The view of a village drew closer into the cloaked figure as they meandered to their destination. A gray robe dragging across the grass while a soft breeze carries fabric in its direction. Not a word was uttered, not a noise originated from them. They approached the town step by step... As they inched the dugout road that marked civilization, two cloaked figures dropped from the trees. Black robes and purple edges...

"Avura..." The gray-robed individual peeked their head up to the two cultists. With a simple nod, the two of them seemed to jump back up as they disappeared back into the forest surrounding the place. Kataline stepped forward, deeper into the hamlet.

Many people moved around town, going about their daily routine as if nothing was awry. Even though those cultists were in plain view, they seemed complacent in the presence of what should be strangers. Kataline shifted through crowds effortlessly and without care as she peered around for the person she was looking for. And saw that person she did. They waltzed with their stubby legs up into one of the larger buildings in town, presumably a town hall.

Kataline followed closely behind, stepping foot into the building without issue and shutting the door behind her...

"Looks like everything is in order..." Korkolo waddled forward with his arms behind his back, approaching two ordinary looking cultists and a third figure who Kataline recognized.

"I can't believe Usime made me come to this snooze fest. I'd rather be out there plucking eyes out of skulls and pushing over toddlers." A lanky looking man with short, spiked blonde hair and light blue eyes sat back against a wall, repeatedly slamming his head against the solid wood. His face seemed long, and his mouth always slightly agape enough to show crooked teeth. He wore a blue scarf overtop of, what appeared to be, normal Ozix robes except the sleeves were torn off of it. This exposed his lean, long arms. Not only that, his bottoms resembled less of the lower half of robes, and more like tightly fitted cotton pants of the same color as the robes. He only wore bindings over his feet, no foot-ware.

"Addle? Here? Is Meius actually trying to kill them?" Kataline's brow furrowed as she slowly shook her head and sighed. Stepping forward, her first move forward was greeted by a sudden shadow overtaking the light that was once draped over her.

"Oy. Ya trying to get your veins dried or your brains fried?" The origin of the shadow lurched over Kataline's entire body, his cold beady eyes dead-set on her. Kataline winced as Addle's bright blue eyes seemed to always stare through her, rather than at her.

"God. I fucking hate this psychopath..." Kataline leaned back, putting her hands up between her and Addle. The speed at which he moved was so unbelievably fast that Addle could kill a person almost as fast as they could blink. All this power, yet Kataline always thought it was a shame that it belonged to somebody with so many screws loose.

"Addle. That's no way to treat an unknown guest." Korkolo turned back around and marched his way over to Kataline.

"It's Avura..." Kataline gritted her teeth. Addle's breath made Kataline want to throw up with each passing second she was subjected to it.

"Ah. You're here-You're here?" Korkolo moved in between Kataline and Addle, pushing the latter away. Having his eyelids return to a resting position, Addle dragged himself back over to the wall and sat down against it.

"I am." Kataline fanned the air away from her mouth as she plugged her nose. "Usime asked for me here."

"What? Why?" Korkolo shook his head in disbelief as he pulled himself in closer to Kataline.

"Isn't it obvious? He doesn't trust you to handle this." Kataline pushed the dwarf man away from her as she took a step back. "Especially with that fucking nutcase over there being here."

"Watch your mouth before I solder it shut." Addle's upper body shifted side to side slowly as if he were a total drunk before he fell over onto his left side.

"Usime apparently told him to come here at some point... He wouldn't have been my first choice either..." Korkolo took a deep breath and released as he caught an eyeful of the specimen now laying on the floor... But he quickly returned his attention to Kataline as he scowled. "That Usime!... Who does he think he is?!"

"The Flow Priest. And I don't blame him. I'm going to be counting how long it takes for you to make a boneheaded decision." Kataline crossed her arms and moved on past the fuming Korkolo. "I'm banking on it too..."

"He's only the Flow Priest because of me anyways! Me!..." Korkolo thrust his arms down to his sides over and over as he spoke, only serving to pump his anger up even more.

"Look. The bottom-line is that I'm here to make sure we hold true to a new policy of "zero violence". And not even conditional violence at that." Kataline leaned up against the wall opposite of Addle as Korkolo continued to face the door in his rage.

"Y-You have to be kidding!" Korkolo shot around as his face grew to a tomato-red color. "I was going to use the slightest provocation to put that Kovar in the fucking ground!"

