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<01/02/1972 ~ 23:54 | Fronas, Gulop Region, Sprawn Valley>
That same night, Francine helped Jane to recover by forcing the usage of certain recovery items on her. Jane was administered treatment - of methods even she wasn't familiar with, but it took only half an hour for Jane to get back to normal; well, what passes for normal recently. Jane stopped shivering, and she regained full control of her hands again, which also stopped sparking up the way they were before. To top it off, Jane's fever was hanging around 101oF all day, which was perfect for her current condition.
According to the belief that Jane has some kind of infection, a low-grade fever would help her fight it off, and it was still too low to take Jane out of consciousness in the process. Even after the unusual incident that Jane's illness triggered - and how weak she was feeling from the episode, Jane was still allowed to be discharged. She could return to her own home under family advisement and care. Taylor and Danny hung out with Jane at the medical facility, trying to go over that scene in their heads only one more time. Jane didn't even want to think about it anymore. Even though Taylor and Danny were convinced that the spell bomb was related to this condition of Jane's, it still had no bright side to explain exactly how it affected her. So Jane just had to pick and choose how to recover. After five thirty P.M. today, Jane's parents took her back to her house so that she can get some sleep and rest up some more. At around the same time, Kain gave Danny and Taylor some more food rations to snack on for a while. It kept the problem of having no food far at bay, as Kain was no stranger to helping out with that situation for now.
Later on that night, specifically around mid-night, Danny and Taylor were walking around outside in the Fronas field together, remaining quiet while they rushed their minds. Neither one of them could sleep back in the medical facility. After assessing all that happened with Jane today, who the hell could? There was so much to think and talk about, Danny and Taylor both took it outside to discuss their options together. Though Jane, as well as the rest of the neighborhood was sound asleep.
"It's probably more than that," Taylor added. She was just listening to what Danny had meant about their total insomnia. He had a good point too. After what they saw today, it was even questionable as to whether Jane got any good sleep in her bedroom. At least she was okay for now. With Jane's parents looking after her, and Jane's physical health back to acceptable conditions, she was back on the road of recovery. But it was so strange that Jane could not use any Leray magic, none whatsoever. The reason alone was enough to keep Taylor's mind racing. They already tried sleeping for two hours earlier with no success at all, but Taylor had an alternate theory regarding their difficulty sleeping. "Remember what Kain and Bella said to us on the first day? When Leray magic fully assimilates into a new person, their sleeping pattern gets messed up some more, and it takes longer to even get tired."
Danny remembered that day well, when Kain and Bella first introduced them to the very idea of Leray magic. He couldn't believe that it was real even after seeing a demonstration of a Leray attack spell right in front of him. Now everything was so different. "I still think it's not enough to keep us awake like that." He ignored the fact that Jane told them as well about that sleep pattern disruption during another night in the fields, back when everything was less tense.
"Never know," Taylor argued. "There is more to that anyway. We've been learning new skills left and right, training just as hard as Jane has been so far. You know what happens when people train, remember?" Danny didn't reply, which meant he probably didn't really remember what Taylor was talking about; either that - or he didn't care. Bella and Kain were explaining this to them as well on the same day. "Our maximum MP and HP must have gone way up since we first began using Radial Stars, right? We've gotten stronger before knowing it."
"That might be true," Danny considered. The agents told him that Leray magic slowly but surely assimilates with a person's aura while they are in Sprawn Valley, and that the connection between the dimension of Leray power and energy to that of a person gets much stronger as that person uses more abilities over and over again. They have been practicing a lot, and that probably did make them much stronger in coordination with maximum stats. Even Eliza said that was the case once; that with practice and training, maximum MP levels rise to give one the ability to launch better magical attacks in a battle. At the same time, maximum HP stats go up as well, raising one's overall endurance to Leray damage in a fight. "But let's face it," Danny reminded. "We're both restless because of the Jane thing. I bet even Eliza and other Leray agents are walking around here somewhere, probably on patrol for anything."
"I guess," Taylor returned. "What a spell bomb though. What permanent spell prevents the use of Leray magic?"
"You're still going on about that? Jane's spell backfired because she's just sick. Even if Eliza said it wasn't normal, we can't be certain yet that a spell bomb has anything to do with it."
"But if it does," Taylor suggested. "Then it might do a lot more than make her sick."
Danny stopped and looked at Taylor, now worried about another possibility he did not want to consider. Despite his skepticism a second ago, Taylor seemed to have a point. If it is a cause of magic from a spell bomb in the first place, what if the effects are the opposite of what one thinks? "What if it's disrupting the connection Jane has with Leray energy? Maybe that's what it was designed to do!"
"No..."
"Come on," Danny insisted. "Jane did say that the person giving it to her warned of its dangers. Maybe that's what he meant. If Jane can't use Leray magic, that orb may be dangerous because it cuts off the veil protection she has."
"But that doesn't make any sense," Taylor argued. "What about the—"
"Shhhhh!" Danny cut Taylor of forcefully, listening for the same rustling sound he heard just a moment ago. It sounded a lot like someone was jingling a trash bag full of broken glass nearby. It was also pretty dark outside, but the half-visible moonlight perching through the hole in the thin layer of specked clouds gave them enough light to see the shadow of the houses all around them.
Taylor threw her hands on her hips. "Did you just shush me?"
"I heard something," he emphasized. Danny was looking around carefully, finally noticing where the direction of the sound was coming from. It was only from the shadow of some man carrying a large bag over his shoulder. Funny how the sound he heard was exactly what it was. Danny pointed his arm at the man in the distance, showing Taylor what it was.
Taylor put his paranoia to rest with ease. "It's just a garbage man. But anyway..."
Danny stared at Taylor after going silent for several long seconds. Did she forget what she was about to say?
Taylor tried to think about how the properties of the Leray veil could be disrupted for Jane, but she wasn't an expert herself. Unfortunately, the thought of something else distracted most of her thoughts right now. "Wait a minute," Taylor paused. "Since when does Fronas have garbage men?"
Danny did find that a little bit surprising, seeing as there is no garbage truck service in Fronas. Come to think of it, nobody has ever pointed out anything regarding a public dumpster facility. How did the inhabitants here even get rid of their trash? They have to dispose of it somehow. They wouldn't just burn it with fire magic, would they? "Is that Kain or Bella?"
Taylor exhaled, "I don't know! I can't see in this darkness."
"Well let's go find out," Danny insisted. "If it's not them, maybe we can find out how people dispose of trash here." Danny knew she didn't care, barely did he either. But with nothing else to do, might as well see if either of the agents were walking around. If Bella or Kain are nearby, maybe they might let something slip about Jane's condition, if they know anything that is. "Think about it. Where does all the trash go?"
Taylor knew from the sarcastic tone in his voice that he was now mocking her for answers. "You know you can be a real pain sometimes, right?"
Danny sighed from Taylor's insult. "You want to know if Kain or Bella learned anything out by now or not?" Taylor refused to answer, let alone consider any more of his deductions. Then, Danny suddenly noticed that the distant stranger was stopping. He put the sack on the ground and opened it up to check what was inside. What kind of guy goes through his own trash here in the middle of the night? "Come on. Kain owes me at least one more explanation about the way he sees the world."
