The Five Distinct Journeys were an entourage of five savants wearing fine robes and were the epitome of talent and effort. In an environment such as Martials, where strength and merits ruled, then you needed to be a genius and disciplined to earn your station, and every Journey was no exception.

You could identify the Journeys based on the symbols sewn into the back of their robes, or more immediately, look at the color.

The coal robes: Thunderstrike Hammer, Liu Xiang, the Journey of Smithing, who earned his position by winning a smithing competition among his peers, and forged the [Thundering Four Rings] for Jin Tiehan. Current project unknown.

The mint robes: Catalyst, Jaslene Dimacuha, the Journey of Alchemy. Working alongside artisans and researchers within Martials, she was a key player in the development cultivation techniques and alchemical enhancement products. Of all the Journeys, the Guild Master trusted her the most.

The gray robes: Yatsar, Izak Shoshan, the Journey of Machining. Alexander didn’t have much knowledge in the technological side of things so his understanding was quite low, but Yatsar made strides in public magitech integration. Only Vernon could appreciate him since he wanted to go into the same field initially.

The pearl robes: Shinzo, Takaichi Mayumi, the Journey of Healing. Healing was the most useful magick system in the world; however, it came at the cost of intense risk of mana poisoning and other nasty consequences. Like most healers at her stage, Shinzo was researching ways to mitigate the costs while keeping the effects; and above all, experimenting so the average non-systemic user could benefit from the treatment. Also she was a former shrine maiden, who woulda thunk.

The candlelight robes: Alma, Haytham Saloumi, the Journey of Scholars. Like Problem, Alma had a general knowledge about most forms of magic but taken to a higher level. And like most mages, who often dreamed of surpassing Magus and his [First Magic], Alma did as well but had both the means and intelligence to do it. Alexander wasn’t aware of Alma’s current project, and probably he didn’t either.

“Here, look here,” urged Alma as he guided Alexander and Professor Hei to a table. The Journeys had (violently, according to some sources) taken over areas within Grendel Arsenal for their own devising.

Alma opened a platinum-colored laptop, popped open an imbedded projector at the center. It displayed a map of Dawns, one that Alexander had seen countless times before. Dots of different colors scattered across the borough like an abstract art piece, having no clear shape or geometry of their placements. The key told Alexander that the dots were colored according to the date of appearance by the day. Like by the third day, the dots were green; the fourth had them red, and so on.

“I have remotely updated the spatial distortion appearances but give me a few moments to physically input them and double check,” Alma said like he was speaking in fast forward.

Alexander watched as new dots popped in one at a time; they were colored gold.

Professor Hei sighed and put a hand on her hip, nudging him. “How have you been, Alexander?”

“So-so,” he answered, amazed at the number of distortions. Dealing with them was one thing, but physically seeing them all at once? It put the severity of the outbreak into scale. The key kept a tally of each individual color: the golds were on track to first place.

“It’s no picnic for my team either. At least we’re with you now. We haven’t seen each other’s faces since Scorcher.” Hei chuckled, smiling to herself. “Maybe this time, we’ll finally get a lead. I’m using you as my good luck charm.”

“Funny,” he muttered. “We need something soon. Otherwise we’ll be knee-fucking-deep in anarchy.”

Alma finished his cataloging and cleared his throat, getting the attention of the Baptists before him. “I’ve finished inputting the recent spatial distortions data. While it hasn’t been an entire day, the number will break the ceiling; we can only assume the same will happen tomorrow and the day after, given if we have the time to analyze data and not fighting for our lives. But I digress, what do you see from this map?”

Alexander shrugged. “Just a lot of dots, Alma. Can you, uh…” He snapped his fingers, trying to think. “...Can you isolate something for me? Give me the distortion points in close distance to key locations: refugee centers, supply depots, bases, artisan and guild headquarters, the works.”

“Aha, good idea, Shen. I’ve already thought of that.” Alma tapped a few buttons and did exactly as he asked: the number of dots were cut down by three-quarters it looked like, and they were relatively close to key locations as Alexander asked. “Initially I considered the distortions that were, as you asked, in relative close distance to these locations; additionally, by cross-referencing the time of appearance to the respective attacks, you could reduce the number further. As a result, you would have this map."