"Yeah well... Don't." Kataline rolled her eyes with her arms still crossed. She was annoyed by the way Korkolo acted when he got angry, but she was also purposefully provoking him. When he got mad, he'd be too blind to see the bigger picture. Despite the fact that Meius wanted her to maintain order, she had intentions to do anything but that. "Will he ever see his own faults?"

"Well!... Well... I suppose I can prove him wrong." Korkolo took deep breaths, allowing his skin to turn back to its normal hue as his demeanor returned to a calm state. Following that, a set of knocks were heard from the door of the town hall building. "Come in!"

"Hello? You wouldn't happen to be Korkolo, would you?"

"Why, yes I am. How can I help you-?" Korkolo gazed up at the figure... He was left a little confused as to who this person exactly was.

"Ah. My name is Sergeant. I'm with The General, whom I'm sure you're acquainted with." The Sergeant bowed to Korkolo, but not before shutting the door behind him. Kataline grimaced the moment she recognized the mask which was before he had even said anything.

"Oh I see. One of his subordinates, hm? Is-... Is there something I can help you with? Isn't there a job you should be taking care of?" Korkolo raised an eyebrow at the masked man.

"Indeed there is. This is part of it. I've traced down a Woe Cultist into this hamlet where you all currently reside. If I'm not mistaken, not only are they the ones we're currently contracted to deal with... But they are also your mortal enemies, correct?" The Sergeant lifted himself from his bow as he continued to address Korkolo.

"Most certainly. They're vile scum." Korkolo raised a clenched fit and held it firmly by his face. "Our worship of Ozix is much more refined and organized, I assure you."

"Then, it wouldn't be a problem if I stuck around for a few days to hunt them down, right?" The Sergeant peered through the veiled eye-slots of his mask and placed his methodical stare onto Kataline. Kataline tensed up with her breathing becoming more bated and weary by the second. She felt it. This person was referring to her.

"I have no problem with it as long as you don't disrupt our affairs here. Since you're currently under our service via your boss, I should extend a simple courtesy to you... A bit of information..." Korkolo walked up behind a nearby desk and plopped himself in it. "This village is a farce. Its inhabitants were slain a while ago, and to keep up appearances, the "civilians" you see outside are fellow cultists in disguise. Whoever you're searching for should stick out like a sore thumb."

"Is that so?" The Sergeant felt his eyes narrow with a natural reaction filled with disgust. "Cultists and Cults alike... All full of deranged lunatics. I'm disgusted that I even have to play along with this."

"Either way. I have some preparations to commit to before that group arrives... We're currently undergoing an excavation and we've hired a particular group of Lancers to help us do it... So I must get to it." Korkolo reached under the desk and pulled out a stack of papers, laying them flat ahead of him as he grabbed an inkwell and pen. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable, Sergeant. And, do let us know if you find anything..."

----------------------------------------

The Sergeant inched his way past some trees, crossing over stretches of dirt and leaves. His pacing shifted from high speeds to low ones, his every movement intentional. Ahead of him was that cloaked figure. The one he had spent much time tailing and chasing as part of his important mission. At this point, he knew that she knew he was following her. This had merely turned into a game to see who would crack first. By all measures, The Sergeant was ready to fight.

However, Kataline stopped in her tracks without warning. He copied the freezing, watching on ahead as she turned around to face him. They were several meters out of earshot of anybody, much less the village. Korkolo and Addle had been finishing up some work. Kataline never had any intention of helping them, so she decided to wait and stalk the group for as long as possible... But it seemed that she wasn't going to be able to do that peacefully with this man around.

"Are we going to play this game of cat and mouse the entire time? Or should we just settle this now?" Kataline's hand flexed open, shutting tight a moment later as needles slid down the length of her arms and hand in between her clenched fingers.

"Suggesting violence so soon?" The Sergeant inched his hand over to his back pouch, resting his grip onto the solid, shrunken pole held within.

"You've made your intent obvious... Following me from the very beginning..." Kataline's needles began to drip with a deep, viscous inky liquid. "Revealing yourself like you had... You obviously know what I am and I see the game you're trying to play at."

"I never did try to hide my intent, just my position really. But even so, I did a poor job. Regardless, here we are... Woe Cultist."

"But... How did you know in the first place?"

"Your soul oozes malice. However you seem to be able to disguise yourself... The makeup of your being remains unchanged and that's how I can identify you."

"There's no way... No one has ever been able to recognize me before..." Kataline's eyes glared out from under the top of her hood, reaching the cold black void of The Sergeant's mask where his eyes were. "My Inherent Ability... It should keep anyone from being able to recognize me unless I reveal myself in some way purposefully or use a fake name and persona. Otherwise, I should seem like a complete stranger they've never met to them."

