COI C203

Isekai City still left with debris to still the memory of what happened to the aftermath of the siege. It’s the portrayal of great achievement with great cost as it continues to snow in the dusts. Barren, such a sight they could not comprehend to recover while in this moon cycle. Rumors prosper in grim streets, steps can’t be recognized from the city’s patrols, warned and feared where the callings of suspicious individuals walking through the empty streets. The wasteland exists and difficult to clean it off. The faint calling siren is warning to the roaming citizens

“All citizens, we are no longer be responsible when leaving the evacuation area. Please advised to be wary to your surroundings . . .”

The speaker cracks then fell into crystallization as the last of other speakers froze into a crystal shell. A stranger walk by, almost hit by the falling speaker. Movable creatures around him as he wipes off the ground from the dusts. Puppets are appearing all around him, able to hold them under these extreme exposures. Another one passes by with an UI is phasing disoriented from the exposure. The user is gathering data, he raises his hands on the screen and tap it. More details popping out and he took this chance to familiarize this place.

When it is done, they move back to Taiyou Industries. The Enders emblem on their armor starts to shine, a glow out of nowhere sparks around them. The Enders with the puppets said to him

“This glow, old worlds are reappearing. We must hide or the souls will forever find us”

The man raises his UI and checked his inventory. He pulled out his sword then slashes a realm open from nothing. They step inside and hide away from the mysterious glow.

The shield student’s team made out from the realm and see they went out what they didn’t expect the way they had come in.

Joanne can’t believe her eyes “Are we in the air? Where are we?!”

They soon fell as everyone is holding themselves to dear life.

“AAH!” Everyone screamed.

Healer looks at the shield student “I hope you know what you were doing!”

Arsenal angrily yelled at him “If we fall flat drop to the ground. I won’t be joining any of your adventures in the future, SHIELD!”

Berserker clenches his weapons “I can give for anything for wings. Hey Joanne! Why didn’t you cast your wings?”

Joanne holds herself for dear life “I am going to fall harder with all these dusts around me”

Somewhere, Gemina and her team see a falling light falling from the sky. The screams are soft and too far for them to recognize. Trying to figure out why, but their notification received urgent news and proceed to go elsewhere. The rest of her teams are going to the stadium as the urgent signal is calling out to them nonstop. Its importance grew wider as the enemies they are searching for are being revealed. With no idea how it was possible, and only news they got are their numbers reaching terrible levels.

Back to the shield’s team, they made it to the ground. A sudden drop to the ground without any harm. They stood right up as if they are in the dream. The shield student stands up and see through the fog

“Where are we? Hmm, I guess we are back from the highway”

Healer checks his UI just to be sure. “No, we are not. We are still in the realm. The exit we passed through has no magic. Wait, no. You’re right. Man, what’s going on here?”

Healer sees their surrounding is cleared and show what the shield student said is true. They are all out from the realm.

The glow disappears but it reappears all in Taiyou Industries. Then there are sounds of fighting from the distance as the glow brightens. The bright lights, it clears the blur of the dusty wasteland. A faint sight strong enough to see what’s happening. Debris are everywhere with scattered crystals and unforeseen marks of battle spread everywhere with glistering multiple crystals are consuming different forms of magic. The glow calls for the souls to follow it, together they formed, together they fire brightly, and all calling back to the gem.

The shield student hears the sound of the gem, calling out to him. The sounds filter the screams to the worse haunting wails. The blessings are dividing everything it could from any demonic influence as he hears the souls speaking to him. His team hears it too. Healer repeats what the gem told them.

“Collect the lights, they guide you to your fate to survive”

Berserker acts unsure “Why I am getting the feeling that it would benefit us in the future?”

Joanne checks on Puma, as the doll knows about those sounds. Puma speaks through her UI “Spirits, searching for hosts to seek the same purpose. They can’t fight, but they will guide you with no harms”

Arsenal hears the voices as the language they are listening is slowly getting clearer to her. One of the voices is calling out to her. A friend she knows “This is getting scary. I can hear the people I know within the gem. Miyusuki! What kind of gem is that?”