Taylor sighed again, out of stress that he didn't care how lame he was acting. Seeing as they can't sleep, she might as well follow him. Danny approached the man while Taylor stayed behind a few meters. It took a moment to get in closer, but once they were, Taylor noticed that the garbage bag looked a lot more like some kind of reinforced sack than a flimsy bag. Since he had it open in the middle of the field, Taylor caught the glimpse of what looked like glass after all. Wouldn't that bag have a ton of holes in it? The man could use a supply sphere if it was that much trouble.
"Hi! Need some help?" Danny approached the stranger, offering help with his luggage of glass. The man wasn't Kain or anyone else Danny recognized, and the details of his face were too hard to make out in the dim lighting area, but it defiantly wasn't Kain. If it were, he would have felt tingles going everywhere, since the man is naturally a creep on his own. Since neither Bella nor Kain are out here, Danny felt he might as well help out and learn of everyone else who lives here.
This man however was a bit startled by Danny's appearance. He didn't mean to sneak up on the guy, but instead of just jumping back and helping to identify himself, the stranger took no time at all in charging a magical attack into his glowing hands. Before Danny and Taylor realized that the guy was aiming two red glyphring at both of them - one for each hand, he shot off two Fire Balls, one aimed for both of them.
Danny was hit by the Fire Ball, which carried so much unusual force that he literally became airborne while flying backwards at an intense speed. Danny must have been launched at least seven feet upwards and ten meters back. From the corner of his eye midair, the same exact thing happened to Taylor.
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Chapter Theme Shift: Perception ~ C21fx (Classical Crossover)
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Taylor cringed while her chest felt like it was on fire. She just now realized that she took a direct hit from a surprise Fire Ball attack. The guy just attacked her, and for a single Fire Ball, it was really painful to sense as well. Luckily, the second sphere of magic fire didn't carry half as much force as the one that blasted Danny backward behind her.
Danny got back up to his feet, after getting over the powerful effective hit from that Fire Ball attack. He took an extra second to brush himself off and recover. "What the hell was that for?!"
The man in the distance tended to his bag, ignoring Danny completely. As soon as he finished up sealing the sack he was carrying around, he turned towards Danny and Taylor again with a sudden cautious stance. "I didn't ask for assistance. You kids better stay back, if you know what's good for ya!"
"Who are you?" Taylor beamed as she struggled to recover from the pain in her chest. The pain searing everywhere through her body was starting to lighten up, but Taylor still felt as if she had the wind knocked out of her a moment ago.
Whoever the guy was, he didn't make any attempt to reveal his identity, nor was he very helpful to Danny or Taylor. Did he not care for what he had just done? Danny got up to his feet as well, but at the same time, he saw the guy in front of him make his hands glow again. He was charging another attack spell! "What the?" Who the hell is this guy? Why would he attack random civilians in the middle of the night? He's aiming at Taylor! "Dodge it Taylor!"
The man shot another round of two Fire Balls at Danny and Taylor. Because of Danny's quick warning, Taylor noticed it just in time to react, spinning far to the left to avoid the quick ball of fire shoot by her face. Danny on the other hand had the opposite luck, being hit to the ground a second time. After Taylor realized what happened, she tensed her arms and prepared herself for defense. "Stop that!" Taylor demanded.
The guy picked up his sack of glass and slowly backed away. "I'll knock the both of you out if you don't mind your own business and stay back!" His voice sounded a lot more angry than fearful. He was confident enough that Danny and Taylor didn't have the strength to stand up to him for anything.
Danny got back up again, despite the familiar pain he felt before with a fiery stinging sensation to it. "That does it! Taylor! Attack!" Danny had just ordered Taylor to strike back, since the guy wanted to act like a bully. He prepared himself for the same thing after returning the balance in his legs. A nice Thunderbolt spell would put the man on ice. Danny had to charge up his MP energy first to perform the spell that he just learned yesterday with more training. Just before invoking the skill, he enabled his energy scope as an automatic reaction to prepare for combat. It sure wasn't official, but he and Taylor were being assaulted just for saying hello.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/j51cn2ht/S1-Danny-N-001.png]
Taylor heard Danny call out to her for an attack, and after dodging that next Fire Ball that was thrown at her aggressively, she prepared herself to charge a spell at the guy too. Believing he was not about to give up and introduce himself or apologize for attacking people out of the blue, Taylor enabled her energy scope at the same time Danny turned his on. It took little time for Taylor to charge up the attack spell that she learned days ago. After more training, her Whirlwind became much easier to control.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/CL5Z6JYP/S1-Taylor-N-014.png]
It wasn't a surprise that either of them had already taken HP damage from those Fire Balls, but now the mysterious man had to prepare himself for defense. It looked like the boy and the girl were going to retaliate against his own advice. He wasn't worried at all however. The man set down his sack of loot and stood proudly in front of the two youngsters. After enabling his energy scope to make sure his new enhancements were working properly, he waited for the next strike.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/cHTHFtzG/S1-Unknown-N-001.png]
Danny disregarded the man's intentions to continue attacking or begin defending himself. He needed to at least realize who he was dealing with. Danny unleashed his stored energy into the newest spell he trained for, hollering in the night, "Lightning Strike!"
At the same time, Taylor unleashed her energy as well, creating a powerful vortex of wind before even getting her word out to the neighborhood. Her words echoed in the distance, resonating with Danny's chanting as well. "Whirlwind!" Taylor's spinning attack of air surrounded her target well after Danny's bright evanescent flash of Lightning Bolt slammed into the guy. Though Taylor's mind was totally focused on controlling the Whirlwind, she had briefly remembered that no matter how good one is at dodging, a Thunderbolt cannot be avoided. Adding her wind attack in at the same time, the guy became trapped in a spinning spell of constant damage and immobility, though she was lucky that her spell didn't go first, since the Whirlwind would have disrupted the flow of electricity coming from Danny. Their plan to counterattack together paid off, showing that he was standing in the exact same spot as soon as Taylor's Whirlwind diluted into normal invisible air, but something was wrong. The guy was standing there with a proud and defensive stance, like the assaults had barely any effect on him. He must have tried to block the damage out a bit instead of attempting a dodge, though the status box above his head was even more unbelievable.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/90MfKF3R/S1-Unknown-N-002.png]
Nothing. Absolutely nothing got through to the man's health. Was that supposed to happen? Danny shook his head, but he couldn't wipe the surprised look on his face. How did that deal no damage to him at all? He just stood there and absorbed two attacks combined!
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" The guy stood there, laughing in arrogance. "You fools won't be able to stop me with that pathetic excuse for Leray attacks. Kids should really stay out of official business."
Taylor pointed to the guy, certain he was familiar in some way. "You're that thief from last week, aren't you? Answer us!"
