“Goddess, while this is not your purview, I still hope that your song may reach my friend and keep his spirit bolstered through what is to come,” Serene gently hummed as she remained standing at a distance. As Kite downed yet another one of his foes; some rather self-assured wielder of the staff, she could feel the shift in the auras of the four remaining disciples and knew that the violence taking place in the garden would soon become even more chaotic.
“My singer, while he may sing a different song than thine; one of action and ideal rather than tone and choir, that does not mean that he goes unnoticed. Apparently, even Harmony seems to have taken a liking to him. So have faith.”
The song of her goddess was a comfort during Serene’s lonely vigil, her aura easily masking her presence for all of those gathered while letting her own senses carefully quest outward without giving her presence away. The grand clash currently going on had garnered not a little attention from the residents of the Resplendent family’s compound, with a few core-using bronze and iron-rankers watching. Serene could even feel the anxiousness, confusion, anger and a plethora of other feelings as she gauged their poorly controlled auras, but none had any level of power or control which made her think them a threat.
Then, what further conflict had been building in the center of the garden was finally unleashed.
“The victors are the authors of history!”
Serene sharpened her senses further, looking for the agreed-upon signal that Kite wished assistance. But it did not come, even as all four of his remaining foes started their assault.
“So, you still mean to take them all on?” she hummed, concerned but also feeling a bit of a slight thrill.
Then, a barrier went up surrounding Kite and the troublesome young master of the house; the weakest of the foes still remaining. And even through the slightly obscuring cage of force and the glow of attacks starting to crash into its surface, Serene felt the aura of Mist, former disciple of the Descending star sect, wink out.
While this caused a ripple of uproar to echo throughout the auras of most observers, it was nothing compared to the fury washing from disciple Soar. With a howl of fury, the vortex of wind surrounding the man lit up further as thunder crackled throughout the darkening wisps of clouds. Still in the middle of his war cry, Soar charged the barrier cage even as another fierce light lit up within, one that Serene recognized.
When the force cage then proceeded to explode outwards; shattered from within to form shockwaves of resonating force which rippled outwards as they visibly distorted the air, Serene couldn’t help herself. Unheard to all but her and her goddess, the bubble of sound cancellation surrounding her making sure to not let out a single sound, she let her humming reach a glorious crescendo. More and more notes joined in, rising and intertwining to form a clarion call. To victory.
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Kite’s insides felt like liquid lightning as the power of Immortality rushed through his form; accumulated wounds mended and dwindling reserves restored. While the move against Mist had been one of necessity, trying to seize the chance to instantly remove the weakest link of his enemies and lessen their numbers advantage, Kite would not deceive himself in that the hardened parts of his heart felt a slight twinge of satisfaction at how things had played out.
But as things were, there was no time to further reflect on the events. Disciple Soar, aglow with power, had already started his charge towards the force cage where Mist’s blood still coated the insides. And with the aftermath of Immortality still empowering him, Kite felt it a waste to let the opportunity go to waste. His combat staff, Immutable Echo, appeared in his hands as he struck out against the clustered barriers; twin rings gently chiming as the weapon impacted the barrier. A moment later, it shattered outwards into an explosion of resonating force which halted Soar’s charge, damaging both Kite’s foes as well as utterly wrecking most other nearby features of the garden.
“You filthy mongrel! You dare!” Soar all but shrieked as he once more dove towards Kite, almost insensate with fury.
“You were warned,” was Kite’s simple retort as his staff met an empowered punch striking with a clap like thunder, only for the force to be dispersed by Pattern-Shattering counter while Kite’s return punch collided with a series of interlocking, glowing runes which had appeared to shield disciple Soar. While the magical constructs, conjured by the elven woman covered in glowing runes, could not withstand Disrupting strike, they had still protected the disciple himself from harm.
Soar did not relent either, continuing what became a furious onslaught of thundering unarmed attacks. Through interposed weapons, footwork and some intense barrier-work, Kite remained steadfast as he only slowly gave ground; backing away at a measured pace. Only when his expanded vision caused him to notice a glowing rune forming on the ground behind him did Kite shift the momentum.