“A gift from one of the Enders I knew. I knew I’ll be using it in the most crucial time, but I never expected to be this soon”

Puma continues on Joanne’s UI “This not what the gem is telling you. It is just a tool. You are interacting the dead. This is also your training, because the dead might reward you by escaping deaths in the future”

Escaping deaths, Joanne asks Puma “That is include us, right Puma?”

“Only to him who holds the gem. But as long as he still cares for you. The spirits might force to help him to save you. The gem has powers feel the same us ours, but that’s no ritual hiding in a rock . . . Puma” The doll stops talking leaving only to say its iconic word.

The team is in training and now giving a secret quest that helps them defies death. Miyusuki is adding more to do than he had thought. Now what next on his list. Only thing left are passing through the ruins and staying safe in one of the checkpoint routes.

Now he is here by the road, the safest route he could do now is going to Taiyou Industries where there is one saferoom he knows where his uncle and his friend used. The rest in the ruins are covered in crystallized barrier on top of the entrance. His team is ready for the next step of their training, as their attrition is keeping them down their resistances as the three hours are still a long way. They made it to one of the saferooms. Where they could hear someone inside, with great confidence in the shield student’s hand by the door, they walk in and see what’s inside.

Meanwhile. The personnel, the city guild adventurers, and the Fuku city adventurers have fought the looters and trespassers within the moon’s presence. Impossible to get a hold of the suspects, all of them are escaping in the dusty wasteland. Taking advantage their defenseless barriers as they spread themselves in the city in waves of mobs trying to scavenge or to loot what lies inside. The chaos proceeds to go deep inside the city to the districts are evacuating or who are foolish to take whatever had let from the demons’ army.

The city though, it had already informed it a while ago. Their objectives to find out who are those trespassers, either be killed or scare them off. It’s been more than a week now. They are not hesitating whatsoever. They are in the stadium, already drench in the bodies of those people. The Victory Rooks is able to take them out, killing the unwanted trespassers. The adventurers are safe whereas link to Ironno’s saferooms, only some that is close to the convenient locations, while the rest is isolated enough to be sure that nobody will sneak in.

One of the city guild adventurers had doubts in this stadium, and he awkwardly talks about this place. “This looks like a cult if I see one”

His team agrees “Yeah, what’s worse they look like they worship their leader. I don’t want to hear anything from them speaking about her in a religious sense”

“Or worse, they must be her fans. Laugh*”

The adventurers laugh it out as many of the Victory Rooks, Agatheans, are turning their heads to the citizens who are laughing. They shut up. Then everything went back to normal.

The adventurer says it again. “This is really creepy. Where are the citizens who actually joined this guild?”

“They are busy organizing the defense. I’m sure they are not here because of this”

In their UIs, they received caution notifications coming from Taiyou Industries. The area starts to reveal itself with glowing lights spreading across Taiyou Industries as numerous criminals are popping out all around. The stadium’s computer networks are signaling alarms to any active users.

“Warning! Intruders DETECTED!”

The citizens rushed to see what it is, and many more of them from the saferooms are teleporting here to see what’s going on in their UIs. The Victory Rooks adventurers see what’s going on and call out to the guilds appearing before them.

“Everyone, please remained calm. The mass numbers of them are appearing before the screen are reacting to the strange glowing phenomenon . . .”

Taiyou Industries is sealed off and let itself barricaded. There are few buildings filled with people, but the rest of its industrial networks are all evacuated. Carefully sealed to protect against any future trespassers from getting in. The train station though, there they could find the rest of the workers continue under the clock to collect necessary goods from Enders Bridge.