Kataline continued to stare them down, trying to piece together how this man knew about her. She remembered their first run-in... That ambush Meius had set for Temptation... Then her leaving the hamlet Temptation was using as a base. He was there at the checkpoint Kataline liked to stop at so she wouldn't be attacked randomly... And then the next time she was aware of him, it was in the capital city. Meius's typical paranoia made her aware of him... Somehow, he managed to tail her all the way to here while remaining fully aware of her identity.

"I wasn't so sure at first... I thought I had been chasing a "nothing-lead". She always appeared as someone different anytime I lost sight of her for an extended period of time. I knew she was suspicious at the very least, but I was starting to waver until I followed her here. She's not just a regular cultist, but a two-timing one like the man who hired The General in the first place... Except unlike him, she's in league with the witch..." The Sergeant maintained his position and hand on his weapon...

He was still yet to complete his missive, but it seemed like he might be forced into a scuffle here and now. It was unfortunate that he was forced to reveal himself. The Sergeant had a hunch that hiding in the shadows here would have had him executed by the cultists should they have found him themselves. Not to mention, if she were to have found him in such a scenario, she could have tried to kill him without cause or blame.

It worked in his favor that Korkolo, who had been there with Meius during the arrangement with The General, was running the show here. It gave The Sergeant the perfect move to reveal himself with a good reason to appeal to Korkolo. This move revealed that his initial idea of creeping around most likely would have led to his demise. Not only that, it now kept him safe. If this woman wanted to keep her favor here, she had to leave him unscathed. That, on the condition that The Sergeant waited. He got the idea that the moment he made a solid accusation... All bets could be off.

"What are you trying to do?" Kataline lifted her arm up and opened her hand, the needles sliding back down the sleeve of her robe. It seemed that the situation The Sergeant had setup clicked within her mind.

"I'm trying to figure out your position in all of this... Your overarching goal here." The Sergeant released his grip on his shrunken staff and brought his hand to his side. "I think we both understand what I do and don't know... So let's not beat around the bush."

"If this guy has been stalking me the entire time... Then he should know damn-well what I'm doing... Which means that he's full of shit with that last statement... I might be able to use this to my advantage..." Kataline closed her eyes and crossed her arms, bowing her head for a moment as she formulated her next words... "My position in all of this... Is that I'm trying to sabotage that dwarf-shaped loser."

"Huh?" The Sergeant tilted his head to the side. It was an odd answer for him to try to process. After all, he thought they were allies... Even if she was playing both sides, why would she want to openly sabotage one of the factions she was leading on?... Unless she was trying to make it weaker for the other one to overtake. "My Pact ability... I can see there is truth to her statement... But there's clearly some hidden motive too..."

"It's true. He's in the way of something I desperately want... And that's-..." Kataline shivered as she wrapped both her arms around her body and held herself tight... Her lips trembled as her front teeth solemnly pinched down onto her bottom lip... "-To be the only one by Meius's side... You can understand something like that... Can't you? The strong, heartfelt desires of a young maiden's love?"

"Whoa... Calm down..." The Sergeant reeled his neck back a little bit as he put his hands up. He was still able to sense that mystique of untruthfulness within her. It was written all over her soul... "You clearly want something from me."

"Indeed..." Kataline let her arms droop to her side as she lifted her piercing emerald gaze to the hollow gaze of The Sergeant once more. Her lips were curled into a mischievous grin. "You might be hired out by the Ozix Cult... But do you really like that?"

"A job is a job. Slaying cultists is one of the few things that brings me joy..." The Sergeant turned his head off to the side. He watched the leaves of the trees flutter in the wind so freely... "I hate that it's at the behest of other cultists. It's restricting... But the most soul-tearing part of it is that I have to tolerate them."

"See? We might have a common interest then." Kataline took a single step forward... The Sergeant reached back for his staff once more, signaling his reluctance to her advances... "We might be natural enemies, but we do have a singular shared enemy here..."

"Unfortunately for you, my job is to focus on you and only you." The Sergeant clutched his shrunken staff as he brought his hand forward, hiding it within his palm.

"Who's to say you can't focus on me while sabotaging the Ozix Cult?" Kataline shrugged her shoulders, rolling her eyes with a smug innocence as she put her arms behind her back. However, her gaze locked onto his once more as her eyes narrowed. "Do you even know what they're excavating for here?... Do you want to know? I'll tell you... No cost or deal needed..."