Backing up one more step, he feinted at stumbling backwards slightly. Soar, continually pressing forward, pushed even harder as he lunged forwards in a double palm-strike to capitalize on Kite’s mistake, only to miss as Kite unleashed some of the stored power of Unyielding to make a quick, empowered step past him. Even as Kite moved, he turned and slammed his staff into Soar’s back just as the sound of the rune-covered woman snapping her fingers reached them, driving the disciple face-first into the rune trap exploding behind them.
Kite’s staff also dealt a good deal of damage to the disciple’s mana pool, empowered both by Void-Sunders-Firmament and Chakra implosion, as well as the plentiful stacks of the affliction left by Spiritual Reprisal as Soar had hammered into Kite’s defenses. And while he would have loved to stay and take further advantage of the look of utter, pained indignation on the disciple’s face, there were other threats to contend with that he couldn’t just leave to their own devices.
The rune-covered elf was already in the process of shaping some kind of elaborate line of runes in the air while the axe-conjurer had managed to struggle free of Glint’s restraining globe of water and was harassing his poor carp with her arcing implements of death. Kite had to suppress his first instinct to run to the aid of his little beauty, as he knew that he needed to trust her to care for herself to some extent. And from the spells now converging on his location, he also needed the distraction.
“Dissolve the patterns of power!”
Once more employing one of his favorite tactics, Kite ran in the wake of his dispelling wave as he began his sprint towards the rune-wielding elf he knew to be inner disciple Chalk. She had the rune, light, pure and prosperity essences, and Meridian had described her to be a calm and steady-minded woman who fought mostly through spells; bolts of light, rune traps and magical healing among them. The description led to Kite easily putting her in the same fold as the unconscious disciple Gold, as her steady aura hinted at a presence derived from obligation rather than personal investment.
Even so, she kept steady even as Kite’s dispelling wave washed over her gathered collection of glowing runes, the magical constructs winking out. More came into being as she made to intercept Kite’s swung staff, Disrupting strike making sure to dissolve even more of her glowing script which had appeared to shield her, only for Kite’s left hand to strike her solidly in the sternum, his newly acquired gauntlet leaving its draining mark.
Kite made to strike again, but inner disciple Chalk was slightly faster in completing her chant.
“Wall of antiquity.”
A cylindrical barrier of light covered in ancient-looking script sprung up around her, cutting her off from further assault as she promptly started manipulating the runes covering the warding by adding new ones or moving others around. Where they formed the correct constellations, magical bolts started flying outwards toward Kite, creating something akin to a defensive bastion for the rune-wielder.
Noting that disciple Soar was incoming once more, Kite felt that it was time for another distraction.
“Grow and prosper!” he urged his Boundary-Devouring Lotus as he jabbed the seed-like dagger into the shimmering barrier before leaping to the side to avoid a veritable storm of wind blades flung his way by disciple Soar. Chalk was forced to shift her focus from some kind of ritual she had begun to construct as she noted the lotus eating into her barrier with great efficiency, beginning a war of attrition as she started bombarding the swiftly growing plant with bolts of magic and detonating runes.
“Face me, trash!” Soar called as he clapped his hands together in a thunderous explosion, the ground cracking beneath Kite as his shielded form was protected from being launched backwards.
“It was you who brought the additions, you who are without honor!” Kite countered, getting the expected response as Soar once more charged towards him as he readied another powerful sequence of attacks. Kite blocked the initial three blows on the barrier of Heaven-and-Void warding as he thrust a hand out to his side to intercept a thrown axe which came arcing in towards him around the protecting barrier. While the conjured weapon also dissolved in the face of Pattern-Shattering counter, this also meant trouble as inner disciple Rose had shifted her focus to Kite as she had managed to chase off Glint.
Her full name was Rose sprung from Legacy, and she possessed the axe, magic, adept and master confluences, her elven heritage letting her lean towards the more magical aspect of mastering conjured weapons. In this case they manifested as double-headed, glowing axes with handles seeming made from slightly uneven, gnarly branches. What began as one axe arcing his way quickly became a steady stream, the weapons coming from naturally impossible arcs and sudden ricochets.
“Wall!”
Another of Kite’s favorite tactics was employed, as the forest of individual panes of force sprung up around them, creating a battlefield irregular enough that Kite thought that it would at least hamper a lot of the thrown axes as he continued exchanging blows with Soar. A particularly fierce punch that was no doubt meant to launch Kite backwards instead saw the disciple being thrown back as Unyielding caused the ground beneath Kite to crack. The disciple had just righted himself, his vortex of wind enabling great control of his motions while airborne, when another of Kite’s projected attacks impacted him.
