“Hey, A.J what kind of Soul Insignia was that? It must be extremely powerful to take down that resident-evil-looking Field Monster.” Cockroach and the others were amazed by Angelina’s display of strength which was only possible due to the Soul Insignia that she had found. They wanted to know more about it.

“Listen guys, the type of Soul Insignia I possess is irrelevant now.” Saying this, Angelina pointed in the direction of the Grace of Pinnacles. “We need to retrieve that artefact and gear up ourselves for the upcoming battles. Need I remind you that we have a deadline?”

The others thought over what Angelina said, then agreed to put their curiosity about her Soul Insignia to the side for now. “Ok, let’s go check out the artefact.”

The Tomb Riders made it back to the area where they first encountered the Rank-B Field Monster. Everyone got out of their motor except for Rooster, he was supposed to keep watch just in case another monster decided to poke their head out of the scorching desert.

The others got closer to the Grace of Pinnacles while observing its mystical carvings and striations.

“The Initiator wasn’t lying about this thing. It is really gigantic.” Hard Steel squinted his eyes as he tried to see the top of the statue.

“So what now? How do we carry this thing?” Cockroach tried lifting up the artefact but his back made a cricking sound before the statue could even budge. “Damn! That’s heavy.”

“Move over.” Angelina pushed the duo out of the way and further inspected the artefact. “He said that there is a tag that will enable us to carry this statue. It should be here somewhere.” Angelina circled the artefact couple of times but still didn’t find what she was looking for.

“Hmm?” After looking over the artefact for some time, something on the statue caught Hard Steel’s attention. “Could that be the thing?” he showed the others a glowing pattern at the base of the statue that was slightly buried underneath the sand.

“I think that might be the tag.” Confirmed Angelina. “So it was buried underneath the sand. That’s why I couldn’t find it.”

“Where would you be without me? It was my brilliance that discovered its whereabouts.” Saying this, Hard Steel knelt down, moreover, he started brushing away the sand which was covering the statue’s tag.

“There we go.” Finish brushing away the dust from around the statue’s base, the others could see the tag clearly. “What now?” in his moment of curiosity, Hard Steel placed his palm on the glowing pattern.

The pattern on the statue lit up even brighter, eventually, the glowing pattern spread all over the artefact. The others stepped away so as to not get swooped up by whatever mystical aura was taking place. But, as Hard Steel withdrew his hand from the artefact, he realized that there was still a glowing sensation present in his palm.

“What the hell!?” Hard Steel flashed his hand repeatedly, trying to see if the glowing striations would go away but as he did so, the others noticed the artefact uplifting from the ground.

“Huh? The artefact is moving?” Angelina realized right away what was going on so she called out to Hard Steel. “Hey! Stop moving your hand around!”

“Hm?” Hard Steel did as was told then stared at Angelina questionably.

“That glowiness in your hand must mean that you have successfully synchronized with the artefact’s tag. Now I believe that you should be able to lift it up. Go ahead and try.”

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“What, for real?” Hard Steel was a bit sceptic, he glanced at Cockroach and received his nodded approval. “Alright I’ll try.”

Hard Steel went closer to the artefact; bent over; wrapped his arms around the base then lifted with all his might. The statue flung out of Hard Steel’s grasp and shot into the air like a rocket!

“What the hell did you do man?” Cockroach was angry at Hard Steel because he had just thrown their only chance of competing in the tournament to bloody space.

Hard Steel tried to defend himself. “I’m so sorry! I had no idea that it would be tossed that high. Maybe if we wait it will come back down, you know.”

“And how long will that be, genius?” Cockroach knocked Hard Steel on the head with his knuckle.

“Awe! That hurts bro! Keep your cool.” Hard Steel fled behind Angelina to protect himself from Cockroach’s tyranny.

“Hey, get back here. I’m not done disciplining you yet.”

“Both of you knock it off!” Angelina bulked up her vagina and stopped the two insipid vermin from fighting each other. “Hard Boy, let me see your hand.” She inspected Hard Steel’s palm then put her palm against his. The glowing striation were now transferring onto Angelina’s palm.

“Woah, what the heck is happening?” Hard Steel was partially startled. He along with the others observed Angelina carefully. They saw here put her hand in the air and said:

“Come back!” Angelina’s palm lit up resplendently. Moreover, as she spoke she could feel a connection with the artefact.

“Huh? What’s that sound?” The others heard a loud whistling noise coming closer towards them and looked up into the sky. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Look out!” The artefact crashed into the ground, kicking up a mountain of dust. The others evaded just in time, otherwise, they would have been sand food.

“Is everyone alright?” Angelina asked.

“I think so.” Cockroach answered while glancing around. “Hey, A.J did you do that?”

“I believe so.” Angelina glanced at her palm and then at the artefact which was sitting a couple of feet away from her. “I think I’m capable of controlling this statue telekinetically.” Angelina experimented with the glowing striations in her palm and indeed she was able to move around the artefact without touching it physically. It was effortless too.

“Now that this mystery has been solved I think that we should all learn how to control the artefact. Also, I want to know if we’re able to take control of the artefact by contacting it directly.” Saying this, Angelina touched palms with Cockroach. Control over the artefact have now been passed onto Cockroach.

“Wow, this is amazing!” Cockroach experimented with the tag’s flexibility. Surprisingly, he could do whatever he wished with the artefact, in terms of transportation.

“Okay, place it down over there.” After Cockroach put the artefact down, Angelina went over to it and placed her palm on the statue’s tag. To her surprise, when she tried steeling control over the artefact it began glowing red, moreover, Cockroach’s palm began heating up.

“AHH! My hand!” Cockroach looked at his palm, he saw the burning striations slowly evaporating into thin air. It took a while before they completely faded.

“Huh, so it works this way as well but it took a while longer.” Angelina was now in control of the artefact, she was pleased by the results. “This is great. Now we understand more about the Pinnacle of Grace.”

Hard Steel corrected Angelina. “For the second time, it is called Grace of Pinnacles not Pinnacles of Grace.”

“What’s the difference?” Angelina ignored Hard Steel’s comment and went back onto her motor. “Listen up gang I’m thinking of heading over to the Sanctuary of Pinnacles next just to scope it out for a while but before we do so, you guys need to arm yourselves with a powerful Soul Insignia. Remember that our opponents aren’t just other Tomb Riders but Field Monsters as well.”

“I agree with A.J’s suggestion.” Rooster spoke up.

“Me too.” Said Hard Steel. “During our bout with that sicko monster earlier, we almost got trashed! Completely! I never want to feel so helpless again.”

“So we should split up for now and search for more powerful Soul Insignias.” Cockroach suggested. “But don’t go too far out of range. We will keep track of each other’s coordinates by uploading our position on the map.”

“Split up? Is that such a good idea? Won’t we be easy pickings for other Tomb Riders not to mention the monsters?” Hard Steel wasn’t liking Cockroach’s suggestion.

“What do you think A.J?”

“I think it’s a great idea but we should split up in peers.”

“In that case, I’ll come along with you A.J.” Cockroach rushed over to Angelina’s side before Hard Steel and Rooster could have a say.

“That bastard!” Hard Steel and Rooster cursed internally while glaring at Cockroach.

“Eh.” Cockroach smiled at the duo and ignored their deadly stare.

“Okay, it’s settled then. Here, Hard Boy you hold onto this.” Angelina surprisingly gave Hard Steel control over the artefact before riding off with Cockroach. “Take care of yourselves.”

“Will do, baby.”