The map displayed the time and date of each dot, connecting a line to bright green squares which were supposed to represent fortified locations. Above the line showed the time between appearance and attack. Three-quarters, as Alexander estimated. One-in-four were intentionally caused.

But there was something strange…

“Zoom in on the gold dot in Zhou Community Center for me,” Alexander asked next, and Alma had.

Professor Hei let out a concerned breath. “It’s right on top,” she stated. “How is that possible? If the distortion was caused by one of the Sungrazers, then surely we’d get a report from the community center confirming its appearance.”

“I reckon it was remotely caused. It happened in Scorcher if you remember,” Alexander pointed out. While Pereyra and Tewfik had been in the demesne fighting the high-rankers there, the rest of the Comets opened portals throughout the battle formation. It was definitely confirmed to be possible.

“You're right, I almost forgot…”

“May I suggest a theory to supplement yours?” Alma joined, and no one stopped him. “Maybe the universe splitters that the Comets wield do not create the distortions themselves but redirects them? Like scooping up a fish from a coursing river then placing them somewhere else.”

Alexander thought about it then nodded. “Could be, but I don’t see how that’s relevant here.”

“Well, I was contemplating on its mechanics when I noticed this.” Alma zoomed out and marked the various portal redirection facilities across the borough. Every connected attack was strangely far away compared to the others. Logically-speaking, you'd want to have them as close as humanly possible.

“Would you look at that…”

“This is why I proposed the theory. Whether or not it proves useful is what we will discuss later." Alma gestured to Alexander. "Shen, you seem like a logical man. If you possessed an universe splitter, where would you open distortions first?"

“Military bases, guild headquarters and workshops…” Alexander motioned at the screen. “...portal redirection sites. I’d do it right smack in the middle. It would cause the most amount of damage within the shortest amount of time. I'm surprised they haven't attacked the sites more. They had at the beginning."

Alma hummed. “Exactly. Why isn’t that more common now?”

“The same reason why they didn’t do it for the Pillars. These locations are heavily guarded by SRs,” Hei answered, with SR meaning 'swords and rifles'. “If the Comets opened them inside Grendel Arsenal, they’d be torn apart unless strategically placed.”

Alma focused on the locations that Alexander stated, highlighting the attacks that had taken place throughout the week. Including Grendel. After the first day, a few had opened inside the base but no more after that. “They tried. But they didn’t try for the redirection sites although the reward greatly outweighed the risk. There is a lot of sensitive technology within the site; if you destroy just one, you destroy the entire facility essentially. So why haven’t they?”

“...Because the redirection technology runs interference with the universe splitters,” Alexander finalized, laughing at how ingenious the deduction was. “Using your analogy from earlier, it’d be like two fishermen trying to catch the same fish from a chaotic river. What’ll happen to the fish though?”

Alma shrugged. "While I am not a cosmologist, I do have theories but to summarize them succinctly: I don’t know. And I suspect that is exactly why the Sungrazers refused to do it. Now, congratulations! we have gotten through the hard part. We discovered inherent limitations within the universe splitters, so let's move onto why I spoke about this theory. It's because of a recent development. Did you notice?”

Alexander squinted at the map for a few seconds, not catching it.

Until Hei saw it: “Reveal the rest of today's dots. Yesterday's as well, please.”

“I’ve been hiding them, yes. For the purposes of the explanation.” He tapped a button and revealed the remaining instances. There was a gold dot in the center of the Hikari Redirection Zone. “What do you think about the theory now?”

“I’m shit out of ideas,” admitted Alexander, noticing the time: around noon, an hour or so ago.

Video footage of Hikari Redirection Zone was displayed. A short thirty second clip where, at first, nothing happened. It was the standard maintenance where engineers were looking over the machines while soldiers routinely patrolled. Then, in the last ten seconds, a rifle on a soldier glowed then exploded. From it came a portal. People screamed. The video ended.

“Oh,” Hei muttered.

