The room was silent after Zeke and Mikella relayed what they heard from Zoan to the people in front of them. After the message was given, the two had Vivian take care of Clara as always with Eliza as backup. They made sure that everything was under the bridge now and that they were thankful for her hard work, much to Vivian and Eliza’s relief.
On the other hand, their grim faces were stuck on them as they went over to the Lord’s home, wanting to talk about something serious. At the time, Zacharia was there as well, possibly wanting to talk to them about something.
It only happened recently either, and somehow Myra and Piker joined in as well. They wanted to talk to the lords about the potential roads they could take for their builds.
And so, since everyone here knew of their secret, it was better to just tell them everything; The angel Zoan, the mission they were given, and even the tower that was here in the biodome.
Needless to say, everyone needed some time to take all this information in. Zeke wondered whether it was wise to just reveal everything to Zacharia and Piker. While he trusted Piker, he couldn’t trust Zacharia to somehow use this as some sort of leverage.
But he knew that keeping this a secret from him while trying to travel to another tower like the undeath one was just gonna be a pain in the ass, especially since Zacharia’s the type to nearly butcher his own son’s health for information.
Still, he was shocked to find even Zacharia looking aghast, his face turning pale as he looked silently at the floor, his rugged and muscled form wearing the casual clothing instead of his usual armor.
Meanwhile, Myra and Piker were just struggling to find the answers.
“So, you mean to tell me that you two have to become Journeyman stage in just two years?” Myra explained, raising her hands near her face as if to try to grasp the information. “That’s crazy! You know how many lived and died before ever reaching that state in such a short time? And now there’s a tower here? The same one that fucker necromancer was at?”
The two nodded, and Myra let her head rest on the palm of her hands.
“That… angel,” Piker asked, though his tone sounded amazed rather than concerned. “Is it truly an angel? Like, the ones in the legends where they helped warriors become heroes and raise their empires that lasted for millennia?”
Zeke nodded. He read some of the legends, hoping to find some proof about their situation back when they first visited Eve Glade. According to some people here, angels were the beings that once were human that have been granted transcendence. As for the twelve gods themselves, none can say for sure.
The twelve gods, from what he read, were the twelve terms used for the status itself; The Gods of Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, Endurance, Vitality, and Spirit. After those six, then comes the dual major three gods; The God of Attunement, God of Classes, and God of Races.
Finally, there were the God of Life, the God of Kinetics, and the God of Mana.
Hearing that Zoan came from the god known as the God of Spirit, the god that was behind the Spirit attribute of the status menu–he can’t help but feel somewhat connected knowing that he specialized in that attribute.
As far as he knew, angels were powerful beings close to the legends of dragons and titans, overly powerful creatures that have their own domains and even countries somewhere in this vast world of Tarial. And now Clara is housing one such powerful being.
Piker kept looking down at the ground, trying to take it all in. “You two are truly something. To have an angel send you a message from a god is…”
“She said the message came from the God of Spirit?” Myra asked, her brows furrowed. “I still don’t get it. If that god is responsible for bringing you guys here, then why that particular god?”
“The gods aren’t just the staples behind the terms of the status board,” Cloud aided Myra’s musings. “In this case, the God of Spirit is behind the sense of spirituality, and in some cases connected to the God of Mana and God of Attunement. That god is also behind the concept of morality, of deigning actions that would be considered right or wrong.”
“Morality?” Mikella responded with a bitter tone. “This is the same one that forced us here against our will, and even sent Clara here to be possessed with an angel!”
“I just still don’t understand why an angel has to use a child as a vessel,” Val stated, no longer contempt with stewing in her thoughts. Anger rose from her expression, her eyes turning sharper as her thoughts seem to spin into a raging torrent.
After living with the Mystio family for a while, he could tell the slight expressions on their faces. Val has only ever shown a bubbly atmosphere, a great and terrifying mother, and a responsible Captain. This one belonged to the terrifying mother aspect, something that corresponded well with Mikella’s concern.
Mikella on the other hand lowered her head into her hands. Her shoulders slumped as the pressure from just about everything was weighing down on her. “What are we supposed to do?”
It was a question that nobody answered for a short moment. It wasn’t the kind of question for the current situation, but just overall.
What else can they do other than to blindly follow a god’s whims? Proven even more so by the angel that visited them?
That led them back to this point. Val stayed quiet as Myra and Piker followed her. Cloud was deep in thought, crossing his arms and putting on his usual thinking expression.
However, Zacharia decided to break the momentum.
“There is only one option. We need to find the tower, first and foremost.”
Zeke was never a fan of the way Zacharia does things, even though he had a lot of experience as a commander in an army. However, everyone turned to him, including Mikella, after he kept speaking.
“Cloud, I recall you said that the barrier elevator wasn’t working well due to the mana of the biodome, correct?”
“Yes, but what does that have to do with…” Cloud answered with a confused expression, but a second later realization showed on it. “The tower…”
“Precisely,” The general nodded. “Just like with the monsters surrounding the forests near Eve Glade, the tower is also causing some mishaps going on in this very biodome. It is our duty as part of the kingdom to ensure that this biodome stays relatively safe to use. So, before we go out and try to conquer angels and gods, I suggest we keep our feet planted to the ground and focus on the current task at hand.”
