As the days pass, the weather slowly gets colder until one day December arrives. For most of the passing months, my routine remains unchanged. During the weekdays I go to school and on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I head to the Lands to train; either with Justin or with Kane and his team.
During those months only two things of interest happen. First is the superhero. Some Laen had noticed that there seemed to be someone picking fights with criminals - the lowlife types - and that person had magic. A bit more digging gave us an idea of what the person looks like. It seems to be a girl who always wears a red and black mask. Judging by how no one could remember anything else about her features, it isn’t hard to figure out that the mask is some sort of Artifact. With each passing week more and more people get interested in her, not because she is strong or anything, but simply because her actions are somewhat unique. However, she is uncannily good at evading Laen so none have managed to meet her yet.
The second happened toward the middle of November. I was in school when all of a sudden the mark on my forehead started tingling. Before I could even try to figure out what was happening, I was transported out of the school and into another part of the city. Without hesitation, I turned on second sight. Something magical had just happened to me, no doubt about that, and second sight would help in a situation like that where I had no idea what was coming next.
“Help,” a voice says from behind me.
I turned around to see a middle-aged man - a Laen judging by the mark on his forehead - on his knees and looking completely miserable. He was surrounded by four other people, all of who were dressed in black. Black coats, black shirts and pants, a black mask, and a black glove on their left hand. The moment I saw the black gloves, a single name jumped into my mind. The Ascendant Union, even with the masks their signature love for black gave them away. At the same time, information on the Laen’s position popped into my head. It was at that moment I figured out what is going on.
Just like during my fight with the Majin, he must have activated the mark. Which could only mean one thing, he was in trouble.
“There’s no one here to help you,” a garbled voice came out from one of the masked figures, he seemed to be the leader of this little group. Except for one, the rest of the figures slowly advanced on the Laen. The one who stayed behind chose to scan the surroundings instead. A moment later he exclaimed. “Shit!”
Alarmed the others turned to look at him, only to see him pointing in a particular direction. Looking in that direction, I was quick to spot the cause of his alarm. On the ground was the formation leaked by The Master, the one that could suppress the effects of the Laen mark. But unlike the complete one I had seen before, a part of this one has been damaged.
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Little by little I was beginning to piece together what must have happened here. The members of the Ascendant Union must have laid down the array and probably lured the middle-aged man into it. Then once he was in they must have used it to ambush him, reducing him to his previous miserable state. Somehow the man must have found a way to damage the array, rendering it useless before choosing to send out a cry for help.
The members of the Ascendant Union turn back to see the Laen on his feet, his previously miserable look gone. The mark on his forehead is pulsing with light as he is filled with new energy. Before anyone can react he punches, his hand moving so fast it blurs. Something almost invisible shoots out of his fist striking the shortest member of the group. The shortest member tries to block it but the moment he comes into contact with him, it explodes. However unlike any explosion I had ever seen, instead of an omnidirectional release of energy, all the energy it released is pointed in one direction, toward its victim.
The shortest member is unable to do anything at this point, and a fist-sized hole is blown through him. It took my mind a second to process the gruesome scene, then I shut my eyes, and following some unknown instinct I broke my connection to the man. A second later I was back in my class as my brain tried to make sense of all it just saw.
Later that afternoon during lunch I had a discussion with Drew. After first confirming that he was safe - three teachers and Hugo had answered his call for help - I asked the questions on my mind.
“What did they want from him?” I had asked Drew.
Drew replied with a worried expression. “I’m not sure. But for them to be willing to offend the Order for it… I don’t know. Things just seem much more chaotic now that the Eldest is gone.”
It took me a few seconds to phrase my second question. “The… the guy that… the shortest one with a hole blown through him-”
“He’s dead. Very few can survive an injury like that, especially since the attack messed up some of his organs.”
“Oh,” I said, letting his words sink in. The person was dead, just like that. One day alive, the next gone because a hole was made in him. Could this happen to me in the future?
“That’s why you don’t mess with Supers,” Drew continued not noticing my change in mood. “They’re not just strong but they also train to be able to apply the force they produce in any way they like. Want to apply it to an area large enough to cover the school? No problem.Want to apply enough force to crush a car on an area the size of a penny? Also no problem. It’s kinda scary, especially when you face one without knowing about it first. They can throw you a punch and you block it, only for them to throw a punch with the same level of strength but with the area of focus halved and all of a sudden they seem twice as strong as before… You okay?”
“I’m alright. It’s just… it’s not every day you see a hole get blown through a person.”
He was silent for a moment before saying. “Don’t worry too much about it, you’ll get over it pretty soon. Just, pray you don’t get to see worse.”
“Who do I pray to,” I joke, “the Eldest threw all the gods into the Abyss.”
“You can pray to the Eldest. Join his little cult.”
“Wait he has a cult?”
“Yes, but he isn’t the one that created it, just some overzealous Laen who believe that since he can defeat ‘gods’ then he must be one himself. Only he is greater. Hold on a second.”
He quickly sketches a noer on the table and activates it while staring intently at the table. A few seconds later the color drains from his face and his breathing becomes heavier. The moment I see this I know something is wrong. “What’s wrong?”
“I know what they wanted. They were looking for the key. The key to the abyss.”
"The Abyss has a key? How?"
"It was created by the Eldest when he first appeared. Without it even he wouldn't have been able to leave the Abyss once he was done making it."
"So what do they the key for?"
"I don't know, but the only thing of interest in there are Fasurus, so really there can be only one thing they want... God, this is how it started last time."
"How what started?"
"The previous Laen war."