The echoed Disrupting strike was enough to cause the vortex around him to wink out, depositing the disciple into a roll from which he quickly sprung back to his feet. Getting a good look into his eyes, Kite saw something almost feral in them. “Can you not feel it? That you are clearly not yourself anymore?” he thought to himself, unable to voice the concern aloud as it would risk compromising one of the points of this whole debacle. To the world, Kite had to remain the young warrior seeking to prove his path, without any further obvious agendas.
As such, Kite steeled himself and continued, feeling the streams of mana and smaller amounts of stamina drained from this opponent’s as Spirit Singularity continued its inexorable pull.
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Had Soar on Enlightened Wind been calm; a neutral observer to these proceedings just noting and analyzing, then even he might have acknowledged the fact that the former inner disciple currently engaging the outcast seemed to have lost control. A loss that was to his detriment, as he used his powers of wind, cloud and might to frantically and continually go after his hated foe.
But Soar was definitely not calm; the whole world felt like it was seen through a slight haze where only the image of how the world should be existed along with the anger that what he saw did not match. However, Soar’s powers still came easily. They had always done so, being what had allowed even a rather lowly merchant’s son like him to rise to the rank of inner disciple in the sect. Before that worm of an outcast had come along and ruined things, Soar being caught up in the periphery of the trash’s defiance and disciple Mist’s foolishness.
It was unfair, unjust and certainly dishonorable. Because Soar was an honorable man. His power proved that. And this young trash of an outcast had dared cast aspersions on it. For that, there was no forgiveness. The outcast had been courting death from the very beginning.
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“Kite surely has improved. Almost transformed,” Serene thought as she observed the chaotic battle slowly but surely being brought into some kind of rhythm; Kite being its conductor. Even as he was continually chased by disciple Soar and harassed by thrown axes and magical runes and bolts, he was constantly employing his barriers and dispelling effects to keep at least one opponent from properly engaging him. Combined with the much improved martial skills now being put on full display, she could almost see him directing the flow of combat to what would in all probability be the first casualty on the side of their enemies since Mist’s brutal demise at the very beginning of this stage.
And said moment came not long after, as Glint once more appeared between the roofs of the compound, gliding through the air like a pink, glittering comet. As many times before, the axe-conjurer immediately noticed and started flinging projectiles her way. But this time, Glint persevered, swerving through the air and catching a few on watery barriers. She suffered a few light wounds as she drew close enough, with the elven woman conjuring a circle of spinning axes around her to help disperse the ball of water that was soon to come as it had every time before.
But this time, Glint had another target in mind. Disciple Soar was caught in the restraining globe of liquid mid-jump, and Kite had been ready. His speed enhanced by what Serene assumed was his boots, Kite broke off and changed targets as well.
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“As I thought, her powers had to be quite hungry for mana,” Serene thought as her friend closed in on the rune-caster, even making a final leap and conjuring a barrier beneath him to shield himself from the detonations of rune traps from below. A slash of his sword severed and dispelled the final barrier brought up by the woman, with her great bastion having been abandoned a while ago to actually be able to take down the barrier-eating lotus more decisively. And after the sword-slash came the end to the elf’s song of light and runes, as Kite struck her squarely in the chest with his staff, the chiming head already swirling with an empowered version of his mana-draining special attack.
The woman wobbled on her feet for but half a second, and Serene was surprised to feel a slight ripple of relief in the elf’s aura as the echo struck, draining the last of her reserves and leaving her unconscious on the ground.
“A participant who might have been unwilling, at least in part,” Serene mused. “I am most curious to hear what stories will be told in the aftermath.”
Also, Serene felt that it was time to send the signal, focusing a while to extend her sound-controlling powers to their limits as a note manifested between a few houses further away, calling upon those waiting there. Because Serene felt that things would be over soon.
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With a flick of his staff, Kite struck another flying axe out of the air, his dispelling energies dispersing the animating force which the inner disciple used to control it. Ever since she had switched from conjured axes to crafted ones, Kite having kept dispelling the former, inner disciple Rose seemed to have been thrown out of her rhythm. While her thrown attacks continued to pack quite the punch and were most deftly aimed and controlled, the lower rate of attacks still let Kite make steady progress towards her as he left lifeless axes discarded in his wake.
