A high-speed transport shuttle was swiftly making its way through a nondescript road. It was heading North from its departure point in Mhasgara, its destination: Istindi.

The small shuttle agilely navigated its way through obstacles, since it took a different route to the common one people usually use, the condition of the road was far from ideal for comfort. The main concern was speed and gaining entry to Istindi since security had been tightened in the Mhasgara - Istindi borders and it was rapidly closing.

Satoshi sat on the transport shuttle with a restless leg, he'd been unconsciously nibbling on his nails while his eyes were glued to the rapidly changing scenery outside. He was very worried and wanted to get to Golden Ayodhya as soon as possible.

Once in a while he would avert his eyes from the window and check on his communication terminal. He anxiously waited for Mulah's reply to many messages that he had sent since yesterday. So far, no dice.

Satoshi stopped looking at his message inbox and navigated the hologram display to the news page. They were still showing the same ones he had seen, no more new updates.

Two days after the feast back in his home, the world was struck by a series of breaking news one after the other. It was coming from Anangu, Istindi, and Dai. But the content of that news was scant and left more questions rather than answers. Moreover, after the first few waves of reports of accidents, the updates suddenly stopped coming.

This was the reason for Satoshi’s worry.

“Excuse me, are you alright?”

Satoshi was startled awake from his thoughts by the question as he looked at the only other passenger in the transport shuttle. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that the other person just asked him a question.

“Ah, sorry, yes I am alright,” Satoshi answered the man.

“Ah, okay then, I can't help but notice that you look agitated and anxious. You look quite pale right now.” The man said to Satoshi.

“Am I? Well, thank you for your concern but I’m fine. Just a little bit nervous is all. “Satoshi said with a smile.

“I see, it’s good if you are fine.” The man said and after pondering for a bit asked Satoshi a question, “Are you nervous because of the disaster?”

“Yes, my family has not yet responded to my messages since then, I’m just nervous about that.”

“Ah, I see. I hope you hear from them soon, and let's hope they are safe and sound for now.”

“Thank you for your kind words. You are right, let's hope so.” Satoshi thanked the man.

The man looked unsure and indecisive about whether he should ask or not, but in the end, he decided to ask.

“If you don't mind…can you tell me where your family is located? I might have the latest information about that area that I can share with you.”

“You might?” Satoshi was quite surprised, since the few earliest reports about the incident no more news have been heard about the incident, but the man claimed he might have the latest information.

“Ah, maybe I should explain myself first,” the man said.

“My name is Oda Junichiro, and I’m a reporter for Intellectuals Publishing’s Two Piece.”

—

“Uncle!”

“Satoshi!”

“I should smack you, you asshole!!”

Three exclamations could be heard from Lah Mansion at the same time. They came from Ashya, Mulah, and Satoshi respectively. Satoshi and Mulah were both surprised but for entirely different reasons.

Mulah was surprised because Satoshi was going to smack him the first chance they met. While Satoshi was surprised because Ashya was there, stopping him from smacking Mulah.

“Why didn’t you answer my messages?” Satoshi asked Mulah while Ashya buried her head in his embrace. She was obviously worried for her Uncle too while he was worried about them.

“I’m sorry, but the airwaves had been chaotic since the incident. I heard they were trying to lockdown communications into and out of the Province until they finished with the investigation” Mulah said apologetically while at the same time, there was a look of relief on his face.

Satoshi arrived at Lah Mansion one and a half days from Salted Bays. It was significantly faster than the regular trip which usually took three to four days. Of course, due to this and the special circumstances they were in, the fare also became exorbitant, it cost Satoshi eight whole Gaels!

Mulah looked behind Satoshi and noticed a man with a kind face and thick messy hair standing there awkwardly. “Hello brother, are you Satoshi’s friend?” he asked.

“Ah sorry, I should have introduced you. This is brother Oda, if it weren't because of him I wouldn't be able to get here this fast.” Satoshi said to Mulah.

He then turned to Oda and said, “Brother Oda, this is Mulah, the man from Xinjia-kor’s Imperial Descendants Hall of Research I told you about before.”

Satoshi explained to Mulah that Oda was a reporter, and it was only due to his special privilege as a journalist that Satoshi could hitch a ride to Istindi amid the lockdown. Mulah and Oda exchanged their polite greetings and after that several servants came to help Satoshi and Oda with their belongings.

The three of them walked together to a pavilion and sat down, exchanging information with each other. Mahalini came after a short while to exchange greetings and pick up Ashya so they could talk more freely. Some servants also came with food and drinks.

From Satoshi and Oda, Mulah heard about what happened in Anangu.

In Anangu, the Aborean’s sacred holy land was infiltrated by unknown groups of people. These people targeted the Ancestor’s Rock, a singular body of rock in a colossal proportion that had been a fervent object of worship of the Aboreans and their ancestors for thousands of years. Presumably, this worship dated back even to the First Era!

