...

AN strides towards the radiant constellation of eleven panels, their satisfaction palpable in the cool air. The cores lay quiescent within AN's grasp as they ponder the next move.

Buzzzzzz

AN "What the-

The ancient relic pulsates with an urgency reminiscent of a heart under pressure.

Like metal to a magnet, the cores hurtle from AN's grip, adhering to the relic's sides. Silence prevails. Delay spurs AN to provoke it with a gentle poke.

The relic wobbles.

Prompted by the motion, the cores infiltrate the crimson dice with effortless grace, similar to fine grains cascading through a sieve.

Ding.

Eyes sparkling, AN gazes upon the panels, excitement buzzing just beneath the surface of their calm exterior.

AN "YIPPEE! Yes, AN's back!"

AN's cursor hovers over the alert icon, a decisive click revealing the system's status. Everything humming in harmony, save for the stubborn outlier— skill generation. The sight dampens their smile.

AN "What a bummer?... I wonder what everyone is doing.... right... now.... w-what the fuck?!"

Perplexity etches into AN's face as their gaze locks onto a cluster of humans, concealed by a gargantuan boulder.

Eyes wide, they appear to be absorbed in something. AN follows their line of sight... Oh. Dear. God.

Gwen "..."

Sarah "Can everyone please explain to me... WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?!"

Dave "Yo, chill. Sas Sas, bro. You remember what happened earlier."

Sarah "Yeah! But we've been here for like three and a half hours now."

Gwen "Sarah's right. Also, I can hear you guys from over here."

Kanji "Sorry, Gwen. We need to take cautious procedures when dealing with unknown threats."

Gwen "I understand your reasoning... but tieing my torso to this tree is a bit excessive."

Kanji "Sorry about that. It was Dave's idea."

Diana "Boss! Why are taking this idiot's suggestion?!"

Dave "Bitch! Did you see what that purple shit on her shoulders do to the la-

His words cease mid-flow, his gaze pivoting to Gwen. All eyes are drawn to the ethereal dance of purple sparks as they skim the tree.

In a blink, the tree is no more, vanished as if it had never been. The rope binding Gwen dissolves— she is liberated!

Gwen "Ok, that was quite lucky. I can finally breathe again."

Dave "Dude, stay away!"

Gwen "Relax. I understand the seriousness and potential dangers that my power imposes. Hence, I shall be standing here until our disembodied alien voice returns."

AN "That's an odd way to describe me. Though, it does make sense. You must Gwen Fischer. Nice to meet you."

Gwen "Nice to meet you too. But enough with introductions... any idea how to resolve my current predicament."

AN "First of all, everyone had the right idea on staying away from The Aspect of Destruction. For that, I congratulate you! Though tieing her to a tree could've been a horrendous mistake!"

Dave makes a covert attempt to slip away from the dialogue, but Diana, with a tug, reels him back into the fray.

Diana "Stay here, you prick!"

Dave "Ok Jeeezzz!" "Stupid gorilla lady."

Kanji "You two quiet down. Please, AN. Go on. How dangerous is her power?"

AN "I wouldn't say her power is dangerous. It's her shoulders that are the real issue. Let me ask you a question... do all your altered body parts affect the things around you in any way?"

Kanji "No, I don't believe that they do. I concluded that they just act like regular body parts. However, there is that one time. When that alien general struck Sarah's neck, the hit missed its target."

AN "That's the thing! These new body parts only defend the wielders in their particular regions at random and they don't affect other objects when coming into contact with them. The shoulders of The Aspects of Destruction are different. They affect everything regardless! No matter the circumstances!"

Gwen "So... you're trying to say that anything that my shoulders touch... ceases to exist."

AN "Exactly, but it isn't that simple! So, you must... MUST ALWAYS remember this! Listen carefully! The shoulders destroy things in terms of names and if the object connects with another of the same name then everything will be gone!"

Claire "Errr... what?"

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

AN "Let's say for instance. The shoulders touch a tree and its branches touch a part of another tree. Then both trees would disappear."

Sarah "Wait! Does that mean if an entire forest has all of its trees' roots connected, then all of it would disappear?!"

AN "Yes, if they all share the same name. If an oak tree is touching a birch tree and Gwen's shoulders only touch the birch, then only the birch would disappear."

Kanji and Gwen's eyes expand, the light within dimming as a dark revelation cloaks their thoughts.

Kanji "AN... what if..."

Gwen "... I fell on the ground."

AN "Then... The Earth would disappear."

Amelia "Okay, time to bloody panic! This is horrible!"

Gwen "Is there any solution to my apocalyptic shoulders?"

AN "Actually, there is. A long time ago, an Aspect of Destruction by the name of "Isol", discovered that relaxing both of your arms to the point that it feels like you have no control over them was the answer to the issue."

Gwen "Interesting. How did he know that?"

AN "He was a biologist who was very experienced in the studies of muscle memory and the biological construct of creatures across the universe. In fact, I managed the obtain one of his books last month. The damn thing was so hard to obtain! I had to dig through numerous relic sites just to find a single clue of its location."

Gwen “Sorry to hear that you had trouble receiving such a fine piece of recorded knowledge. Although, Let’s see that knowledge is true.”

Drawing in a steadying breath, Gwen lets the tension drain from her arms. As her gaze softens, the mystical dance of the purple sparkles starts to wane.

Gwen "Well, you look at that. His theory works... quite inconvenient but it works!"

Kanji "Hey, sorry to interrupt but where do you keep these books that you carry? Do you also have a storage device?"

AN "Ah, no need to fret. These books are actually pretty small, just the right size to fit the under pockets of my tailcoat."

Dave "Tailcoat? Yo, dude! I thought you be wearing some advanced space suits or something bruh. Not some fucking old British sailing clothes lol."