“Huh. That’s something…” Alexander frowned, rubbing his mouth. “So let me summarize: the universe splitters may not be creating the portals but redirecting them; as a result, they couldn’t displace any within redirection sites due to possible interference. Whoever is in Dawns, then, decides to experiment: whatever they did, they were somehow able to store portals within objects, bypassing the limitation.

“And that’s the cause of the anomaly. More portals are being generated here because the Sungrazer is basically rigging Dawns to explode. So Zhou?”

Alma answered, “There were eyewitness accounts that a backpack was the cause, though we did not believe them at first. Not until I saw this video.”

“No tricks?”

“None. This is likely to be the anomaly as you say, but…”

“Yeah.” Alexander looked at Hei. “But what the hell can we do about it, other than finding the man-in-charge?”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

~~~

“Come on, boys, pick up the pace!” hollered Thunderstrike Hammer, carrying several weapon cases on his shoulders.

“I’m not a high-ranker like you guys!” Vernon exclaimed, struggling with the one box he had.

Victor, on the other hand, was suffering as much as he was. Sweating and panting like he was in a sauna, dragging a large sack over his shoulder as big as Santa’s. “I’d rather freakin’ fight another Comet again than do this!”

“C’mon—!” Vernon stumbled over a popped out rock, nearly falling but catching both himself and the box luckily. He cursed under his breath. “You didn’t fight a Comet anyway, Vic!”

“Shut up!” growled Victor.

They came to one of the hangers on base, which had been cleared specifically for the Journeys. For what reason? Vernon had a pretty good guess: a superweapon. Not like the bluff in Scorcher but an actual superweapon. Like a laser cannon you’d see in sci-fi movies, that sort of superweapon.

Operation Scorcher was a win for Ordo but that came at the heavy cost: multiple S-Ranks had been killed, and Guild Master Archknell. If they followed the same strategy then they’d lose the rest of the high-rankers and leave Ordo weak with no clear leadership or manpower. So developing a means to bridge the gap wasn’t even a question.

But as far as Vernon knew, nothing concrete had been developed yet. Or rather, evident from the hanger, no idea managed to stick yet. Tools were scattered across the open space, weapons laid out chaotically, and multiple vehicles which had been picked apart like roadkill.

The two Baptists dropped their luggage near one of the tables. Vernon looked around and whistled. He spotted high-quality equipment that could only be found workshops belonging to the Big Four. They must've brought it over from their artisan centers.

“Over there!” ordered Yatsar at the other side of the hanger as Althea and Chunhua were working together to place one large box near a stripped transport truck.

Victor dusted his hands, cracked his back, then his neck. “God, why couldn’t we use a trolley or somethin’? I’m gonna get back pains for the rest of my life at this rate.”

“Stop complaining.” Thunderstrike whacked Victor on the back of his head, made him yelp fiercely. “The girls aren’t.”

“No. I’m pretty sure they are. Well, she is…” Vernon gestured to Althea who was mumbling nonstop at Chunhua, who could only nod along to what she was saying.

Thunderstrike rolled his eyes and luckily, didn’t hit Vernon too. What a great way to kick off our training session. At times like these, I wish training montages exist.

Everyone reconvened in the middle with the two Journeys, Thunderstrike Hammer and Yatsar, rummaging through their other items here, sometimes pulling out swords or rifles or accessories, sometimes pulling out things that belonged in a junkyard.

Chunhua mumbled to the others, “What are they doing?”

“Working their magic,” Althea said sarcastically, “or what I would like to call it: insanity.”

“You tellin’ me.” Victor placed a hand on the back of his neck, trying to catch glimpses of what they were trying to find. “Lemme ask ‘em real quick. Hey! D’ya need some help—?”

“Shut up!” Thunderstrike snapped, throwing a chunk of metal at Victor. It missed by a mile but the message was well-received.

Vernon nervously chuckled, taking a few steps back. “Was Thunderstrike Hammer always this, err…?”

“An asshole?” Althea finished.

“Yeah—!” Vernon cleared his throat multiple times. “No no, well, yeah but not when he’s right there!”

“It seems the rumors are correct: he has a terrible personality,” Chunhua said. “I have spoken to a few artisanal interns who worked for Martials. Those who met Liu Xiang all had negative things to say about his character, but said wonderful things about his craftsmanship. After all, he is the one who crafted the [Thundering Four Rings] for Vice Guild Master Jin.”

“I don’t even know that they do.” Victor crossed his arms, looking at Vernon.

Vernon shrugged. “Don’t look at me. Just because Levin was trained by the Lightning Saint, it doesn’t mean she knows what the rings do. People like lightning. You and Thea have lightning skills."

“Yeah, yeah. Being an asshole must be a genius's curse or somethin'.” Althea scowled as Thunderstrike threw out more odd items haphazardly.

“Mhm.” Victor combed back his hair as if to make a statement about it.

“Are you trying to imply that you are a genius yourself?” asked Chunhua.

“Am I?” smugly responded Victor.

“Oh, we all are. We’re geniuses.” There goes Althea again, being sarcastic. “But with a fatal flaw! I am too perfect for my own good, Vernon can’t piss standing without needing to consult a manual—“ (“Seriously?”) “—and Victor is, well, he’s not a genius at all.”

Victor mumbled, “If you need proof that Althea is Alexander's sister..."

“I get that a lot.”

Yatsar turned over his shoulder and looked surprised for some reason. “You’re still here?”

“Where else would we go?” Victor asked him, annoyed.

“I apologize. As you can see…” He gestured to Thunderstrike who was cursing in Chinese as he tossed more things out.

One of those things rolled up to Vernon’s foot. He picked it up. Some sort of motor.

“We've been busy since we came back. We tested dozens of prototype weapons that relied on sheer power—“

“We lacked a proper energy source,” grumbled Thunderstrike.

Yatsar nodded. “Conceptual weapons—“

“Nothing strong enough to neutralize the threat. Not right now, anyhow.”

“Mhm. We even requested to use one of those splitters to repurpose as a weapon.”

“We were denied.” Thunderstrike slammed a heavy box onto a table. “Seraph’s words herself: ‘We don’t know what they are capable of, let alone if they’d be safe as weapons.’ If she wants Ordo to survive, then she needs to take risks, I’d say.”

Yatsar rubbed his face, frustrated. “No offense to your commander; Liu Xiang doesn’t know two things about manners—“

“I don’t respect her as a Slayer—“

“Respect and manners are two very different things! Manners tell you to—ugh, nevermind. It’s not worth the energy to argue.”

“You have it rough,” Althea commented, but Vernon wasn’t sure if she was being genuine or snarky.

The poor Journey sighed anyway, accepting his fate. “Yes, I do. But all our pain might be worth it: after arguing with the appropriate men and women, we have been cleared to use the [Godslayer Claymore].”

Everyone let out a collective “Huh?”.