The man folded his arms, confident enough to drop his guard to Danny and Taylor. He seemed interested in explaining to Taylor just how wrong she was. "You mean that pathetic idiot who got caught stealing money? You really can't compare me to that moron. Bruchal had one mission only, which was to test the response time and security grade of the general town of Fronas. But since he was stupid enough to get himself caught, we've expelled him from our organization."
Was this guy implying that the thief named Bruchal was just a decoy for something else? Danny wasn't able to understand it all. What organization did he just refer to? Who is this guy, and what the hell is he doing here attacking nearby inhabitants in the middle of the night? Danny quickly realized something shortly after accumulating those questions. The man may really be unrelated to the thief they encountered before, but that doesn't mean he has different intentions. He seemed awfully protective of that thing on the ground beside him. Come to think of it, nobody got attacked until Danny and Taylor approached that bag of glass. "What's in the sack?!"
"Now - now," he gloated. The man charged his hands with a blue magical color once again, preparing to aim at Danny and Taylor at the same time. "Petty teenagers should really stick to competing in silly competitions, or just throwing away credits shopping your brains out." With that, he unleashed two attack again at the same time. One of them was an Ice Bolt, and the other was a Thunderbolt. He didn't even have to say anything to help him invoke that magic, indicating how well trained he must be. His endurance could be too high for anyone to cause any real damage to him, and this is what he chose to do with that passive skill.
Danny was sent back with the powerful and unpredictable speedy bolt of electricity. At the same time, Taylor was too slow to dodge the fast moving Ice Bolt traveling through the air. Danny never felt the pain of an electrical attack before, but it hurt virtually everywhere, causing a tingly sensation after the attack wore off that did more to drain and stun him than any other ability could have done. Taylor's earlier pain with burning sensations was immediately replaced with the scrapes and cuts she received from slamming back into the ground just by the force of the Ice Bolt. The bolt itself caused even more damage by making her body temperature lower in her chest and her legs.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/fy0KcsHX/S1-Danny-N-002.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/fTP34XRw/S1-Taylor-N-015.png]
The guy was distracted with his increasing victory strike against the two meddlers, when a sudden bright slash nearly cut him from behind. The man turned around, but not before watching the side of his sack get sliced open by a spinning glowing dagger. Whoever threw that meant to cut the bag open, exposing the treasures he procured as they were now pouring through the large rip. There were several people incoming from his six after turning around, all at their own angles. This of course immediately surrounded him with more people, even though Danny and Taylor were not going to be getting up so soon. The one who threw the dagger was the closest one. The criminal shot a Fire Bolt attack at the woman, who immediately dodged it on the fly. The bolt of fire continued onwards just to strike the ground in the distance, lighting up their faces for only a moment.
"Who are you? What do you want with them?!" It was Bella, the town's local Leray agent, and behind her was her partner Kain. Using the more luminescent glow of the nearly full moon beaming down at them, Bella tried to identify the man attacking Danny and Taylor, but he was not a familiar face. After identifying the fragments of glass that were coming out of the sack, Bella gasped and stopped running forward immediately. "Those are crystal shards!"
"They're my crystal shards now." The unknown thief rushed in front of the bag to try and protect his loot. After the agents identified what he was up to, he now had to fend against more people. Of course, his enhancements with the magical suit he was wearing made him braver than he normally was, but even he had doubts about the full capabilities of this.
"You give those crystals back right now!"
Taylor got back up again, making sure Danny was okay enough to do the same. They now saw the commotion expand in front of them. Bella and Kain were now here. They must have seen what was going on and rushed in to help them. Leray magic does make a lot of light in darkness, so it wasn't easy to miss some of the scene here. Now Eliza was running up from their left as well. The guy was surrounded because of this, struggling to protect that bag. Somehow, the sack had ripped open, exposing the glass shards that Eliza was suddenly referring to as crystal shards. Taylor had not the slightest idea what crystal shards were, or what their purpose was, but Eliza just told him to give it back. He stole something from here! "What did you do?!"
Eliza wasn't caught up completely to Kain and Bella, but she pointed to the thief and continued her demand to the letter. "Those shards belong to Dakota! You can't have them!"
The man's body tensed up, and he had become angry that a teacher was making demands from him. "You're already too late! If you want these shards back, then come and take them! I'll mop the floor with all of you!"
Eliza's jaw dropped at the audacity of this mysterious man. Such attitude, such malevolence! Not only was he mocking all three of them together to come and fight him, but he actually believed he was going to get away with stealing the prized crystal shards from Dakota's vault. Eliza engaged her energy scope in response, and began giving orders to the others. "You heard them Kain and Bella! Attack the thief!"
image [https://i.postimg.cc/P5MBpbvH/S1-Eliza-N-000.png]
Kain responded to Eliza's confidence by engaging his energy scope too, preparing for battle. It was clear enough that he, Bella, and Eliza were going to take the thief on as a team. This isn't a legal battle anyway, so the rules don't apply for this sorry sap. From the corner of his eye, Kain saw Bella react in the same manner as they all prepared for a real battle.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/fLY7yCkj/S1-Kain-N-000.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/J76VK5pz/S1-Bella-N-000.png]
The man smiled at the sight of their stupidity. He simply stood there in wait. One of them was bound to get too close to him, and that would be the moment to strike back. The one designated as Eliza went first, charging directly towards him with her glowing hands ready. He wasn't prepared for her unique fighting style however. Eliza immediately made herself less predictable by shooting a barrage of Magical Blitz balls from her hands. While the thief was forced to block them with defense stances, Eliza used that same moment to get even closer to start attacking the criminal with a close combat strategy.
Much like Jane's obvious style of close ranged combat, Eliza was launching punch after kick again and again, mixing up each strike with additional magical attacks; Magical Blitz spheres shooting from her hands. The man barely got a chance to do anything, but at one point, he regained enough momentum to strike back at Eliza and disrupt her combo.
"Push Wave!" The man shouted as he smashed his fists into the ground. His particular spell caused a massive domical aura to fly outwards, and when it slammed into Eliza, she was forced back mid-air, ready to crash into the ground. At the same time, he charged a double attack by shooting a ball of electricity through his hands, aiming for Eliza before she would be able to hit the ground again. "Electro-Ball!" Though he was now occupied with chanting some of his attacks aloud, the man literally had no problem with the timing of his spells and the rapid invocation he was able to pull off. Obviously trained, the Electro-Ball took its toll on Eliza with a loud smashing noise of electricity. Eliza was zapped before even reaching the ground from the powerful Push Wave used to get her away from the thief. In two attacks combined together, Eliza was now in a tight spot, still recovering from the painful power put into a simple spell.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/Ls36sZ2g/S1-Unknown-N-003.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/C19tTmXG/S1-Eliza-N-003.png]
Bella gritted her teeth in response to the stat changes. The thief's HP had not declined but a millimeter, and Eliza was hit so hard with a normally powerless attack that her stats declined much too quickly for comfort. The man was no amateur; there was truth to that already. "Attack together!" she hollered. Kain was right by her, and they both began with long ranged spells. Bella aimed her arms out with her ability already charge up. Kain did the exact same thing, copying her moves. "Fire Bolt!"