After countless years of worship and reference the body of rock had gained its spirit and evolved into a mythical deity. This mythical deity was the reason why the Aboreans, despite their outdated way of living compared to the rest of the world, were able to survive all the collapses of the Third Era.

But now the source of this protection had been taken from them rendering them entirely exposed. The Ancestor’s Rock which once gleamed with a faint shine of life now stood there lifelessly. Supposedly, the series of tremors that had been happening was caused by this unknown group of people's effort to “harvest” the mythical deity.

When the two of them were done sharing what they knew about the incidents, Satoshi and Oda listened to Mulah’s version of events. Oda would also occasionally add some details that he knew from the news network.

Mulah said that the volcanic eruption everyone expected finally did occur amidst the gathering of Terra-Esterna’s provinces, and the scale of this eruption was simply unprecedented. Although the authorities of Mhasgara had taken the required precautions for it, they were still completely blindsided by the magnitude of this particular eruption.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Even graver than the eruption itself was when they realized the reason behind this unprecedented event. An unknown group of elites had come in and swooped the Old Luster of Istindi under the watchful eyes of various delegates from different provinces. It happened so unexpectedly and so quickly that none of them practically watched it happen without being able to do anything!

The Old Luster of Istindi, while not to the same degree as the Aborean’s Ancestor’s Rock, was still held in great importance to the people of Istindi. For thousands of years, it had been seen as the guardian spirit of Istindi’s biggest volcano and the caring elder of all Istindian’s descendants.

The reason why Istindi was filled with fertile soils that could grow practically any kind of crop was the care of the Old Luster.

With it gone, Istindi was left in ruin by the uncontrolled rage of the volcano, it was instantly rendered helpless. It took a joint effort of several Grand Masters to put a stop to the eruption, and to this moment the public had not heard the final estimate of life that was lost due to the incident.

Satoshi was flabbergasted by what he heard. To think that several Grand Masters had to act to mitigate the damage, he couldn't imagine what kind of hellish scene that one must be. For information, a single Grand Master action on their own would be enough to flatten mountains and fill up valleys!

“So..do you have any news from Dai, brother Oda?” Mulah asked Oda.

Satoshi and Mulah have learned from their conversations about who Oda was. Satoshi was quite surprised and delighted that he made an acquaintance with the Oda Junichiro of Two Piece.

Oda was a journalist for an investigative publication from a prestigious publishing company in Dai, Intellectuals Publishing. The publication was called Two Piece and was quite famous across the world.

Oda made quite a name for himself for a series of in-depth investigative pieces on the notorious Pirates of Xinjia-kor that had been terrorizing the waters. After that, he was granted his own publication by Intellectuals Publishing where he can display more of his investigation pieces, it was called Two Piece.

It took quite some time for Oda to answer Mulah’s question. He looked unsure for some time, then decisive, and then reluctant. Satoshi and Mulah had to wait patiently while Oda was trying to make up his mind.

After a while, he finally said,” To be honest…I’m not sure what I should share or shouldn't.”

He looked at Satoshi and Mulah as if trying to discern whether these two men could be trusted with the kind of information he had or not.

Satoshi and Mulah on the other hand, wouldn't try to push Oda if it were a normal situation, but right now they both have speculation that they needed to confirm. Thus they decided to wait.

“To the outside world, they were saying that there had been a terrorist attack on the Thunder Progenitor Temple, but they won't say what kind of attack it was and who was responsible.”

Oda looked at both Satoshi and Mulah, and suddenly his eyes turned decisive. “The attack must be directed against the Raijin Duality of Dai!”

Satoshi exchanged a look with Mulah and asked, “What makes you think that?”

Oda took out a device that looked a lot like a communication terminal and began operating it. It was several times bigger than most communication terminals and was specifically designed to handle more complex tasks. After fiddling with it for a bit, an image appeared on the hologram display.

Oda flipped the light screen of its holographic display so Satoshi and Mulah could see the image in its correct orientation.

“Take a look at this, '' Oda said while showing them the image. He operated the device to cycle through a series of images. It looked like a reel of pictures taken by a surveillance camera.

The images depicted a closed complex of religious buildings, there was a big building at the center of this complex. From the picture, one could only see its top and it was looking a lot like a pagoda.

In the next pictures, there were images of bright golden flash streaking through the sky, in one of the pictures nothing else couldn't even be seen except a blinding white light. After that, the blinding white light was gone and there was now a huge gash in the sky as if it was cleaved open by a blade.

Then in the last couple of pictures, people could be seen running out of and away from the complex.

"You need to see this," Oda said while operating the device.

In the next instant, the hologram display showed a zoomed-in version of several different pictures, they were all focusing on the candid face of the same person

"Anangu, Istindi, and then lastly Dai.” Oda said while noting the different locations of each photograph.

“My hunch is telling me that all these three incidents are somehow connected. This man was seen close to each location of the incident prior to the incident itself, and this is one of my leads!" Oda finally spilled the secret info he was holding onto.