The structure outside never been taken out beside by the road to the main highway. There they set routes. Meanwhile with the other routes are infested with looters, bandits are what they called, for now. The frightening presence where the glowing lights spread and revealing them as they fled into the dusts. Both fake or real, the chances to get them will be difficult for the adventurers to face. The dusts continue to fill with the windy breeze set down south.

Then there these group of students, going their way in the most dangerous cycle. Joanne is receiving messages from Gemina’s group. The dangers around Taiyou Industries after the big reveal. She looks at the outside, where the dust storm is starting to form. On their scrolls still has more time for the night. The exposure is truly reaching them into the extreme. The scroll has its downside because of its limited time. Without even enduring the exposure, what is the reason for their training to go there in the first place.

Joanne is lucky for having Puma along, and her sister’s permission. She has given some rituals to fend off the crystals. That’s what they are concern for now. While the shield student and his lack of mana in him is able to endure it, but time goes on as if his body started to feel light headed, sickly even. His body feels the skinning by the crystal shards. It is starting to make it clear to him as it supposed to take away mana but naturally his skin stinged by the strong wind shards blowing on his body.

They bring out their large tank of clean water. Washes them down as soon as they feel something uncomfortable, then dry themselves up as they maintain their hygiene. It is a hard experience for them, but all of them are determine. As they finished cleaning themselves, they get back into the group as the next saferoom they need to go. This saferoom though, left with equipment from the citizens. Signs of used items and left over fairly cleaned damaged tools to the corner of the room. The old aging materials and the rusts are removed cleanly. The dusts had its way with the solid materials, and more as if it is acid to melt it down.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The team left and later stopped. Joanne has some concerns when she takes a look of her device. “I got the message from the city guild. If we’re going to Taiyou Industries, we will meet a lot of enemies. Everyone is secured in the stadium because of the chaos happening in the factories. I don’t think we should go there and train”

The shield student though so, but from what he remembered from Ironno said to him. The training he need to do is more than just go there and find out. Ironno spoke of finding them.

“Them?” The shield student spoke out without understand why.

Berserker repeats what he had said “Them . . .”

Healer follows “Them . . .”

Arsenal hears him and asks “What’s ‘them’? What are you talking about?”

Berserker shakes his head “I’m not sure, but I’m sure we are going to meet them. Laugh* !!!”

A short laugh cuts as something is coming into the saferoom. Not by the entrance but someone is inside. The presence is strong and threatening. Their mind is blocked like it is disrupting their concentration.

They go in. A portal is formed where the Raker Mawn Guild’s emblem appeared. The shield student was relief, but he can’t calm down for some reason. The stench, the odor, why did he feel like he is going to throw up. The portal is releasing vile air and noise of the mechanism is going through it. One of them tries to speak, but nothing in their mouth saying a single word. Their minds start to hear noises as their thoughts is being forced out to their mouths. Still there are no sounds.

Raker Mawn members passes through the portal, with equipment pulled out something toxic from the chunks they brought here. Not sure what’s going on, but the smell is reaching their mouth and start coughing. Cough* One of the Raker Mawn guild members saw their intoxicated breathing and quickly set ablaze to the toxic fumes. Burned only the smell, and almost burned off their trophies. The fast-speaking voice coming from their heads pierced through as their mind can’t catch up.

Remained silence. Then there is one man coming in in their minds telepathically. Guildmember, the man who communicates through thoughts and his gibberish speaking mouth.

“Going alone, the shield student. Don’t ask, think. Focus on the conversation or I’ll read your private thoughts. And yes, then why I have to tell the color green that has picture in you . . .”

Everyone turns around who is thinking about testing what’s the color of his underwear. They seem to be the one who asks him. Healer carefully tries but stop with another blabbering response.

“. . . No, I won’t say anything about those people who attacked you. We’re here because of the message from Lilith . . .”