With the combined strength of two Fire Bolts launched at exactly the same time, they were confident it would have done something more than Eliza's dangerous and unusual style. The man was obviously quick, but he would now have to try and dodge two Fire Bolt attacks. At least that's what they thought. The man grinned and stood there defenseless. Without even trying to put his arms up to block the incoming projectiles and their damage, he braced himself stone still while both the Fire Bolts slammed into his body. By the laws of the force involved, he should have at least had some balance issues. After the fiery dust cleared a second later, his stance and expression remained unchanged, as did his stats above him.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/4xtxrS05/S1-Unknown-N-004.png]
Kain stood back defensively. "Two Fire Bolts did nothing?!" The stats above the man were totally inert. His energy scope wasn't the problem. Somehow, the target has become almost immune to all damage, and he was using that to stage a heist in his own style of confidence. "Fine!" Kain prepared a different approach instead. He wanted to get closer like Eliza did, attacking together with Bella to throw off his reaction to that mess. Eliza was up too, ready to follow his lead.
"Please," he hummed. "The likes of you three bore me." Before allowing either three of them to try anything, the man unleashed another magic spell quickly. Without announcing what kind it was, his hand lifted into the air with a powerful yellow glow. Without a moment later, the ground beneath them crumbled and quaked violently. All three of them lost their balance without falling down yet, but once the ground shot up massive boulders in their face, there was nothing to stop the attack from slamming into all three of them with the wide spread range on the attack pattern.
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It was an Earth Glave attack, Eliza was sure of that. Knowing that didn't help right now, since she was thrown a bit into the air with the others. Actually, Kain managed to get knocked down into the ground without flying up, but the feeling of a giant rock smashing into her from below the ground really doesn't help with this sort of situation. Eliza did get the wind knocked out of her this time, especially after landing back on the ground with a thwack! The three of them were now left with lasting damage that held enough pain to stun everyone.
The unidentified adult male did not let up. He charged another attack aimed at Bella and Kain, who were now really close together. Eliza was further to his left, but still too much in pain to move an inch. "Shadow Wave!" He threw a powerful rushing earth bound wave of darkness towards them both. Bella and Kain were both powerless and defenseless to stop the impact. The wave was so powerful, that it knocked them back at least fifty feet even after they tripped over the force of the magical wave. Kain and Bella rolled in the dirt from the force of the magical impact, leaving them further from the area.
Now that they were far out of the fight, he needed to deal with Eliza. Before he could take an aim on the woman doubled in pain, a barrage of sharp pointy objects pelleted his back. At the same time, the feeling of an electrical attack managed to bypass his protective suit and cause damage. At least it caused pain, because he felt every part of it.
"Thunderbolt!" Danny chanted.
At the same exact time, Taylor invoked her power while the thief had his back turned. "Radial Stars!" Taylor's hands were glowing orange, as was her glyphring in front of her allowing the Radial Stars to pass through into the physical world. The guy was suddenly being pelleted with a barrage of Radial Stars. And in the middle of that attack, Danny's Thunderbolt broke through as well, actually causing the thief's HP stats to go down. He immediately turned around with an enraged expression, already prepared to counterattack.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/zX4f2rxv/S1-Unknown-N-005.png]
While charging MP energy into his hands, the guy quickly unleashed his fury. "Oh you'll get yours too! Ice Cannon for you!" The man aimed his blue glyphring at Danny specifically, leaving Taylor out of it for now. From the rapid invocation of his powerful spells, Danny still wasn't prepared enough to dodge the attack. The Ice Cannon spell shot out a barrage of five Ice Bolts traveling consecutively in a straight line, all huddled closely together.
Danny had never seen an attack this powerful before, firing five Ice Bolts together. Though it only looked like one from the front angle since they were traveling in a linear line. Danny got slammed with all five bolts of ice over and over, pushing him back on his knees a few more feet while his shoes slid back in the dirt. His chest felt frozen, which only hurt a little in the beginning. It began to increase with the pain the more he sat there, as the cold sting was delayed. Now the thief had returned his attention to Taylor.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/yW4TnG5G/S1-Danny-N-003.png]
"And Magical Blitz for you!"
Taylor attempted to dodge the attack, but she never had the chance to dodge a Magical Blitz attack before. The man began shooting bright glowing blue balls of energy towards Taylor. They went through the air so quickly, it was almost like lightning. Taylor spun left to dodge, successfully avoiding the first energy ball, but there were four of them total. Taylor's move simply made her vulnerable and open to the second one, so she was immediately hit by the blast. After being pushed back with a powerful projectile like that, Taylor was once again left vulnerable to the third blitz ball, and again with the fourth. The last one hit her right in the face, knocking her on her back. Those things hurt as bad as feeling a spherical wooden hammer to the skin at flying speeds, and Taylor took a moment on the ground to try and recharge. She took the attack well, despite the bruising sensations at all three impact sites, but somehow she felt drained after being hit that many times.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/wB87MpNZ/S1-Taylor-N-016.png]
"Stop attacking my students!" Eliza jumped towards the thief after recovering from that last attack. The man was surprised to see her rushing down at him from above. Eliza unleashed a magical attack before ever getting close to the man, and she was really pissed off that he would do that to defenseless teenagers. "Hyper Beam!" Eliza put her hands together aiming at the man's face, firing a high-energy beam with her spell invoked. But the thief was quick enough to react and dodge.
Bringing his entire body around for a body roll on the ground, he dodged Eliza's jump attack and now had the open chance to fight back after getting up and having the older woman zoom past him. The beam of energy nearly grazed a large hole in the ground with a loud bang to prove its power. Eliza still had plenty of energy with her as well, so he needed to go difficult on the enemy quickly. With a counterattack too quick for Eliza to see coming, the man pulled out a sword, glowing bright blue with the high infusion of MP energy. "Energy Sword!" He needed to chant the name of the skill in order to make sure the energy remained infused inside. With the power to strike at opponents with added non-elemental damage, the thief was going to make short work of Eliza now, again making the mistake of getting to close to him.
Eliza suddenly took several large hits and slashes from a long and sharp blade over and over. The man slashed at her chest, her legs, anywhere that was vulnerable. Eliza tried to get away, but he was even faster, striking her in place again and again. Of course, if not for the Leray magical protection zone, Eliza would have already been destroyed by this attack. Magic can't be used to kill other people, though the pain of attacks is still transferred through a threshold. Eliza was helpless to do anything against this ruthless combination attack, and she was even helpless to stop from being kicked far away by the man's foot once his combination grew tiresome.
Eliza hit the ground at a distance with another hard whack. She felt more drained than she had in weeks, looking around for her helpers. The Leray agents were somewhere to her right, but they were still on the ground, heavily damaged from the last Shadow Wave. Eliza knew she took a fair bit of damage too. Whoever this man was came prepared with the ability to block out damage to himself. He was also well trained, seeing as certain simple Leray attacks could drain health so rapidly in agents. This wasn't going well at all. Eliza confirmed if the agents were even still awake from the attack before confirming her own health and stamina.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/gjDvq0Vx/S1-Kain-N-002.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/VLJyh0hB/S1-Bella-N-001.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/yx9GV0Cw/S1-Eliza-N-004.png]
Knowing her health was more in the critical levels, the man kept his eye on Eliza, while she tried to get up despite the massive pain she was feeling from all of those sword hits. The man put away his blade, no longer needing it. He tried to sense if his exit symbol was ready yet, but nothing came back to tell him that it was. "You all fight pathetically."