~~~

“Easy, easy. Lay him down gently,” guided Shinzo as Leona helped the little boy lay down on the mat. His shirt had been pulled up to reveal a serious gash on his belly—his father said it was from an attack yesterday but it got worse.

Shinzo rummaged through her [Inventory] before pulling out various alchemical ingredients, putting them in a mortar and pestle. “This is a concoction that Catalyst helped create. I’d go over each ingredient but we’d be here forever. So all you need to know is this: this will help with your wound and prevent further infection, and it’s explicitly made to go without mana so don’t worry about any mana poisoning.

“It’ll take about a day to show some results, and that is with proper rest and nutrition. In these conditions, I’m afraid I can’t guarantee that but do your best for me, okay darling?”

The boy nodded and so did his father.

“Good. It’s ready.” Shinzo pulled up the pestle to reveal a greenish sticky substance. She took out some gauze and generously soaked it in the concoction. “I’ll warn you: this will hurt. A lot, probably, so you need to stay strong while it works its magic. Ahn, hold him for me.”

Leona nodded and braced the boy against the mat as Shinzo delicately applied the gauze onto the boy’s stomach. The boy’s body squirmed uncontrollably, doing his best to remain still but the immediate pain was too much to handle; uneasy breaths came from him, and he squeezed his eyes shut, tears forcing out.

Shinzo whispered softly like how a mother would, her diligent hands working until the treatment was complete. The boy shivered still, shaking.

