situation is to make his throwing daggers redactable or creating magic weapons.
He gets to work and made such exceptional progress with the gauntlet. The easiest way to adjust it all by its fingers. Swapping only four fingers and adjust the hand to be more left hand as instructed, this looks rather easy than he had expected. Equipped both to his hands, he hurriedly shows it to Rusic as he already setting up for the test. Rusic pulls out his hammer, casts through the spell of its rune as he slams it to the ground. Raising the golem like creatures in front of him, he said
“Try to test what the notes instructed you, I want to see how creative you get when using your magic”
The shield student nods and the first he did is using the gauntlet. The daggers infused with the gauntlet with different effects and spells together. The small golems hit with different spells. The magic didn’t affect it; explosion, smokes, and even lightning out of nowhere. The only thing he could do now is to use retract it. The daggers return with all of its integrity like it was never been used yet. The daggers look so new through his gauntlet, the energy though consumed a lot. He is not even left-handed, he uses his shield and daggers on his right, it is amazing how he swings his dagger along with it.
Finally, he tests the shield, Rusic made it with the best of his runewords writing skills. Haw did something about it, and the grip of his shield shows no signs of weight through his arm. Actually, he waves it like a prop, the first move he used is the common shield bash. The writings glow where the beasts appeared on the shield, a ram with large horns rushing with the bash and able to push the small golem back slightly. Tabitha sees the slight movement as the entire ground itself quakes forward. Rusic cheers the impressive force.
The Raker Mawn recruits have receive the basic equipment, the time for tonight’s journey is closing in. Tabitha brings the shield student to where the workers and the Enders going through their operation. It is something he must see as of why there are others won’t be joining their training tonight. They found Haw and Ironno taking their time placing some strange substance on the floor behind the rest of the workers and adventurers. When they completed it, Haw and the other Dexters place some kind of wires connecting it to the detonator.
The sound of the horn rhythms into an orchestrated song. Dexter Guild never ceased for their orchestra amusement, the machine they brought specialize to purge and expand the city barrier. The demands for energy are massive, due to the dusts weren’t strong enough to weaken the demonic presence. With this alone, the blasts had started. The loud orchestrated music blocks the noise of the machines. Already showing the massive shove already forming in front of them, and another blast resumes the push. Only after 10 meters of the area covered. They retrieved the land of the city had lost.
Rusic comes before them and tells them about it. “Never you lads and lass could ever see such slow progress, right?”
“Did Enders Bridge actually do something like that?”
“Aye lad, but it stopped when the siege is too much to expand. So, they are planning to find ruins to be our next outposts. It took so long to find the new location. Well now, I think we should . . .”
Haw stops him “Again with the tales, so, are you guys prepared?”
Tabitha answers “Oh I can’t wait, say, why Yui can’t let me test my equipment?”
“Just listen to her, she is a kind of person not holding back. Is it a consumable for any chance?”
“No”
She shows him the deck and the cards. Haw waves it away “I have no idea in regards to magic spells. I am an alchemist and a grenadier. That’s all you can know about me”
Tabitha sees why Kiege keeps telling her through her telepathy. The guild members here have no knowledge in magic. Crafting magic items, yes, but in other courses if she can separate from the scientist, doctors, engineers, or even the professors. All can be categorized from science, while magic stretches equally so far, she could not even fathom of it being categorized.
Meanwhile enjoying the view, they see rather odd among the adventurers. They show uncooperating one another and they look rather being force to get along than being respective one another. Tabitha was curious by the change of attitude. The shield student blurts it out
“They are fighting again. They must be those people from Fuku City”
“Fuku City, wait a minute! The same isolated group of people who seal themselves part of the city”
“Yeah, I think they stop moping around since the threats of the siege. I heard more of them being active since the swarm incident. I heard they are the one who contributed the power plant projects for the city barriers”
Tabitha thought it was odd, those people never have the bright ideas to work in hard labor. Working alongside with the workers, they have that hierarchy feeling on work. There are no way people like that from luxurious lifestyle to act this way. They look like they are behaving so well though.
“Then what’s with the attitude among each other”
“A commotion in social media, some workers get a hold of some public chat that the people who are dealing with is making fun of them. Strange though, they are good in the public spaces, but when in the back of their homes, the Fuku City residences suddenly change face. It was so strange when it happened after midnight”
The shield student shows her the social media posts, where the same people from the public platform and here now. They have been doing all day without any sleep. The Fuku City residences are active so wildly at night and now they become the role model citizens in the morning. The workers were upset in the morning to think they were acting very unhealthy. In their suspicion, they used runes to show their actual health. The Fuku City adventurers exposed their conditions, but they are fine without any sleep.
It is very suspicious to be all day and night and shows their conditions to be healthy than they were at night. Archivist takes a look and see what’s happening. Those people he seen are the same people that the random person tries to get away. Hiding his face as he takes a strong look at the person’s intention. This makes all sense now. So, this is what Dexters want to find out, but it’s not enough. Carefully, without any proof though, he sets his gaze between the boy’s device and them.
The people over there are identical by looks in social media. Others like comparing on a screen and the person themselves made it impossible for him to differentiate. He finds it, the big differences are how the faces in between. The eye bags are different, they have the same texture of its look. It is very rare to make a sharp examine to their faces. The expression though doesn’t match at all. The only thing he gets are just hunches. Only when matching together with their expressions, the happy faces are not alike.
The low ranks Fuku adventurers were having trouble getting along with the workers. Their eyes squinted heavily by the sheer peer pressures of ignorance, but the project needed to be done sooner. The patience of both parties is already set to thin. The boss needs the materials needed to be look authentic to the eyes of the public. Meanwhile the managers of the factories are preparing a proper defense against the return of the humongous tree up north. The Fuku adventurers never would have thought the Enders are already suspicious of them. He found out that one of their groups lost a phone, an old one. One of them saw it with a random person during lunch, then the man disappears.
The boss sends his message to all of them to continue without getting notice from what they did. They already know, only thing left is someone has to react that something is wrong. The device contains messages from past conversation. They prayed that the messages don’t have special contacts to the defectors. One of the devices pops out and see that the doubles are already spreading the mess of things. These abuses are getting too much, especially to the strongest among the defectors. They envy to the others who were not involve in internet trolling.
Those same groups of people who were being keep talking smack to their own companions from the workers. They too not like this kind of double life. During their work, a message from the boss
“Failure, tonight will be theirs. This will be your punishment. Continue your work until you are no longer needed”
The Fuku adventurers groan to whom is that person failed during their mission. It is better to have small loses than to lose something big.
The boss is inside the Fuku City, endlessly hearing messages from the realms being raided one by one. The Enders are already taken everything they hide throughout the first smuggling realm, the mana batteries. The loses keeps growing and growing, the man smiles as he they succeeded the bait. He hums to himself as the plan they thought failed was exposed. In reality, what purpose for those mana batteries are for anyway? The demons? Now they get caught to the wrong path.