To his side, disciple Soar was furiously thrashing to break out of the force-cage in which Kite had left him, precious seconds provided and crucial mana spent meaning that Kite could once more switch his focus. Glint had done an admirable job at distracting the axe-throwing elf for so long, but when she had almost been caught by some kind of guillotine-finish, Kite had called her back to her bottle to rest and recover. Because with only the two foes remaining, both of them looking rather haggard and spent, Kite felt that he should be able to make the final stretch on his own.
Not that Kite himself was in pristine condition, small injuries mounting in number from failed dodges, blocks and deflections as the period of increased recovery after the use of Immortality had petered out. But thanks to his ever-hungry pair of vortices and the gauntlet he had procured from the sect leader, he still felt steady as he remained in the almost trance-like focus of vigilance he had practiced ever since his time in Bastion.
With a final burst of speed, Kite closed in on Rose just as Soar broke out of his confinement. In a bit of frantic desperation, she brought up her spinning circle of axes to ward him off. But as this was no solid barrier, it helped little against the projected strike which Kite sent her way before having even reached her.
Like most of his other attacks made that day, it was Kite’s staff who did the heavy lifting. Not only was it his most potent weapon; a growth item crafted through the trial of the Queen of Jade and Sky, but it also lent itself very well to using Cleave the Spirit to take down essence users intact. Cleave the Spirit would change the damage from special attacks to harm the mana pool of its foe, but not damage added or converted by weapons or items. This meant that the rending force of Kite’s sword would still very much harm the body of his foes, meaning that the blade lent itself better to lethal combat.
The slight ripple that was his upwards strike impacted the chin of the elven woman, sending her staggering backward even though the spiritual damage meant that she at least was spared a broken jaw. Unfortunately, this was of little comfort as she was already showing clear signs of dizziness from mana-exhaustion, but Kite did not have the time to press his advantage as Soar was once more coming at him, apparently ready to go even further than before in his attempts to destroy the outcast.
With a howl, the once more conjured vortex surrounding the man grew in size while still following the shape of the disciple; a five meter tall giant of swirling winds and storm clouds taking another step before clapping its hands together in Kite’s direction. Seeing the amount of mana spent, Kite decided to take no chances.
“Void!”
The black opening that was Gate of Nihility appeared, and not a moment too soon, as a thunderous hurricane washed out over the torn remains of the garden, soil, sand, plant and stone all ripped away from the cone of destruction unleashed by the disciple. His wall-power unavailable, Kite could only helplessly watch as the unconscious disciple Fang, still laying where he had fallen after his bout, was hit by the attack and sent violently tumbling away over the ripped-up grounds of the compound. Inner disciple Rose was hit as well, but managed to at least partially escape by diving backwards.
A second later, Kite had the dark void disperse as he regarded his opponents; all three looking ragged, disciple Soar most of all as the vortex surrounding him disappeared, spent in the attack.
There was a moment of silence as Kite met the man’s eyes while keeping note of his other opponent staggering to her feet at his side. While he said nothing, there must still have been something in Kite’s gaze which got to his opponent. Soar shouted in defiance as he started a dead sprint towards his hated foe even as a similar shout was emitted by the elven woman. An axe glowing with green power appeared in her hand as she threw, a green comet moving straight for Kite.
In response, Kite did two things; his staff appearing in his left hand in a thrust towards the charging disciple while punching out with his palm in the direction of the incoming projectile. Carried the distance by his intent, the staff-strike carrying an empowered Chakra Implosion struck Soar straight in his face at the same time as the axe impacted Kite’s palm only to be dissolved through Pattern shattering counter and ripping even more mana from inner disciple Rose. Both motions were abrupt and decisive, their intent clear.
And with that, the grand clash issued that day came to a close, both of Kite’s remaining foes simultaneously collapsing as if they had been puppets whose strings had suddenly been cut, no time given for any more grand declarations or shouts in defiance.