"Ugh..." Eliza could barely speak through the damage. It felt like stones were crushing at her chest while she was on the ground. This was defiantly a bad situation. "Who... are you?"
Seeing as he needed a little more time to make off with the stolen crystal shards, the man indulged in Eliza's last request just for information that wouldn't help them anyway. "Makes no difference to me. You're world won't be the same soon anyway. I bet now you know not to mess with a Scarlet. Get in our way, and death will become your mercy."
Eliza clenched her muscles, but she didn't try to get back up. He was obviously too powerful to defeat all by herself right now. But what did he say? Death? He must be a user of dark magic! No wonder his attack power is so high. That makes him much more than a petty thief. He said not to mess with a Scarlet. That must be the name of the group he's working for. "That some kind of cult initiation? What do you want with our crystals?"
"I thought I've already told you before. These crystals now belong to the Scarlet Syndicate, not to you." He reacted next by aiming his hands towards Eliza, charging another attack. "Now that's long enough phishing for information. You all want to be left alone, then leave us alone after tonight. You would be wise to choose life just a little longer, while you still have it." After making his hands glow blue again, he unleashed a different kind of spell.
Eliza listened carefully for anything he may have accidentally given up. The Scarlet Syndicate? It really did sound like some sort of cult, and now there was some sort of glowing symbol on the top of his forehead. It was much more like a glowing tattoo, with a unique shape and unity to the design. Eliza then noticed that the man's hands were glowing. He was about to force her to pass out right now. Eliza closed her eyes and turned her head, unable to do anything about it. Just as she braced herself for more damage, Eliza was suddenly being electrocuted with a powerful electrical attack, one that did not hit and fade in a short second of time. The pain of an electric shock was bad as it was already, but now that it was being extended with the time of damage on Eliza, she was now getting defeated in the most painful manner yet, while the electrocution continued aggressively. Eliza knew her stats were critically declining, and despite feeling this much pain constantly, she also felt more drained each millisecond. This was it; this was going to stop her for an entire hour or so.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/h476bRQp/S1-Eliza-N-005.png]
The man kept up his electric attack on Eliza, watching her HP drain more and more. As soon as it dropped below ten percent, some strange force pushed him to the ground, ending his attack sequence immediately. "Aaaaaagh!" The Scarlet grunt bellowed at the frustration of being surrounded. Even though he was far from defeated by any attack used at him yet, dealing with those two teenagers was still as annoying as it could get. Eliza would just have to live in excruciating pain a little longer.
Though much to his surprise, after turning around to confront Danny and Taylor again, he realized that they were not the source of that last Fire Bolt attack. Both Danny and Taylor were on the ground undefeated. They were too stunned to do anything for themselves. He looked around some more until he located another young woman, still probably a student from the looks of it based on her height. From the way she was slumping over in the distance, she must have taken some battle damage from somewhere other than here.
Taylor saw a Fire Bolt attack hit the back of the thief's head just before finishing off Eliza. The situation was getting crazier. Nobody was able to stop this man with his unbeatable defense, and after going through so much trouble to attack everyone while stealing from Dakota's facility. She had to find out who bravely distracted the Scarlet thief. It took Taylor long enough to discover that a few dozen meters to her left a bit in front of someone else's house, Jane had somehow entered the fight.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/CKXJzd7Y/S1-Jane-N-011.png]
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Chapter Theme Shift: Invictus ~ R. Armando Morabito (feat. Uyanga Bold) (Days of Tomorrow)
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Jane took in her surroundings. Only a few other civilians were outside, watching the commotion from a distance. Much of the ground was messed up and distorted from an Earth Glave attack unregulated by the confines of the usual energy dome. The mysterious man in the center had to be the cause of it from the way he was attacking Eliza like that. Danny and Taylor were down as well, on the floor to her right. Their stats were still good enough for them to keep going, but they have both taken a fair bit of damage already, and from the looks of things, so did the Leray agents up ahead. Who does this asshole think he is? "You won't just attack my teacher like that. So face me instead!"
The man prepared to tango one more time, but he noticed something odd about this encounter. The woman declared as Jane from her energy scope was surprisingly weak looking. She looked like she had already taken a lot of damage, despite having full health capacity. And her voice was hoarse, like she recently came down with a cold or something. "I'll do to you what I've done to all your friends here, Jane."
Taylor still struggled to get back up to her knees. She had never taken this much damage in a fight before, so it was not easy to deal with. Despite her health getting lower than this before in her battle with the Cran, she still technically took less damage in that moment before due to her endurance being so low. Nobody ever stopped to explain that with high endurance, one must also face greater damage and pain in more heated battles. But what the hell is Jane doing here?! She still looked as weak and damaged as before, obviously unfit for battle. Since she can't even use Leray magic, this had to be her attempt to bluff her way through. "J— Jane! No... Turn back! You have to rest! You have to— Agh!" Taylor felt like something punctured her ribcage. Being thrown around by that man really did a number to her real health.
"No way Tay!" Jane argued. She pointed to the sack with a hole ripped into it. "That man's got our crystal shards. Those belong to Dakota!" Jane raised her voice as loud as it could go, despite her throat feeling raspy. She became enraged at the obvious carnage in her own town. Some petty thief just comes and takes things from them? No way! "Give them back right now!"
Danny finally got to his feet, carefully balancing himself while preparing to dodge any attack. The thief might consider him a threat now that he got back up, but even he didn't want to launch a spell yet. What would Danny's moves do to the thief anyway? Whichever spell anyone uses has to really count now. "Jane, she's not kidding. Go home!"
"Na-ha-ha-ha!" The Scarlet grunt was laughing after realizing how pathetic the whole situation had turned. "This is your reinforcements? I would listen to Danny boy over there. He's offering you a pain free pass out of this mess."
"I'm not going to ask you again," Jane threatened. Even she knew that she was still weak from being sick, but this cannot happen to her own hometown. Just standing there tall and ready, the thief had to back down eventually.
For a short moment, it actually looked like the guy was considering surrender, but he had his arm aimed towards Danny at the same time, making sure he doesn't try anything. Though he knew exactly what his gesture looked like, the point of it all. "Hmmm, no deal!" Before Jane could even process what he just said, the thief shot another Fire Bolt attack from his hand, aimed right at Danny. Danny didn't even have any intentions of attacking or defending himself with how weak and dizzy he already was. Jane helplessly watched the Fire Bolt slam Danny back to the ground. His stats were reduced even more.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/rF56c28K/S1-Danny-N-004.png]
Despite being defenseless, Jane watched as the man attacked Danny just to show off his strength. The nerve of that guy! Jane clenched her fists and prepared to strike. "The hard way it is!"