The shield student expect it was him. He didn’t stop “. . . Yes, it’s you. It was bold that you return where the time is right for you to take. She is not happy that you open it, nonetheless, this is also not the right time for you go through what it is already revealed. Bandits were not normally attack people. They are not taking the risk to fight against powerful mana users. Without a certain power they need to fend you off or even kill . . . Ah what? It is not certain that you will meet them again. That is less likely, you won’t be getting your hand on them after the light spread across the district . . .”

“. . . It will make it dangerous. That’s right young boy. Your people are in the stadium made it harder for you to travel deep. Us, here? Well, there is nothing important to speak through our minds. How about I will send it to your heads”

A strong surge through their minds getting the memories from him and many other Raker Mawn Guild members, those two who are with him shared the glimpse of their memories. A past that is too recent that is vital understanding their coming here.

“. . . Lilith is not too fond with her plan getting messed up with the boy. Spokesman, do you know anything about it?”

“A very old one, but it is better to bring guildmember there with your magic. He has his message come across with Tabitha. It would be a wise opportunity to be of help for him. The Jigeram’s light is a true challenge for his people. He must be at the advantage or all is lost for his rise in strength”

“It is not concerning for him though. He is the disciple of . . .”

“. . . He must grow in another way. That power is needed for . . .”

The memory is breaking apart. The shield student tries to focus the important bits they talked about him. His friends joined in trying get the memory in clear message. Guildmember senses his mind is getting hurdled by their curiosity. They stray further away from Lilith’s reason, then he forces it into them and sees Lilith themselves.

“. . . He needs to collect those glows. There is time, but what is good about the gem that he can nurture his strength. It is naturally impossible for him to ascend for only a few cycles in this world. Tell him that it will also help his companions to obtain what they really need to acquire”

The entire team knocks off their feet and pulled themselves back. Their heads are getting pulled into powerful mental strains. Their heavily neutral mana with only mid-level control and little muscle memories to their abilities obtain. For guildmember in their side, they will receive it for sure tonight. The students are struggling in their heads back to their conscience, they are not ready to comprehend. Fortunately, guildmember is connecting more minds they could to have the perfect synergy.

Arsenal is the first to sense who is guiding her hands to her weapon. A habit within herself grew vast and her hands steadfast with every motion of her eyes matching the pacing to her reflexes. She starts juggling the ammunitions with her own hands as if she already memorized what she is holding. Hand gestures remembering how Haw did, but more tactful to her inventory put into place. Finally, she is reloading not by magic that guided her speed. Her mind is calibrating as if she is a gunslinger.

Joanne starts to feel weird inside her head. Intellect went deep to her mind as someone is calling out to her. Ferociously focusing on her own team, and Arsenal was the first to do some tricks she never knew. She raises her hands, gesturing only by sign language. Arsenal instantly looks at her and flip something out while she juggles her ammunition. She drops it, and Joanne catches it almost touching the ground. Joanne sees what she had done, magic control, not used in her UI or even her own mind. Someone’s mind is guiding her. The item Arsenal drops is a bomb. A bomb that she already knew that it will explode by grabbing it but kept herself calm.

The bomb explodes, caught by the hand before the blast reaches them. Berserker took it down by the speed of his weapons. It was unimaginable for him to Joanne’s hand. In his mind, he never knew how runes able to do it. His mind is mingled who knows how to use runes and harmonized with their mana. He took from Joanne’s hand, the blast ceased by place his weapon near her hand. The thrill of himself being speechless as the thought of the bomb holds into his weapon. With his own excitement. Both weapons swoop to the other direction creating its own explosion. It releases into the slashes of his dual axes.

The slashes were caught and turned into birds. The shield student did that, confused by the others. They tried to ask but, guildmember stops them as the thoughts reach within them. Filtered strongly as one of them are premature for their self-thinking and imagination. It wasn’t clever to the younglings that don’t know how to share one’s thoughts. The reason why the shield student did it because of his gauntlet. In the middle of the active spell, it is certain by his own abilities that someone is telepathized to make the gauntlet as a mage glove.