This time, Zacharia turned to the two, his face hardened with resolve.
“The angel said that you two needed to clear the tower, and that same tower acts like a dungeon–and a dungeon contains treasure. We might even find people there, as how the last tower went, is that right?”
“Yes,” Zeke nodded. “Though we have no idea what kind of people they might be. We turned out fine, but Alex is one example that might happen again. Like we said, we may come from different worlds, but even we have our own crazies.”
Zeke grimaced after recalling Alex, and the potential danger of having some other psychopath to face. He noticed that Myra turned a little blank from recalling Alex, something that everyone here could relate to.
“So in other words, we might have potential allies or potential enemies. I take it that you two know what will happen should they become an enemy?”
Zacharia pointed out, leaving it at that. Zeke knew exactly what he meant. However, he could honestly not give a crap about it as Mikella answered for him.
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“We don’t care who it is.” There was a solemn look on her face, different from the distraught expression from before. “Even if it’s someone that we know, it won’t matter. If they go crazy, we kill them.”
“Even if they could be part of your country?” Piker asked. There was concern in his voice, though Zeke realized that it was meant for their own mental sake than for some moral reason.
“Our country isn’t as united as you might think… even though it’s technically called the United States,” Zeke chuckled slightly. How bitterly ironic that the name has nothing to do with its current state. “Trust me, we’ll have no problem taking them out if they become an enemy. But…”
Zeke grabbed the armchair hard. “If the person in question is someone who didn’t want to fight, and might answer with a fight or flight response… leave them to us. They may be scared, or just in a panic. We certainly were when we first started.”
Mikella looked back at him, her eyes agreeing with him. The first day they met, Mikella considered him an enemy, wanting nothing more than to protect Clara even at the cost of her body. Thankfully, nobody around planned on hurting them, and Zeke couldn’t even imagine taking advantage of the girls.
It might be possible that the same is happening to the folks within the biodome’s tower. If they were scared, the least they could do is help them.
“So in other words, react appropriately,” Val nodded in agreement. “And I agree with Zacharia’s statement. We should focus on taking out the tower before we do anything else. Even the quest should be put aside since the risks of leaving the tower there might mess with the influx of mana in the air more often than not.”
“Then we should tell the soldiers to not drink any concoctions, or anything that might be messed with by mana,” Myra pointed out. “Captain, you remember the fire potion from before? How it almost killed me?”
Val’s eyes widened. “That’s right! We need to let them know right away,” She said, getting Zacharia and Piker to nod.
“Alright… So once we’re done with the tower, what then? Keep going the same as usual?”
“There’s another reason why I suggested we should take the tower out before anything else,” Zacharia mentioned, getting their attention once more. “Eliza gave me some intel when she arrived along with Clara. Apparently, Bastion will be on the move soon towards Eve Glade… or in this case, to this biodome.”
The silence in the room became deafening as the news hit them like a dirty bomb. Cloud stood up, his stare turning hard.
“What do you mean? How do they know about the biodome already?”
“It’s likely that seer of theirs making a move again,” Zacharia laid on the couch, which felt like it was giving out death throes from how heavy he was as he answered. “Worse yet, they knew about the biodome. I’d say we have about a few months before they come here, but I doubt it’ll stay like that for too long. And it’s also likely that if they can’t go to the biodome, they’ll hit the closest town to it, and unfortunately the biodome is right next to Eve Glade.”
“Then let’s just kick their ass again!” Mikella said. “It’s not like they were all that tough from before. Even I could take a dozen of them out, and with the Journeymen here with us–”
“Can you say that with certainty if they bring their own Journeymen?” Zacharia pointed a heavy stare at Mikella, causing her to clam up. “You’ve only known the three of us. There are hundreds, if not thousands more out there. They’re rarer than your average person, certainly, but they never run out of numbers.”
The idea of fighting a Journeyman, on the same level as Val and Cloud, caused everyone to be silent. At least, the Experts in the room. Myra and Piker grimaced while Zeke stayed silent with a furrowed brow.
In other words, this next attack might be even more dangerous, and could once again embroil the town into a massive array of casualties. Another funeral pyre is possible in the future.
“We have time, right?” Zeke said. “Then let’s take the tower out–pronto.”
He felt a little stuffy after everyone turned their attention to him, but after facing the crowd from being the Lord in name back in Eve Glade, this was nothing as he continued.
“We got a lot on our plate, but Zacharia’s right. We need to at least take the tower out so we can stabilize the biodome. The quest won’t be completed for some time, so we take every chance we get to level up. Not to mention…”
He turned back to Mikella. “We need to become Journeyman. The only way to do that is to gain levels. And what better way to raise some levels than to raid a dungeon?”
For once, Mikella’s mood lit up after seeing Zeke’s determined face. She smiled, nodding in full agreement.