The thief intentionally updated his energy scope after realizing what it had said. After identifying himself a little to the rest of the group, he might as well fly in style. Oh, and as for Jane, "Magical Blitz." Without even chanting the move loudly, he unleashed a blitz of energy balls at Jane just before she was about to try something, getting the jump on her talk quickly.
Jane was sent flying before she could realize it was time to dodge. A searing pain traveled through her chest and her right shoulder, which is where she got hit three times in a row with a Magical Blitz attack. The force of the impact and the damage surprised Jane completely. Not to mention that the attack used against her really hurt more than it probably should of. Jane landed on her back, already trying to get back up from that spell. The man sure wasn't in the mood to give up, but he also somehow invoked that spell so quickly. Jane examined her own stats as soon as she got back up, and realized that the criminal changed his status box as well just to show even more. Just as Jane was checking her own health, her status bar also turned the color of red with that same strange error as before.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/c4hmfFhF/S1-Jane-Red-004.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/FsrbFjv3/S1-Scarlet-Thief-001.png]
Taylor managed to get back up, but watched as Jane took an attack to the ground really hard. Even though she was damaged and in severe need of recovery, the Scarlet thief was attacking her anyway, despite being sick. Taylor just wasn't sure anymore what was going on with Jane, but the possibility of death now remained. If Jane is sick and gets knocked out in her condition, she might not make it. No way can that happen! "Stop!" Taylor began a high-speed sprint towards Jane right where she fell. Though Jane was getting back up on her own, she was holding her shoulder in pain at the same time. Jane was certainly hit hard all right. Taylor got in front of Jane, trying to protect her. In just another short second, Taylor found Danny rushing to her side for the same reason.
"Don't hurt her!" he bellowed.
"Hmph!" The Scarlet figure simply stood there, preparing for more of a fight. Though all he had to do was attack at long range and absorb anything thrown his way as well. "Get out of the way. My fight is with that sick girl. If you have the nerve to stand up to us, then you deserve to die the honorable way, in battle!" Without shouting at them this time, it was easy enough for the man to charge another Leray spell, using both hands to fire bolts of electricity towards Danny and Taylor. The double Lightning Strike bolts hit them immediately and without fail. Because of where they were standing, Danny and Taylor really were protecting Jane from taking any more damage, though they were failing miserably to defend themselves as well. Who could with so much power and speed into one attack?
"No!" Jane watched while Danny and Taylor both got zapped in place for two long seconds, after which they collapsed to the ground again with the bodies smoking from the intensity of the magic damage. They both were looking extremely weak from previous battle damage adding up, in much worse shape than she was in right now. Jane made sure their stats did not report a total knock out. Luckily, Danny and Taylor were still conscious, though in a tight spot taking an electrical attack just for Jane. It didn't help any one of them, and now Danny and Taylor were breathing quickly just to stay awake.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/52Jh2K0p/S1-Danny-N-005.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/CxfRw1Rb/S1-Taylor-N-017.png]
Jane darted ahead in front of them, returning the favor. Now that the thief was just standing there, totally laughing at their humility, Jane thought of a better way to fight.
The thief was loving every second of his everlasting victory. Danny and Taylor were just total wimps, and Jane was too weak already to continue, holding her shoulder in pain after just one attack. What was she going to do by striking a threatening pose? "What are you going to do Jane? Will you really just let me get away with my new shards?"
The guy sounded so confident taunting everybody, and it was firing up Jane's nerves. Better to try something with more power. Jane prepared one of her best-known attacks, aiming her arm and creating a glyphring of a jade green color. For Jane, this attack took a bit longer to charge up then it did for Eliza's team or the current enemy, and she unleashed her attack with perfect aim. "Electro-Ball!"
The ball of electricity flew through the air quickly. The thief of course stood there, ready to just take it like a man. As soon as the projectile came into contact with him, nothing specific happened, other than becoming surrounded in electrical sparks. He didn't seem the least bit affected by the pain or power of the spell.
Taylor tensed as she was slowly getting back up. Jane actually used an attack?! She wasn't able to earlier, but that Electro-Ball scored a direct hit. Unfortunately, even Jane's morale must have shrunk at the thought of not inflicting any damage to the Scarlet thief. He must have been wearing a protective suit or something. His damage meter barely dropped at all.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/8PZR7jk3/S1-Scarlet-Thief-002.png]
Jane winced, "What?!" The man didn't even take a lick of damage. An Electro-Ball attack sure isn't high on a power level scale, but it still should have done more than that.
"Ha-ha!" the thief responded. "Now it's my turn." After quickly charging an attack, three separate glyphrings orange in color formed close to Jane. They were all spread out, but each of them were clearly aimed at her entire team. "Tri-Attack!" After unleashing more energy, each glyphring he formed in the distance fired a beam of energy into each of his rivals. Jane, Danny, and Taylor were all suddenly subject to an additional attack of three energy beams being used all at the same time.
It almost felt similar to an electrical attack with more heat and damage involved, according to Jane's memory of skills before her, but the attack was unavoidable. On top of feeling more pain from all of these beams of magic heat, Jane knew that Danny and Taylor were simultaneously taking damage as well, soon to be defeated right here. The force of the beam wasn't enough to knock anyone down, and by splitting the spell up like this, the overall damage was reduced. Jane still watched her HP decline significantly while unable to get out of the lengthy jolt hold. Danny and Taylor were having exactly the same problems, but both of them were already too damaged to keep going, making this dangerous for the both of them.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/MGKgyc1Q/S1-Danny-N-006.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/R07qnDQF/S1-Taylor-N-018.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/qv7Gw2Z4/S1-Jane-Red-005.png]
Though in the middle of his multi-attack aura, the thief was suddenly hit in the back of the head again by a few Ice Ball attacks. It barely damaged him at all, but it was certainly enough to break his focus and end his attack pattern early. After turning around, both Kain and Bella had recovered enough to get back in the fight, and they both looked very angry.
Kain fired another Thunderbolt spell to try and distract the man long enough to save Jane. He was well aware of what a red colored status bar means. If a person battles until knockout with a red status bar, it can actually lead to death. Their health is beyond recovery in such a state, normally invoked by Vital Drain status. Jane is having it early being as sick as she is with a flu. "Stop attacking them! They're just kids!"
Bella pitched in as well, adding another Ice Bolt to Kain's effective damage area. The thief was still capable of absorbing those attacks, and he prepared to retaliate after brushing off the attack spells thrown at him.
Jane stood back up tall again, shaking her head from how much a simple energy beam had hurt her. Her attention was even more focused on Danny and Taylor. Taylor was weak looking, and breathing quickly from experiencing critical HP for the first time in her life. Danny looked like he was already passed out, despite what his stats displayed so far. He was just taking it on the floor, not wanting to move anymore. At 2% health, anyone would do the same thing. Now the ones who had just saved them were about to get trounced as well.