A clever innovation of such a tech can be also used magic. The shield student thought to manipulate the bird again, but he lacks the knowledge to do it. It is certain by guildmember’s teaching within their head is because of the sharing of thoughts. Which means the shield student got someone in random through the procedures of using magic. Thousand more of the minds are trying to reach them. Only the guildmember is the middle of their conversation. Except for one, who already know how to use telepathy.

Healer focuses on the minds of others trying to connect them. Barely anything he can find except someone who he is closes to. Obviously, the skills he had to use telepathy wasn’t by luck, and it was the experience he had connected with his family member, his mother. Guildmember is already trespassing their links together.

Healer’s mother entered his telepathy “I won’t forgive you if you try something funny with my child”

Guildmember acknowledges her “Strict words for me to hear such a loving mother”

“Don’t flatter me! My child had done a lot of trouble after his wound on his back”

“I can hear that in his mind. Yet, you let him continue”

“I must, I can’t protect him by myself”

“Wise”

Both Healer and his mother made in contact, giving him some needed space as he is going to obtain something valuable. Even if it is temporary, it is what he wanted to try and will regretfully forget about it after. He only needs to know how he can do in this predicament like an Enders. The guildmember is almost done linking the right Enders who are available. Then he stops where accidentally caught one of his guild members that shouldn’t let non-members joined the link.

Clang* The sound of the volt come across. It is really bad to sense someone out there near outside of the city to come here. Winding up bolt* No voice but echoing sounds causing troubles to share the thoughts of his telepathy.

Joanne ironically was ecstatic to hear the iconic sound. “That sound inside my head. Did you hear it?!”

Berserker lays his hand on his head “Yeah, sounds like a bow arrow shooting”

Healer carefully identify it in his head “Tank, it’s a crossbow. Why does it sound so terrifying every time it reloads and fire?”

Joanne remained excited as she thought he might be him “Hey! Do you think that noise in our head will be coming this way? Hello?”

Guildmember went silent and let the other Raker Mawn members explained it to them. They first speculate if they could meet or not. “I don’t think so, with your scrolls of yours. He might not be able to meet you outside, but unless he will come for you. Chances are he might be”

Joanne pulls the shield student’s arm “You hear that? Miyusuki. We can finally meet that guy”

“What’s so important about it, Joanne?”

“He is known by many city adventurers in the east coast. I heard also rumors that he saves another man who has a broken leg or foot or something who brought him to the undergrown”

“Uh Huh? Where did I heard it before? I remember it was in the convention” The shield student tries to recall, but his friends were pulling him off from the saferoom. Both Berserker and Healer are pulling his arms.

“Now, now Shield. Your mind is being read by your own guild member”

“Yeah, his mind filled with knowledge we won’t be remembering later. So, we just play along and see what we can do if we actually are professional adventures, ok?”

“You too, healer?”

“Don’t make excuses, Shield. I know you are an air head when you think”

“Hey!”

As they left, the Raker Mawn guild. Listens to guildmember’s thoughts, an interference is already blocking him from contacting everyone around him. A recognizable voice, they can only spoke out her name instead hearing the demon’s voice through thoughts.

“What is it, Lilith?”

“I thought it was Sanquin”

They tried again to go through the guildmember’s head. Out of their old habits, they stop. It is better not to continue. Still, their new guild member, the shield student, is going there with the amateurs. It was too late. Their childlike experience drove them to see what they can do with guildmember’s mind sharing with others.

Arsenal follows them, she shares the mind by a sweet elderly woman. Chose not by acquiring skills, but comfort for her past experience with the shield student’s team. That’s all she needs while secretly learning to understand how specialized with her own weapons. Another, she looks at Fae-chan in his inventory, giving a little sign for it to react. A whisper seeks the doll’s help. It pops out, Arsenal shriek with joy, and the doll disappears losing her whisper to bring it out. The elderly woman’s voice inside her thoughts continues how Arsenal using her weapon.