AN "Well, Dave. Most of the common folk or "Workers", including the rebels, all wear old-era clothing from Earth by the law of the Empress's influence because she thinks it looks cool and it prevents the workers from thinking that they possess more power."

Dave "Damn, that Empress is such a dick and a massive boomer. But why do you rebel dudes wear it tho?"

AN "It's to blend in with the public since going around with advanced armor will give you away immediately."

Dave "That's very smart, bro."

Gwen "Ahem. May I ask AN a question?"

AN "What is it?"

Gwen "What do my actual powers do?"

AN "Oops. Forgot about that. It's actually very simple but extremely dangerous if not done correctly."

All "What do you mean by that?"

AN "Well, you see anything that Gwen touches with her hands will be destroyed no matter what. That is if Gwen had the intention of removing in the first place..."

Azan "Wow, that is completely ludicrous."

Sarah "Yeah! That is way more powerful than everyone here. No fair!"

Kanji "Guys, I think AN hasn't finished talking yet. Let them speak before jumping to conclusions."

AN "Thank you, Kanji. There is more to it. In the beginning, she can only destroy gases. Here is her scaling."

lv0: Can destroy gas in a large radius.

lv1: Can destroy liquids.

lv2: Can destroy solids.

lv3: Can destroy a category of objects.

lv4: Can shoot destruction shots.

Gwen "Ok. There are a few things, I'm concerned about. The deconstruction of gas, how large is the radius, and does it affect my friends or myself for that matter?"

AN "The radius is very large and it can affect the other wielders. It is wise to stay far away from the group during combat or before engaging in combat. But the good news is that a small arena around your body can't be affected by your own powers."

Noah "So, she's like... a double edge sword. Cool." "Scary."

Gwen "I guess I have no choice but to get into the habit of distancing myself from now on which is quite unfortunate. But I digress, there are a few more answers that I seek. Level one to level three, please explain in greater detail. Like how many liquids or solids do my power remove?"

AN "For liquids, you can eliminate ALL OF IT. Meaning if you touch a pond made of freshwater then all the freshwater will disappear. For solids, you can only destroy parts of an object or entity one by one unless you reach level 3 which allows you to destroy the entire thing."

Gwen "Ah, I understand. Here's one last question. Do you Castastrians breathe oxygen?"

AN "No, we breathe carbon which for some reason our body utilizes like how the human body utilizes oxygen."

Gwen "That's unfortunate. It seems my power appears to be quite useless then."

Claire "Gwen! Don't down yourself! I bet that it will come in handy!."

Amelia "Yeah, mate! There's no need to worry. I think you can handle yourself even without your powers."

Gwen "Thank you for your support, guys."

In shared silence, the group locks eyes before they stare at Kanji

Diana "So.... what we do next, boss? I think that's what everyone is thinking right now."

Kanji "Honestly, we are at a crossroads. We could either relax until they find us or we could try to find those anomaly crystals and gain an upper hand before they find our location."

Adrian "I suggest a majority vote would be appropriate for this situation."

Kanji "Great idea, Adrian! Ok, raise your hand if you favor the first option. If not then you favor the second option."

A mere pair of hands ascend.

They belong to Dave and Adrian.

Diana "Hahahaha! This is hilarious! I knew these two are gonna raise their hand!"

Dave "Shut the fuck up! Man, I thought you guys would agree. This is bullshit!"

Adrian "Darn it! Me and my big mouth."

Overcome by shame, the duo averts their gaze.

Kanji "Ok, that settles it. Now, we just need the location of the crystals. AN, Any info?"

AN "Ummm... Gosh. The funny thing is that I'm not sure."

Kanji "Excuse, me. What?"

AN "The thing is that NO ONE in history has achieved something further than level zero."

Gwen "Why? Were they not able to find the mysterious crystals?"

AN "Yes, but also because they didn't need it. Throughout history, the goals of various groups of wielders are very minimal. So much so that they could achieve it without the need of improving their levels."

Kanji "How about us? Do you need to grow to defeat the Empress?"

AN "Most definitely! I for one have seen firsthand what her generals can do and it was frightening beyond measure."

Mina "Yikes, that sounds scary. But, don't worry guys! If we keep leveling up, they will stand no chance. Just like a video game!"

Sarah "Thank you for the +10 morale boost."

Noah "Good one."

Noah and Sarah exchange a joyful fistbump.

Kanji "Ok. Ok. Let's get back to the crystals. Where are they on Earth?"

AN "Yeah, I don't have exact knowledge of where they are. However, their locations might be determined by various legends, myths, or folklore of a planet. At least, that is what I gathered from going into that subject."

Gwen "You mean like ancient gems or crystals that serve a certain significance in those stories, They may provide clues on the crystals' actual locations."

Claire "But there are so many of them! How would we know which one is the right one?!"

Kanji "I suggest that we take a chance and search them one by one. Does anyone know the best place to start?

Adrian swivels, his features aglow with exhilaration.

Adrian "Oh! OH! I know! The Baltic Coast! It is said in medieval legends that a gemstone called "Lyngurium" was created by the urine of a lynx and was buried somewhere among the sands."

Diana "How the hell do you know this shit?"

Adrian "Ummm... I read books. You should... try it sometimes."

Diana "Pfft! No way! LOL."

Kanji "Calm down, Diana. Also good input, Adrian. And since no one else has any suggestions, the decision is clear! AN, transport us to The Baltic Coast!"

AN "On it!"

Effortlessly, AN maneuvers through the virtual topography, settling on the Baltic Coast.

Cryo-transport initiates.

Dave "Woah! Wait! Wait! What about my dr-

But it's too late. They're already vanishing, bound for distant shores!