The luxurious ship floated above the shores of the continent of Rimor, the coasts were as clear in the bright sunlight as ever. The seas glittered and right below the depths, large shapes could be seen, creatures of Gaia that had mutated to mind boggling size hunted the very depths, aware that to peek above a certain level was to invite the defensive diamond ranked constructs to attack them. It offered a sense of safety to those who lived there, fishermen and their families, even sects with water attributes that made a living of the seas and its bounties.

It was also home to a series of luxurious ships that rivalled the titanic, with the advent of the Archailect and the growth of technology, it had allowed for great marvels of creation, such as the one Thaddeus was currently on. Known as the ‘tears of Persephone’, it was beauty given form, boasting of over fifty levels, it had employed spatial technology, or at least, the limit allowed by the greater factions to add over a thousand rooms to the vessel itself.

The best part of the ship for Thaddeus was the fact that it could fly, of course, the current level of tech meant almost every vessel on Gaia could fly. Barring the fact that tele hubs were now a thing, there was something about sailing both the skies and seas at the same time while sipping on overpriced wines and eating exotic creatures brought from the newest continent on the planet that drew him in. built like a nerd, Thomas was an average looking individual, dressed in expensive suit made from silk imported from Asa and the domain of the hands of Anansi, it was a thing of beauty that cost an entire sects’ funds.

Of course, for this particular journey,. He needed to dress as befitting of someone with the funds to sail such a ship filled with affluential gold rankers and a few trust-fund silver rankers whose parents had risen to prominence with the advent of the calamity that befell humanity. Sitting near the railings and enjoying the breeze, his rimmed glasses glinting in the sun, he took a deep breath and reclined on the chair, this was the life, especially when it was stolen funds. A soft smile came to his face, bringing out a black card with his name etched on it in gold, with a flick of his hand, it disappeared.

He was known in private circles, really, really private circles to be frank, and his expertise or job allowed him access to some things even greater factions would have a hard time getting. Like for example, the advent of the first post-Archailect commercial bank, opened by an Italian ascender whose path made him something akin to a deity in the business world, louis Fonte, baron of a city that was soon to become a kingdom in the imperial empire was the founder of the bank. It was called the lion chest bank of Gaia, a bold name for something that would soon be attacked by countless bandits who would make a name for themselves.

Of course, what most didn’t know, was that louis had the backing of outer planet benefactors, and the dungeon and dragon geek within Thaddeus wanted desperately to call them stinkingly rich dwarves. He found it hilarious that they came close to the dwarves or gnomes of harry potter who ran the bank of the wizarding world, but he knew better, these were ruthless bastards who protected their interests with a ferocity that was soon announced when a set of bandits had attempted to raid the bank. Their agonizing half dead corpses were displayed in vats filled with a liquid Thaddeus heard would inflict the most agonizing of pains on every nerve ending of their bodies while keeping them from dying,

They had been like that for a month straight,

By the end, they had gladly accepted death, their minds broken too far to even think of begging for their lives, it had done its work though. Thaddeus came in as the ascender that had allowed louis to rise to fame, his unique skills had helped along the way and as a sign of gratitude, louis opened an account for him as a VIP customer with the highest honors. Of course, his services didn’t come cheaply, seeing as his job put him among one of the most hunted humans on the entirety of Gaia.

The aegis of the union, Excalibur of Avalon, Shinobiya of the glorious empire among others all had him on their watchlists. They couldn’t mention his crimes, they were too embarrassing for them to say the least, but he was ranked among their top five most wanted and it was a thing of pride for him. Sometimes, he styled himself as the James bond of the new world, but that was just his pure ego at work, he was the farthest thing from the sleek legend of an agent, and he didn’t have any organization backing him, he was his own power unto himself, beholden to no one,

A king of Gaia,

He often wondered who came up with that term for the top ten strongest gold rankers of Gaia, the cream of gold rank, the powers that were either affiliated with a greater power or were walking power houses on the planet. They couldn’t compare to the diamond though, those true calamities of nature that were literal demigods in the flesh, but to the average human who barely saw anyone above the rank of peak silver or early gold, the ten kings were the celebrities of the average mortals. In most cases they were hunted, like the case of the mercenary king or in his case the collector.