For a few seconds, Kite remained still in that very pose, mind calm yet on edge at the same time as he did not dare to exit his combat meditation yet in case any of his foes would move again. But as silence reigned, he eventually straightened and took a deep breath. Calmly, he produced a small pill-envelope, swallowing the small bead within and reveling in the feeling of warmth as healing spread through him. Meanwhile, he reached into an inner pocket and gently touched a certain token hidden away there, saying a silent prayer of thanks to Fortune. Only after a few more seconds did he speak; calling out loud to no one in particular.
“And so your paths have broken upon mine. You will cease your interference and hostility from now on.” And then, as an afterthought, he added; “And thank you for assisting me in tempering my path.”
Then, almost simultaneously, two very different calls rang out over the desolation that had once been the garden of the Resplendent family.
“Out of the way! We are here through the will of lord Healer!”
“Seize him! He will pay! He must suffer for what he has done!”
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“I believe it is time to make an appearance and see what all the ruckus is about,” Rupert Versis, deputy director of Gilded’s adventure society branch, thought to himself as the agreed upon lamp lit up in the evening glow. It was but one of many, many others in the summer evening, and far off down into the city from vantage of the Seventh peak where Rupert was currently standing.
He walked off and took the elevating platform down into the city before purposefully and quite visibly walking at a quick pace down the streets; obvious to any observer that he was a man with a task at hand. What might have taken a leisurely stroller about an hour on foot only took minutes for the silver-ranker, and Rupert could hear the arguing voices from quite far away.
“It sounds like high priest Bringer is in top form this evening,” Rupert chuckled, increasing his speed a bit to arrive at the scene of the current conflict.
What Rupert assumed to once have been a beautiful garden was now in tatters, as was bound to happen when over a dozen duels between bronze-rankers had been fought there recently. Even so, there were a surprising number of people milling about who could roughly be divided into three groups; clergy from Healer’s church, members and guards of the Resplendent family and a gaggle of onlookers who had started gathering near the high fence separating the garden from an adjacent street.
Said onlookers all scrambled to get out of Rupert’s way as he leveraged his aura to announce his presence, walking over to join the arguing men. In truth, it was mostly one man arguing loudly while the other only smiled and nodded along, unphased by the anger of the man.
“-cannot just take them away! I demand the right to-” master Resplendent loudly argued at high priest Bringer while being obviously torn between the instinct to act courteous to the silver-ranked priest and his indignant fury. Him being bronze rank to the priest’s silver did not help his cause.
“And as I said, master Resplendent, healing within the city and its dominions falls under the purview of the Healer; as it always has and always will. And when our lord sends us out to do his bidding, it is his mandate you are arguing against.”
Completely ignorant of the master of the house taking offense, the rest of the gathered clergy had already gathered what Rupert counted as a dozen unconscious people all wearing the colors of the Descending Star sect upon stretchers and were preparing to start carrying them off to Healer’s temple.
“From the smell coming from beneath that tarp over there, I will assume that not all of Kite’s opponents made it,” Rupert thought as he walked over towards the two men, meeting Kite’s eyes for but a short moment as he drew closer.
The bronze-ranker stood calmly as he was surrounded by the Resplendent family guard, the gathered men and women’s auras giving the distinct mix of trepidation and determination as they warily regarded Kite. Rupert could understand the calm of the younger adventurer; compared to what he must have just faced, a single bronze-ranker leading five iron rankers and about a dozen more people with only one or two essences was sure to feel a bit underwhelming.
“High priest Bringer. Master Resplendent,” Rupert called out as he drew close, the latter falling silent as both stopped to regard the new arrival. “I received word of a commotion which the courier thought that I would find interesting.”
“Ah, deputy director!” the high priest greeted amicably, speaking before the master of the house got his chance. “We are just finishing here as our duty calls us. Master Resplendent here still has some grievances which I am sure you are much more equipped to handle, as they fall outside my purview.” He turned and gave a courteous, if shallow, bow to the still irate master of the house before walking off.
This meant that the furious man turned his attention to Rupert, but the disparity in rank still forced the elf to somewhat curtail his aggression.
“Director, I demand swift and immediate punishment. Execution for this- this murderer!” he loudly demanded, pointing an accusatory finger at Kite.
“A serious accusation, master Resplendent.” Rupert noted, glancing at the nearby tarp which covered what he assumed to be the alleged ‘victim’. “Pray tell, who has this adventurer murdered?”