“But the problem now is finding the people we need to clear the dungeon,” Zeke said, crossing his arms and looking down. “I think it’s fair to say that both me and Mikky are needed to come along. I have no clue on how to control the tower, but we should still have some degree of control once we get in there. Probably better too, since it looks like the tower is a one way in or out like before.”
The tower they last visited, the undeath one, didn’t have a visible entrance. Not until both Zeke and Mikky came around and it opened up a gateway in. As for how they got out, he hoped he didn’t have to rely on his attunement like before, and instead can just focus on creating a gateway out.
“After us, there’s…”
“Obviously I’m gonna join,” Myra pointed out, even pointing at herself with her thumb. “But… I don’t think I can bring Jackie with me. Even if we keep it a secret, I don’t think he’s confident in going back to another tower so soon.”
“It’s fine,” Mikella said, her voice turning soft. “It’s too soon to bring him back in again. I’m just thankful he’s still training himself.”
“Yeah, me too,” Myra nodded with a soft, but complicated smile.
Jackie had been training hard, since he normally was reliant on his late twin brother’s aid to form a strategic duo of sorts. With Maxie gone, however, Jackie had to work overtime to fix up his combat style, even forgoing the shield to just holding a single blade in hand.
Zeke was proud to see Jackie not grieving too hard over his brother’s death, but it would be beyond cruel to ask him to come along to another tower raid, even if the chance of finding another undeath situation wouldn’t come up.
“I will join as well,” Piker said. “Unless–”
“Nah, you’re joining,” Mikella held up her hand, already expecting what Piker was about to say next. “We need a good tank just in case Zeke shouldn’t use his barriers. Not that I think there’s a situation where we won’t need it…”
Mikella didn’t continue, but everyone knew what she was talking about. Having a defender in case Zeke gets separated again would be good.
Piker nodded, looking content to find himself in another tower raid. Zeke turned to the Journeymen, hoping that they wouldn't do something like leaving it to the youngsters again.
Thankfully, he got his wish.
“Obviously we’ll join as well,” Val said, shaking her head. “I can’t let a bunch of kids go to another tower again with good conscience. This time, we got our full power, so we can work our way through.”
“Though we’ll still at least help you gain some experience,” Cloud said with a smirk. “We’ll just tackle the more difficult ones. After all, it’s been a while since we leveled ourselves.”
The two shared a smile that only they could understand. Zacharia grunted in affirmation.
“I’ll come along as well. However, I suggest we bring in a healer outside of Zeke and Cloud. With Zeke with his barriers, and Cloud with his combat magic, we’ll need a full healer to save up on Mana costs.”
Zacharia gave a pointed look at Zeke, mostly at the collar Zeke still wore on his neck. He grimaced, knowing full well that overdoing it again might lead to some serious backlash. So if they bring another healer, it would lessen Zeke’s load.
“I agree too,” Mikella said with something that Zeke honestly never expected–going along with Zacharia’s plans. “But can we honestly go along with another person who doesn’t know the tower’s real purpose?”
The people they have to bring might have to know where Zeke and Mikella truly came from. So far, the only people who knew of their real origins were the ones right here in the room. Zacharia, however, shook his head.
“My soldiers are privy to whatever I tell them, but not much more than that. The only one who knows about you two is Piker. I train my soldiers to only focus on the task, and to not ask questions that might be a detriment to their focus.”
“Like proper dogs…” Mikella muttered under her breath, though Zeke could tell that even she knew everyone could listen to her. Piker didn’t seem all that upset, not even showing a frown.
“We should bring another scout with us as well,” Cloud mentioned. “That beast master–Nina, was it? Can she come along? I think her companion would be very useful.”
“I was just about to suggest that,” Zacharia nodded. “I believe that is it for now. I’ll also let Rajin know about this as well. Tomorrow, we’ll set out with a proper course. But for today, we’ll rest.”
Zacharia decreed, standing up from the couch. Piker stood up as well, greeting everyone a good day as he had a lot to prepare for himself. Myra stood up along as well, going with Val to settle a few things.
Cloud went off to focus on the rudimentary tasks, such as keeping up with the runes for the barrier. Zeke planned on going to help Cloud, but he first talked to Mikella as they were alone for a bit.
She looked down at her hands, clasping her fingers together. Zeke knew what he needed to do, and he held onto those hands of hers.
She looked up, surprised to see him holding her hands with one of his own. He looked at her, deep in the eyes, to assure her.
“We can do this,” Zeke said. He didn’t know whether doing this might just be unnecessary. So in his mind, he just mentioned it for himself. He’s just saying it to Mikella to psyche himself up. “We’ll protect Clara, and we’ll get stronger.”
Thankfully, Mikella grasped his hand back in full force. A smile, one filled with determination and fury incarnate, showed on her face.
“We will, don’t you worry,” Mikella said back. “But we’re gonna have to work super hard now compared to before.”
“Good,” Zeke grinned. “Just the way I like it.”
They had a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of work to do. But as long as Clara is in their midst, and their will is fully intact, they’ll do whatever they can, even if it was going on a heaven-sent mission to nearly destroy themselves in the process.