He had to admit, the name had a nice ring to it, the collector, and seeing that he had been a librarian in his former life, it was an honor for his skills to be recognized. Even aboard the tears of Persephone, he was aware of the powers assembled, rich ascenders from affluent houses just brimming with riches and the thing he valued the most,

Knowledge,

Well, not knowledge per say, just the knowledge of the new world they were in, in essence, skills. He dealt in skills, cloning, stealing, selling, you name it, his repertoire of skills rivalled the rumored akashic library of Asa, home of the titan blade. The thought of that place drew out his hunger again, and he had to clamp it down, shivering at the thought of all that knowledge accessible to him. He also dealt in knowledge for the sake of it, want to know what latest weapons the union were working on?, he was your go to man. Assuming they could afford his outrageous fees of course, depending on how vital the information was to the buyer, he could charge as low as a thousand diamond coins to hundred thousand, gold coins were for the common folk, he had class after all.

It was what brought him to this ship afterall, apart from a much-needed vacation, he was also here to acquire a skill. His path allowed him to clone skills into aether shards, shards that he could therefore store in his secret spatial domain, shards he could sell for whatever price he requested from the buying party. His passive skill activated, alerting him to the presence of his target within his vicinity,

* Cryptic Resonance(R): Arcane Scholar's deep connection to the space around them "Cryptic Resonance," this skill lets the user sense targeted individuals or skills once seen, making them an invaluable asset in uncovering mysteries.

Cryptic resonance, one of his most prized skills, allowing him access to the skills of individuals, such as Mr Olaf of the federation here. Mr Olaf, second chief of the howling bear clan, the rage of the north as he was called by his people had a skill Thaddeus was sorely in need of, and he was here to simply get to know the man. With a reclined sigh, he placed his gaze on Mr Olaf and his guard, a set of female warriors, white haired, blue eyes and a body to die for, too bad they had sworn off men.

Currently, Mr Olaf was in talks with the ship captain, a pudgy man of no concerns to Thaddeus, he had climbed all the way to the current lofty position he occupied through a lot of ass kissing, Thaddeus simply hoped it had not been literal. Legs crossed, his eyes scanning through the crowd, picking out the security details of the ship as well as any possible threat to him. He was a man of peace, he could also bring about carnage if he wanted to, but he’d rather this be a smooth transaction, he wanted to enjoy the rest of his trip to Avalon afterall.

The ship shuddered as it began to move, its thrusters powering to life as the entire ship crew clapped along with the guests, Thaddeus joined them, getting to his feet when a voice spoke,

“I wouldn’t advise that Mr Thaddeus” he heard,

He froze, his body tensed and ready to strike when a man shimmered in front of him, seated on the formerly empty chair. Thaddeus always prided himself on knowledge, knowing the inner workings of almost every powerful organization within Gaia, however, there was one organization that eluded him. It was one whose members were shrouded in mystery despite the fact that their domain was not, one he had tried infiltrating always to be turned back before he got to his prize,

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The hands of Anansi,

And right in front of him was an ascender whose identity was as secret as it could get, the first hand of the hands of Anansi, the second in command of the entire sect. Thaddeus knew by the markings on his mask, the spider painted mask with two red crystals for eyes, he might had not been able to infiltrate the clan of the titan blade, but he had picked up a few things from them. He composed himself, sitting upright,

“it’s a surprise to see one of your kinds here, Mr first hand, what should I address you as?” he asked,

“you’ve been poaching from the wrong circles Mr Thaddeus” the first hand said, ignoring the question,

“Oh?” Thaddeus replied,

“You think Mr Olaf isn’t aware of your supposed attempt at trying to clone his skill, the skill I believe you’re after is the howling thunder, a rare skill I believe?” the hand said,