“Will he be alright?” his father asked, kneeling by his son’s side.

She nodded, wiping the sticky concoction on her robes. “As I said: proper rest and nutrition. Your son will be in constant pain, so here.” Shinzo gave him a small plastic bag of white pills alongside a couple bite-sized water bottles. “Painkillers and some water. It’s not much but it’s the best I can provide at the moment.”

The father held the supplies in his hands as though they were gold. “Th-thank you—”

“Watch over your son, okay?” Shinzo rested the back of her hand against the boy’s forehead, frowning. “You can rest here for a little. Be strong for me, alright? I know it’s tough, but think about me and you’ll do just fine.” Then she turned to Leona. “Ahn, let’s go.”

Shinzo stood and tucked her equipment back into her [Inventory]. Instead of treating the next patient, she was heading around the block with a pensive expression.

“Where are we going?” Leona asked, looking around. There was nothing of any particular interest other than the patrols.

“I need to check on Catalyst,” answered Shinzo, sounding annoyed. “Instead of using the designated workshop for us, she decided to take over a random basement. As brilliant as she is, she’s picky. And paranoid. I’m afraid you need to wait out on the sidewalk like a lost little child, haha.”

“Well, I feel like a child whenever I speak with you. You remind me of my mother sometimes."

“I will take that as a compliment, haha. Others said the same thing. It's quite peculiar actually—oh, is that one of your Baptists?” Shinzo looked ahead.

Kaiya was standing underneath a traffic light, waiting for a small patrol to drive by. She had boxes: two were levitating beside her head and she was physically carrying one.

“Mhm, Uprise. One of your Head Officers, Rend, was interested in mentoring her.”

“Ah right! Rend told me about her! Sorayama Kaiya, one of Gul’s. She has [Great Psionic Aura]; it's a perfect positive condition for an esper. Alma could rave about conditions day and night if you let him.”

"I don't doubt that."

Once the patrol passed, Leona and Shinzo approached Kaiya who was startled from seeing them so suddenly. After a few seconds of awkward maneuvering, each of the women was holding a box. In Leona’s, she distinctly heard glass clink around inside. She needed to be careful then.

Kaiya was explaining that Catalyst made her a personal servant, forcing her to scurry around the block and fetch all sorts of things, going in detail about all sorts of roadblocks she had to face even with using Catalyst’s name as clout. “...Then, she gives me some really weird delivery instructions: ‘Enter quietly. I do not want to hear your footsteps. Go into the hallway and take the second door on the left, then take the stairs down to the basement. Be absolutely quiet. Then place the boxes outside the obstruction field and knock two times, and wait at the top of the stairs for further orders.’”

“That sounds like her,” Shinzo mused, trying to sound light-hearted but soon faded into a sigh. “What a troublesome woman you are...”

“What is she working on anyway? If I can ask that?”

Shinzo was in thought for a moment or two before shrugging. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to divulge some information: it's a potion. When Archknell ascended to Rank SSS, Catalyst wanted to replicate the same effect through alchemical means."

“Will that even be safe?” Leona inquired. “We already have means to dramatically increase your attributes but they’ll kill you faster than any monster can.”

“That’s the point. My colleague is a pessimist. If Archknell had to sacrifice himself, then who’s to say it won’t happen again? In such an event, our Guild Master vowed to take whatever potion Catalyst brews even if it would kill him.”

The Baptists were silent.

“But!” Shinzo exclaimed after hearing their dread out loud, “we’re stronger now more than ever. We’ll be able to win with the means we currently have.”

Before Leona could respond, she received a message: Professor Hei said that Jin Tiehan and Blackviper had finally returned to base and they want to meet with the Baptists as soon as possible. Kaiya received the same message as well from the looks of it.

“Here.” Shinzo took the boxes from the girls, carrying them effortlessly. “Go and introduce yourselves to Mister Righteous and his sidekick, I’ll give these to Catalyst. Good luck.”

Leona and Kaiya exchanged a curious look.

“What for…?” Kaiya asked nervously.

Shinzo innocently smiled. “What else? You’ll be sparring with them.”