“My son! The one he has already accosted before, yet you and your failure of an adventure society did nothing-”
“I must have misheard you, master Resplendent,” Rupert said, silencing the man by clamping onto his aura like a vice. “Because if my rather excellent memory serves me, you too have seen the recording of said incident, where this adventurer was certainly accosted.
Adventurer Kite, would you mind elaborating?” The question was directed at the still surrounded Kite, who bowed politely towards Rupert.
“Certainly, deputy director. I was forced to kill the late young master as he and three others decided to forego the rules of the clash; abandoning honor and coming at me all at once with killing intent.”
“Lies! Don’t listen to such falsehoods!” master Resplendent called, managing to power through the unease of suppression. “It was nothing if not a direct act of murder! Why else would my son be the only one slain while the others still live?”
“When faced with greater numbers, swift and decisive action to lessen their advantage is crucial. Find the weakest link and take it out, immediately if possible,” Kite replied, quoting mistress Dew. “And your son was, by far, the weakest link in their dishonorable band.”
At Kite’s words, the master had gone deathly still while a new bout of outrage and fury seemed to be welling up into his aura.
Rupert brutally shoved it down by once more clamping onto the man’s aura as he spoke. “If you speak true, then I would once more say that your son brought misfortune upon himself this time around, master Resplendent,” he said, looking to the elven man who was about to protest even more vehemently. To forestall, Rupert continued. “But this is still a matter that will be taken into consideration. And from what I can see, young Kite here even has a recording crystal which might shed light upon the matter.”
Master Resplendent halted slightly at Rupert’s words, looking to Kite once more and only now noticing the innocuous little crystal hovering next to him.
“Adventurer, would you please hand it over to me?” Rupert asked Kite, who nodded.
“Certainly, director,” Kite said, reaching up to grasp it when there was a sudden flash followed by a loud bang.
The bronze-ranked leader of the guards stood with his hand raised, having just lifted it and fired some kind of sonic bolt towards Kite. Or more precisely; the recording crystal. But the bolt had not found its target, instead impacting the chest of a certain leonid with fur the color of rust who had appeared before him even as he prepared to unleash his power.
Rupert did not even look at the man, instead keeping his eyes locked on master Relentless, having noticed the attempted covert signaling to his guard through a gesture which the master of the house must have thought very subtle indeed. The master in question remained where he stood, stunned at the sudden burst of thunderous movement which had carried Rupert to where he now stood in the blink of an eye.
“Master Relentless,” Rupert said, his voice a low growl which still carried surprisingly well through the evening, heard even by those standing outside the fences. “I will choose to interpret your actions as that of a grieving man well out of his senses, as actively trying to interfere in the investigation of your accusations would be a move most unwise.” Turning to Kite, he continued. “Adventurer, follow me up to the Seventh peak. We will have to look into this matter, and I expect your full cooperation.”
“Yes, deputy director,” Kite said, bowing again and following in Rupert’s wake as he started leaving, the gathered guards scrambling out of the way of his passing. Kite did not turn back, but was still able to see all the gazes trained upon his back, with expressions of fear, fury, trepidation or just blank incomprehension being dominant among them.
As they walked off, leaving the Resplendent family’s compound behind, Kite could feel the sound-isolating barrier manifest around them, as Rupert spoke.
“I must admit that I am impressed, Kite. As you know, I had my doubts about the merit of this plan. But it seems like your gamble has paid off, assuming that Healer’s clergy can find what we are suspecting among them. Through mere happenstance while assessing their conditions, of course,” he added in a tone that would have convinced absolutely no one.
“Having spent more time near them, I find myself assured that they should be able to find something. Taking as many as possible alive to be examined was the most important reason for this whole event, was it not?,” Kite responded, Rupert nodding along.
“Indeed, even if you volunteering for such a plan was a bit above and beyond the call of duty. And you did manage to record the whole ordeal?” the leonid asked, looking at the crystal still in his hand. “While Serene should have been able to as well, it will still look the least suspicious if it is your version that happens to be used as evidence to the truth of your words.”
“I believe so, yes,” Kite said, looking at the small object.
“Excellent. Jarvan will be thrilled to view it as well. I would even wager quite a lot of money that it might be one of the most enjoyable recordings he has ever laid his eyes on.”