Thaddeus narrowed his eyes,

“And you know this how?” he asked, his voice going deadly low,

Stretching his hand out, he snagged a glass of wine from a passing waitress who moved without pausing. The hand reclined on the chair, crossing his legs,

“We see things Mr Thaddeus, and while some value your services, we, the clan, see potential wasted in pointless theft and accumulation of enemies Mr Thaddeus” the hand said,

“And I have you to thank for Mr Olaf’s awareness of my coming?” Thaddeus asked,

He still wasn’t sure how his target had leaked, he hadn’t told a soul about it, not one. It brought about the rumors that the head of the sect of Anansi had the ability to see the future, if that was true, then that was a serious source of concern and business for Thaddeus. With a skill like that, no doubt a rare or possibly legendary one, he could clone a weaker version that would sell for hundreds of thousands of diamond coins.

The hand shrugged, a weird gesture coming from the stoic looking man whose identity was still unknown,

“Maybe, maybe not, the reality is Mr Olaf has spread the news to some of your enemies around the world and they had agents here, specifically concealed to hunt you down” the hand replied,

“Dead or alive, preferably dead from what we gathered” the hand clarified again,

Thaddeus drained his wine glass, expanding his cryptic resonance skill to encompass the entire ship, searching for oddities. Most of the guests on the ship were rich people, not used to battle, meaning they had few if any fighting skills. It wasn’t that he could see every skill, that only worked if he had seen them in battle, what he could really do was get a feel of an ascender, his senses alerted him to the really dangerous ones. And true to the words of the hand, he felt them all around, all staring in his direction,

“a truly marvelous skill you have there Mr Thaddeus, like we said, wasted on irrelevances” the hand said,

“Compared to being one cog in your great machinery that is the clan?, no thank you” he snorted,

Every great faction knew they were miles behind on the clan, the continent was a utopia to a reasonable extent, granted, there were some hidden darkness, there was no such thing as paradise afterall. Still, it had baffled him the number of powerful ascenders the clan had been able to gather to their side, literally overflowing with diamond rankers. It was why he had calmly sat down back when he recognized the first hand of the sect of Anansi, he wasn’t a foe he could face and hope to survive seeing as the man could simply blow up the ship in a blink of an eye,

Diamond ranker that he was,

Sometimes he often regretted his decision not to become a diamond ranker, to enter their ranks meant to be exposed to the powers of the world, ending his anonymity he so valued. Besides, he did so love the term king, it might not mean much in a world of bigger sharks like diamonds though. The hand cocked his head,

“I am not to interfere in the coming dispute” he said,

“What- “was all Thaddeus could say as a blade flew past his face, his peak gold reflexes saving him as he flipped overboard,

Screams echoed around him, the guests shocked by the exploding violence, Thaddeus simply gave a sigh, so much for his peaceful trip. He activated another of his skill, his only legendary one to be precise,

* Book of Reflections(L): A special item within the scholar’s Sanctuary, the "Book of Reflections," enables the Arcane Scholar to temporarily access the skills or items they've stored and use them strategically during battles or challenges.

First to come out was a blade he had stolen from some warlord in the glorious empire, with the ability to both poison and cause continual bleeding on anyone it cuts. Grasping that, he called upon the rest with a thought, a vase that healed him continually, drawing from the aether in the air, a shield forged with pure mithril and imbued with the power to repel attacks up to diamond rank, stolen from the imperials. His preparation complete, he activated his mantle, a large book appearing above him, its pages flapping open as ink flowed out, forming soldiers with all manner of weapons, all glowing with early gold rank power.