Bella rushed in with Kain towards the thief, hoping once again to attack together, but the Scarlet's speed was just too great. He accounted for every possible and probable attack angle and vector. First, he countered Kain's Fire Bolt, which he initially used to try and get closer. After absorbing the bolt of fire, he ducked down to dodge Kain's fist, and struck back with a sweep kick to Kain's leg, effectively tripping him to the ground. At the same time, he dodged Bella's third Ice Bolt attack, and countered her moves with the slash of his energy sword once again. Bella was hit hard with the blade, forcing her back, and leaving him to deal with Kain. Kain tried to get back up while attacking back at the same time, using a magical infusion to his hands and legs for a combination attack, but the Scarlet put a stop to that with one simple spell of Laser Rain. A barrage of red lasers fired from his hands, hitting Kain straight in the face. The Scarlet then kicked him backwards right in the nose, making the guy flush back again. Then he turned to take care of Bella, who just now recovered from his slash attack. He stopped Bella immediately by hitting her in the face with a punch two times in a row, then ending it with another kick to the stomach. It was exactly the same tactic used against Kain with similar results. The Scarlet member managed to take care of both of them, making Kain and Bella effectively powerless while inflicting damage at the same time, and he didn't even take damage himself!
image [https://i.postimg.cc/7PMMyKFq/S1-Kain-N-003.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/R0zjqsZX/S1-Bella-N-002.png]
Jane tensed up while standing in front of her defenseless friends. Now she had to protect them both while attacking the man herself, while she was already weak from the last spell. This man was just clear-cut unstoppable; even Eliza was down, but the Scarlet was currently distracted with checking their vitals. Now was her best chance to get anything done.
Jane began charging a ton of her MP energy into a better attack. The thief sure wasn't interested in dodging attacks as much as he is blocking them out. Somehow, the damage to him is mediocre at best. But I'm not letting him leave with our crystal shards! Jane finally prepared her attack, just as soon as the thief turned back to deal with her. "Shadow Wave!" The powerful burst of energy turned into a shock-wave attack bound to the ground, though traveling at a quick speed. Barely visible except for the damage it was doing sliding into the earth, Jane's dark Shadow Wave attack was somehow much bigger in size than her normal Shadow Waves are. She did mean to put some more energy into it, but that doesn't often do much since it isn't all that possible to over-charge spells. Hoping this was going to be it, Jane watched her attack impact on the Scarlet while he was too slow to react.
The Scarlet thief was suddenly pushed back, and at the same time, he felt several large slices hitting him from below. The Shadow Wave attack was still something he could stand to absorb, but this one managed to partially break through his protective suit's aura. It would have knocked him flat on his back if he wasn't trying to keep his feet planted into the earth. Battling the strong force and push back of Jane's Shadow Wave attack, it finally disappeared, and he examined the damages. There was a lot more scratch like pain from that than there should have been, and the thief now had a good reason to be concerned.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/DzXLp6Qk/S1-Scarlet-Thief-003.png]
"Ugh!" The thief was suddenly taken by surprise. That Shadow Wave of Jane's packed on a lot more power than it should have for a level such as hers, though it only took off five percent of his health. From the looks of it, Jane would not be invoking that move twice.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/L803bhrf/S1-Jane-Red-006.png]
The Scarlet examined his options carefully, still confident that his mission was already a success. Jane was now too wiped to continue as well, and his symbol was at last ready to use. No sense hanging around here, but that rip in the bag wasn't going to do any good. Those crystal shards need to be sealed. He attended to that little problem easily, using Leray magic to create a special bubble aura around the entire bag and crystal shards alone. Now it was time. "Pathetic as ever. I'd love to stay here in this disgusting waste dump you call a town, but I've got places to be."
Jane didn't know what he meant. Was he expecting to run from her? Jane did feel much less powerful after using that powerful Shadow Wave attack. After being drained earlier, sick, and messed up from battle, that was to be expected. But this can't be it! She immediately noticed the bubble aura surrounding the bag of stolen crystals, but that was the least eye-opening thing happening now. Some strange enlarged red symbol with a five-meter radius activated on the ground below the Scarlet member, indicating he was about to do something big... Teleportation! After it opened up and finished automatically drawing into the earth completely, Jane remembered the symbol enough to recognize that particular design. "Wait!" Jane even held out her arm, hoping to somehow delay the man from teleporting away. That was his plan all along. Buy himself time until, poof!
The sight changed significantly. The Scarlet thief was gone in a flash of bright light, and so was the bag of crystal shards he stole. Along with that, Eliza, Bella, Kain, as well as Danny and Taylor were almost completely knocked out, barely conscious. Everything fell silent, and the realization knocked Jane's breath away. Sympathetically, she let her body fall down some, landing on her knees. The sudden sensation of defeat sunk in, along with all of the fatigue that soon caught up to her. Still, it wasn't as harsh as what everyone else was feeling.
Jane whispered over her light breath, "No..." Eliza and the others were finally getting up, struggling just to stand straight, but now it was too late. The thief was already gone, and he made off with Dakota's most valuable treasure. Danny and Taylor were still conscious too, but barely. All of them, all of them were defeated!
Eliza struggled to get her strength back, pulling her personal supply sphere for medication and healing orbs designated as standard relievers in the situation. After using one on herself, she still had to wait for the effects to kick in for a few more seconds. It was only now when Eliza figured out what was going on around her. She managed not to get knocked out completely, courtesy of Jane's assistance, but things weren't looking great right now. A bright symbol illuminated right where the thief was standing. Both he and the stolen shards have vanished, most likely a teleportation act. The teleportation symbol itself vanished shortly after as well, no longer needed for him to escape.
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Chapter Theme Shift: Burning Night ~ Crysis 2 OST
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The sight up ahead was also bad. Danny and Taylor looked worse than she did a moment ago, damaged seriously from battle, and Jane's energy scope was not reporting such great stats either. It would have to be worse for Jane since she was currently sick. Jane was on the ground, stunned by the disappearing act. Eliza was shocked as well. This has never happened before, not in the history of all time. People have attempted to steal many things, and some succeeded at times to get caught later on. But nobody on the face of the planet has ever managed to make off with facilitated crystal shards, never! That was the case only until tonight.
Eliza snapped out of the trance that Jane had already fallen into. Now isn't the time for this. Danny and Taylor are hurt! She rushed in towards them to help. It took little time to reach them, with the boundary of battle and dangers now gone. Taylor and Danny were still out of it. Though they were not completely passed out yet, their pain was high enough to keep them on the floor. Eliza pulled out two healing orbs, using them both on the injured students immediately. Both orbs began glowing with a strong light, after which they disappeared. As soon as that happened, the health meter on their energy scopes both increased rapidly. Eliza waited until it reached 100% for each of them, and they became conscious again long before that.
Danny woke up, though he didn't believe he fell asleep in the first place. Somehow, Eliza was helping him and Taylor get back up. His pains were going away rather quickly, and his energy was suddenly returning to him. The wonderful sensation must have been a healing orb. Though they don't restore MP levels the same way, so he didn't feel as great as he did prior to this commotion. But it still felt amazing; the sensation of rapid Leray healing after so much magical damage. Danny still didn't know what was going on. "What happened?"