Satoshi and Mulah were beyond surprised. They were looking for more clues to their speculations but they didn't expect to get such a clear and definitive one in the form of a picture. It was a picture of Kirgio!

—

It was late into the night and Oda had retired to a guest house that was prepared for him by Mulah’s servants. After he showed them those pictures of Kirgio, Oda shared his suspicions that these chain attacks might be connected somehow. He just didn't have enough proof for now to put it into publication.

Satoshi and Oda were still at the pavilion talking about more things. Now that Oda was gone they could talk about other things freely.

“An existence of a group that moves beyond the reach of the law, whose existence should be impossible to miss and yet somehow have not caught the attention of the public,” Mulah repeated what Oda had said before.

“Gotta say, his intuition as a journalist is a pretty spot on, huh?” He continued.

“It is indeed spot on but is also kinda expected. If an investigative journalist of his caliber can't even get a whiff of it then I don't even know what to say.” Satoshi responded.

“With this it should be safe to say that Kirgio is indeed part of the Power Tribunal, right?” Mulah asked again.

“Even if he is not, that doesn’t change a lot of things. To be present at all those locations before the attack, if he is not part of the Power Tribunal then he must be part of something else probably equally dangerous.” Satoshi said.

Mulah pondered and asked, “Are you referring to the Human King?”

“That would be the highest possibility but not necessarily. He could be acting for someone else while still being in the employ of the Human King, after all, that status gives him some kind of deterrent.” Satoshi explained.

“At any rate, it looks like I really have to go after all,” Satoshi said dejectedly.

“What do you mean?” Mulah was confused by what Satoshi said.

Satoshi began recounting the things that Sepphira told him a while back. How in her vision she saw Xiahn going through all those dangerous places, how he would be battling Kirgio, and that she advised Satoshi to pick Daojia Institute as his academy of choice.

Satoshi also told Mulah how he responded to that advice, that he never intended to go to the academy in the first place, and how he felt about the academia types that he had ever met. He also mentioned why he suddenly decided to go back to Mhasgara because he needed some time to make up his mind.

Finally, Satoshi told Mulah that after all that, he was still not sure to decide on what he should do.

Mulah listened to Satoshi’s story attentively, he didn't stop Satoshi to ask questions or anything. He just listened. And after Satoshi was done, Mulah let what was said to linger for a while.

“I couldn't make up my mind to alter the Verdant Steel processing conduit for some time.” Mulah suddenly said.

Satoshi was confused when he heard it, he had thought that the alteration had been of the most paramount importance. Why would Mulah struggle in making the decision?

Mulah looked at Satoshi and said, “Let’s just say, while it is very important for me and a lot of people to make the alteration work, there’s a possibility of an outcome that I personally really really want to avoid.”

Satoshi wasn't sure what kind of outcome Mulah meant but since he didn't mention it, it must be some kind of secret.

“But in the end, I have to make the decision. So I go with my heart and choose the one it leans toward the most. The difficulties that will come later, I will just have to face them when they come.” Mulah said.

Mulah sighed and continued with a wry smile, “After all, aren't life supposed to be like that? You make a decision and don't look back. You live with it.”

—

Province of Dai, at the same time Satoshi was conversing with Mulah in Istindi.

People were crowding the streets at this moment in jubilation. While it was true that there was an attack recently, they also get to see their pride, the Raijin Duality in action when it lit up the whole sky in golden arches of thunder. It raised their pride in their referred deity.

A man with golden brown skin and a handsome face could be seen making his way through the night street of Dai. The way he walked radiated confidence and very at ease. Suddenly, he disappeared from the road he was walking on and none of the other people on the street were the wiser.

The man reappeared in a dark alley that branched from the street he was on and he continued walking calmly. But suddenly he stopped on his track.

“Make your report…” a voice suddenly came from behind the man. It was flat and lifeless.

The man kept his silence for a couple of seconds and without turning around said, “The Golden Roc of Anangu were fragmented and caught. The Old Luster of Istindi went on a rampage but were successfully subdued in the end.”

The man stopped to ponder for a bit before he continued, “We got to the Raijin Duality on time but noticed the hidden Martial Grand Master, it ended in a struggle like you already know.”

“Talk about this Grand Master…” the voice sounded.

“He used a blade and isn’t one we have any prior knowledge about. We suspect he must be a hidden Martial Grand Master of Dai.”

“...how strong is he..”

The man pondered for a bit and decided to turn around to face the owner of that voice. When he turned he saw a stray cat with no face. It was a familiar.

“...the Human King would need to take him seriously if they were to fight.” The man gave his assessment.

There was no sound between the two for a while.

“You need not concern yourself with it any longer… prepare yourself to move immediately on the next order.”

The voice sounded for the last time and suddenly a regular cat face appeared on the familiar. It let out a meow and ran away from the handsome man.

The man stared at the leaving cat as he mused to himself.

“Prepare to move immediately…that means he should make his decision shortly.”

This man was Kirgio.

——