Berserker finds a different communication through his head. The violent examples in his imagination and visions for ways of fighting. Tolerable together to understood of what he wanted to learn. He receives muscle memory in his body. The scourge of his body acting on its own, making him excited. Out in a blue, his quick reflexes reacted against the dusts. One sweep throws a large dust wave in one blow. Muscle memories gotten to him and overreacted with his body without thinking. He almost loses control, but stop as the crystallization covered his hands. The dusts were enough to cut the line of his telepathy with guildmember.

Everyone is looking at him, feeling so refresh and happy, and able to shatter through in one sweep with multiple techniques ready to move his body. Berserker grins as he understood what his body capable of. Now placing his hands on the street, then reluctantly rose up from the floor he already found something. A big sigh coming from him as he is committed to be a part in the team. Healer looks at him immensely as he’s glad he behaves. That look though, he can’t let Healer go.

“Starting to like me? Holly will be mad”

Healer wasn’t provoked and remained quiet. A warrior’s mind ventured through his concentration able to ignore the foolery around him. Especially Berserker, it was kind of suspicious of him that he had a mind compatible among the Raker Mawn Guild, and with that, he channels in whisper as his hands start to mend then bend his mana. Like he had experienced only by watching some anime or other animations. This person he shared thoughts with has the same abilities, and this one is very different and energy consuming. He can’t describe it in his vision, but the name is clear as he said it to himself

“Viste”

The shield student hears his teachers, all three ladies who gives their time only by a day. There was a noise behind it but it seems like Juela is giving him a nice greeting.

“Guildmember is getting rude to share thoughts with a non-member. Still, I’m glad you are going somewhere dangerous”

Kiege slides in the telepathy “I have read your mind from your past training. You need to focus one thing. You are going through in a dangerous situation that will hurt your friends. That what I call my student. Laughs*”

She laughs without him knowing that this is what they were trained back when they were young.

Kiege passes down to him, giving him the muscle memory needed to use of the gauntlet. Then his mind soon clouded even deeper. A knowledge that he ignored and thought it was for the familiar. Yui enters his mind, never trying to invade his private memories but shared a little bit of a memory with the familiar he had given by her. Fae-chan, only the parts how it can use for and nothing else but names, commands, and proper instruction for him to use. No samples and only guidance through her voice.

“. . . You wanted to know? Why not try it out? Be a little girl and it might play with you”

Joanne sees Miyusuki’s expression getting riled up and embarrassed out of nowhere. The way she acted out of the contact through guildmember’s telepathy. It was kind of pleasant to hear in her head. A familiar voice, but never seem to have proper conversation except watching Miyusuki receiving what he got as Raker Mawn Guild member.

Spokesman reaches her. “Aw it is nice that you have no relation with us. It is quite weird for to say for I you will listen to”

“Really, even Berserker . . . I mean Holly has one”

“Indeed, a pleasant to hear a gun carrying girl able to reach out our elders. I assume they share the same interest”

“Then how about you Spokesman? I don’t get it how will you guide me on this”

“Well, a girl like you have been watch over a lot. Your Puma, your sister, and even your friends still worried about you. I may be a certain stranger will make you fill independent with your friends”

Joanne feels the envy she had from his voice in her thoughts. It is obvious a desire she wanted to experience, on her own. The reason of her interest be joining with Miyusuki. Feared by the outside and wanting only to defend the city, but she led herself further into dangers to make her love ones worried.

She needs to prove to them. While she is desired for it, Spokesman is giving her the powers needed to obtain such discipline matter. Frail too soon to be forgotten, her mind is given guidance of ancient generations of people who overcome it. All of them contact with guildmember to go through them. As a certain person is going to test them without consent. A villain for a bit, or so he walks closer to the city. A crossbow with empty bolts, already satisfied with the targets fallen to the dusts. What carries him to go here is faults of poor training.