"He took the crystal shards," Jane announced. She was still on her knees, holding her shoulder. For some reason, out of all of the damages, that blitz ball of energy that hit her shoulder carried over the most amount of pain, while it still lingered right there. Her battle damage was manageable according to her, but Eliza was still drawn to Jane from the way she was looking. Eliza gave Jane a healing orb too, forcing her to use it and heal.
"I know Jane." Eliza wanted to talk to Jane directly, try and calm her down. It was a bit interesting to see a student care so much about protecting their property as much as the Leray agents have done. And it goes without saying that it is impressive that Jane knows this much about crystal shards, which isn't exactly public knowledge easily obtained. Jane was like a natural guardian to this place. So this had to be hard, watching that man get away with such atrocity. Even Eliza didn't know what to do. "We'll have to request for a new supply if possible, and defiantly upgrade our security."
"I'm launching a full investigation into how he even managed to get into the vault," Bella echoed.
Kain was with her, just as upset and determined to capture this escaped thief despite being so elusive. "So will I. The Scarlet Syndicate... Either that was their leader, or we now have a new crime ring starting up."
"They took the crystal shards," Jane repeated. She really was in a trance. Though it was hard not to be with the dizzy sensation she was experiencing.
Eliza checked Jane's stats, surprised to find out that the healing orb was not working on her at all. Her MP and HP stats were totally unchanged, suggesting possible real time damage. It was entirely possible that that guy's attack power was amplified due to dark magical damage. If one is hit with that type of element the wrong way, it can really screw someone up! "Shit," she muttered. Eliza held her hand up to Jane's forehead, realizing that she is still burning up with a fever. It could be low-grade, but it's still an indicator that Jane really hurt herself by coming out here today, both physically and spiritually. If she took real time damage on top of being sick enough to partially reject healing, then no magic orb in the world could help her recover right now. If Jane were to lose her health in that fight a moment ago, it could have been more than enough to spell out certain death. "Jane, snap out of it! There's nothing we can do about it right now, except for us to track the man down." She should have stayed in bed, safe from harm.
Jane glared at her teacher, not saying anything. She didn't really give her any particular facial expression, but it was suddenly make Eliza nervous. Jane looked around some more, taking it all in. He took it! He took the shards away!
Jane's fever wasn't high enough to mess up her mentality, but that combined with real time damage could have resulted in her unusual trance. Eliza turned around towards Kain and Bella. "Put a notice out for that guy in every town you can. He had to teleport somewhere within the region. As we already know, he couldn't have left Sprawn Valley."
"Couldn't we just track the teleportation node and signature?" Kain questioned.
Eliza nodded her head left and right. "No. I don't think he would have left it that easy for us to find. The symbol that he used, I recognize it. But the design is still different from the original teleportation glyph. We have to track him down the hard way. As far as I'm concerned, any activity related to a Scarlet cult is hereby punishable by arrest in this town. I know I can't legally register that law, but you two enforce it here anyway. Otherwise, we may have blood spilled in this place soon."
"Yes ma'am," they both responded.
Danny finally picked up on what happened. The thief escaped after all, leaving behind this chaos to deal with. And Jane... She wasn't dead or knocked out, but she didn't look too good either. Even after using a healing orb on her, nothing had changed to help her heal. But all of that trouble was to steal... Crystal shards? "Excuse me," Danny cleared his throat. "But what are crystal shards even used for?"
Even after attracting attention from everyone excluding Taylor (who also didn't understand the purpose), Jane took it upon herself to answer, finally knocking herself out of repetitive defeat in her mind. Jane must have played back a thousand different scenarios in her head, blaming herself entirely for the loss of the stolen property. "Crystal shards are collected in excavations and fused together a special way to make lunar crystals. Lunar crystals then have the capacity to store pure lunar energy, which is a step above Leray energy. Those charged crystals are then used in Eldora Tower by the mages after conversion into Leray crystals there to send out the Leray pulse every so often. Without enough lunar crystals to help the mages send pulses of energy out annually, there wouldn't be Leray magic, or a protection zone."
Taylor replayed it in her head, going over the quick lesson in her mind. She forgot to pay close attention in the history lessons. Apparently, there is more magical energy than just Leray magic. Taylor didn't remember lunar energy, but she did remember dark magic, and its dangers to kill people regardless of the protection zone. Still, nobody has used it, or so it was reported as such.
Eliza continued from where Jane left off, but she remained wary and distracted by the events that just unfolded. "For storage and protection, the General Army has each and every Leray training facility store loads of crystal shards inside of vaults, which they also supply us with. This is for sure the very first theft on crystal shards that has ever been made successfully, but that guy isn't going to keep them."
Eliza sounded sure of herself, and Jane decided to be content with the very idea. At least there remains a small possibility of recovering those shards, but it's a rare chance. That guy could have gone anywhere he wanted to. Still confined within Sprawn Valley, that still doesn't make him easy to find. Jane finally stood up, ready to head back. "I'm going home now. I suggest you two do the same."
Taylor was surprised at Jane's shift in attitude. She was really taking this hard, and that meant it had to be very important to everyone else here. Despite letting Jane leave towards home to rest up, she still needed to figure out the motive. "But I don't get it. What would some powerful Scarlet guy want with the crystals? What could they be used for?"
Eliza tensed at the very thought, but she had to leave it in the realm of open possibilities. "There might be a new black market in Sprawn Valley run by a reflected crime ring. And if that's true, they would sell these crystals for high prices and get them around to many more low-life scum."
Danny turned his head down in thought. From the way things sounded before today, crime was at an all-time low with Leray magic preventing death. But seeing as incapacitation can still be a bad thing, and after what just happened tonight, maybe crime exists everywhere after all.
Kain had finished developing the next patrol plan with Bella, when he remembered something. There were still several civilians watching from the safety of their homes, wondering what the hell was going on. Some were waiting just outside of their house, and it should have still been possible to figure out what just went wrong from here. But that doesn't leave this open for public mayhem. "Bella, make sure all of the townsfolk stay inside tonight. I don't want people lurking into the crime scene. Not till we clean it up."
Bella nodded, and left to deal with that small issue. Jane was already walking back home all by herself. Despite the fact that she couldn't heal with med kit orbs, she was surprisingly in good enough condition to be self-independent, even with a fever involved. Danny and Taylor couldn't really do anything else but complain and return home themselves. The only home for them was the medical center in town. Francine was probably having a fit right now, after learning what just happened.
Man, Danny projected. I thought I had trouble sleeping before. How am I supposed to rest now? Danny was certain that Taylor was of the same mind. They had now been in their second battle since learning Leray skills, but this fight was unofficial and dangerous to everyone's health, not to mention degrading to everyone's morale from the way that guy pounded on them. His unusually high defense was to blame. No way did that guy outperform with stats alone. That thief had to have been wearing something specially designed for absorbing a lot of damage, probably something that defied the very nature of Leray magic altogether. What a mess this turned out to be.