Even as he glowed with raw power, he could feel the ascenders sent against him gathered on deck, all from different enemies he had made along the way, it was a good thing this wasn’t his true face though. It also begged the question of how they knew his location and description, glancing at the first hand that waved cheerily at him, he cursed,

“Those damned spiders” the thought angrily to himself,

A member of the black dragons from the glorious empire, a member of the order of Mordred from the imperial empire, the syndicate from Rimor, the guards of Mr Olaf, the sexy ladies and a few other enemies who wanted him dead. He sighed again, floating as he awaited them,

“Before you all move” he started,

‘I want you to know that this won’t end well, for any of you to be frank” he said,

“Besides, a member of the sect of Anansi is here, you know, the big bad secret police of clan titan blade” he finished,

Everyone looked around, cautious of their surroundings as he raised an eyebrow,

“he’s right there, on that chair near the railings” he said,

A man moved, touching the chair as his hand went through the first hand, shocking Thaddeus,

“He stalls!” the man from the black dragons said as he blasted towards him,

“That bastard!” Thaddeus thought angrily as the hand waved at him cheerily,

He somehow projected himself, somehow, it couldn’t had been all the way from Asa, could it?, then again, diamond ranker, their realm was another place entirely. His shield intercepted the black dragon as black flames exploded around, his blade in hand, he went on the attack, activating another of his skills,

* Ethereal Manipulation: Arcane Scholar gains proficiency in "Ethereal Manipulation," allowing them to manipulate and control the space around them. This skill can be used creatively to deceive, distract, or confuse opponents.

He created clones of himself and his army of ink men, expanding them into hundreds, exploding through the air as he danced through his assailants that came after him. The mistake gold ranker made, especially those who just broke through to the rank, was the fact that they thought every gold ranker no matter the level were all equals. Perhaps it was because it had in fact been that way at bronze and silver, it resulted in a lot of gold dying at the hands of peak gold monsters or rankers. The first to go was the black dragon, the inky soldiers surrounded him, coating his body in ink.

It made him immune to the blistering flames of the black dragon, his blade piercing straight through his jaw to the top of his skull, but not before Thaddeus copied the entirety of his skills, as low as they were. This was a valuable chance to steal as much skills as he could, fusing them together to create new skills he could sell at premium prices, perhaps he should send a gift to the spiders, along with a bomb, teach them not to mess with him. The knight from the order of Mordred choked on ink as he exploded in a shower of gore, and like that, one by one, they fell.

Eventually, Thaddeus was left with the female guardians who held their own, the air chilly as they called winter down, a path that was rampant from the federation, varying per ascender on strength. He stared at the first hand who stood in front of them, this time visible for all to see, whispers breaking out,

“Alright, what are you playing at?” he growled,

“We want to recruit you” the hand simply replied,

Thaddeus turned, his senses alerting him to the coming force from the shores of Rimor they had just left,

“What exactly do you need from me?” he growled, impatient as it was,

The hand snapped his fingers as reality fractured around them, a pocket dimension, Thaddeus realized,

“The clan is about to go through some serious changes, and we’re considering setting up a new sect, on organization if you will” the hand explained,

“Sorry, I work alone, I’m no one’s boss” Thaddeus replied,

“That depends on you, all we want is to take advantage of what we suspect to soon be a galactic arms race” the hand replied,

“As long as you swear an oath of fealty to the clan and the titan blade, you’re free to run it as you like, plus, we’re willing to grant you access to certain portions of the akashic library” the hand said,

Thaddeus froze, the gem, the heaven of his choice, the magna carta of his existence,

“I want more” he croaked weakly,

The hand paused, cocked his head, and then nodded, was he communicating with someone?,

“we’re willing to make you joint custodian of certain parts of the library, granted you impress us” the hand said,

“done” Thaddeus replied, giddy,

It was worth his early retirement, no one would be stupid enough to come after him if he became affiliated with the clan,

“Besides, you’ll be able to put your talents to work” the hand said,

“How?” Thaddeus asked,

“it’s a big universe out there Mr Thaddeus, your job description would take you far and wide” the hand replied,

Thaddeus paused,

“what’s the dental plan like?” he asked innocently,

“don’t push it Mr Thaddeus” the hand of Anansi replied.