"... Go ahead..."

"They're trying to unlock a buried crypt to an old artificer who worked with Ancient Kingdom technology... They believe it houses an artifact that can vacuum forces like Flow into a funnel and redistribute it into a purer form... Now tell me... What do you think something like that would be used for?" Kataline's lips grew a little wider to accommodate her smug attitude. Though there was no face for Kataline to see, only the mask, The Sergeant's silence was enough to tell her that he understood what that meant. "And why make such a ruckus looking for it if you weren't prepared to suffer the consequences of drawing that much attention to yourself? After all, it won't be long until anyone notices that this place has basically gone dark or totally overrun by Ozix Cultists. And then they'll notice a certain tomb raided which will raise the question of why... Then, the pieces come together for whoever is investigating, and the grand panic ensues."

"The General told me not to overplay my part... But... From what I understand, she's stuck here until the affairs here are settled. There's clearly some underlying motive she has that I'm unaware of too. Otherwise, what reason would she have for even trying to play nice with me? She obviously doesn't want them to succeed, but there's some other thing too... Something has to give... It's too hard to ignore what she's implying though."

"Ahem. I don't have all day... Well, actually I do. But, I'm not willing to wait much longer. This is a limited time offer."

"Alright. Before I agree to anything, what does this entail? What exactly do you want? And what do I get out of it?" The Sergeant held firm, still gripping his staff, but let go of his apprehension. There was no harm in at least hearing it out, even if he knew he was going to say no.

"What I want to do is actually very simple. This village... With all the cultists here... Is one of the last few large groups of Ozix Cultists left." Kataline turned away from The Sergeant and began to pace back and forth in front of him, not making any more eye contact. "In fact, I'd say there remains one other large group on standby."

"Only one? There's no way." The Sergeant shook his head, but his Pact vision indicated no hesitation or shame in Kataline's being, a signal of sincerity.

"Do you remember the ambush you and your General conducted?" Kataline stopped and gazed at him. With a simple confirmation, she went back to her usual pacing. "That was on the back-end of a deal that effectively wiped out a large majority of both Woe and Ozix Cultists. For once, they had both come together to fight, each with their separate goals, and were led to the slaughter shortly after... I had no idea the ambush was premeditated by Meius until after it all went down... Either way, it was a large sacrifice of lives that benefited both sides, regardless of the ambush. What sort of implications do you think that had?"

"You seem a lot more clued into the going-ons between both sides than anyone else probably is... As expected of a two-timer... However, I know what you're trying to say in this regard. These cults operate more smoothly with less movement."

"Exactly. The guild of Cult Hunters is currently kicking their feet up in Tumae, worry-free. Unless something big happens now, they won't be budging. There was only a single group of Woe Cultists left, but your leader has them pinned down now. It might seem foolish to you that Temptation sacrificed that many... But the power differences between Woe and Ozix groups are in structure. The Ozix Cult relies more on several stand-out individuals, only a few of which remain since the planned genocide. Temptation, by herself, is the strongest being currently alive. She has confidence in that power, and only a few individuals could dare take on my master... One of which being your leader because of his abilities."

"So, you're saying you want to even the power balance between freaks by sabotaging this Korkolo fella?"

"Precisely... Not by directly stopping him though. Rather, we slowly cull every single Ozix Cultist in this area over the course of several days. All the while, we blame this intruder you've conveniently pointed out to him, but not identified..."

"What about the group of people coming to excavate?"

"Unfortunately, I've been advised to leave them alone. They're no threat to you or I, and there's no reason to have them get caught in the middle of it. Rather, all of this happening around them will put immense pressure on Korkolo."

"I see..."

"You have nothing to lose by accepting... Plus, you could even be commended for your efforts...

"Thwart her plan at the premise...? There's still an underlying motive. And as far as stopping this... There's really not a reason to since it doesn't affect The General or I with what happens to Ozix scum..." The Sergeant tightened his grip over his concealed staff. "It's not enough to have nothing to lose. I need direct gain here."

"Well... You need to keep an eye on me anyways, right? You'll be able to do that either way. But... I have some information I'm willing to part with when the deal is fulfilled." Kataline stopped in her tracks, crossing her arms and facing The Sergeant. "Information that will help your leader regarding a few of the other members of The Forsaken. And let's just say, it could mean life or death for him."

"That's not the kind of information you tout in front of someone as a reward." The Sergeant released his grip on his staff, the compact object immediately expanding to its normal size with him reequipping it directly after. With both hands on the stick, he pointed one end of the stick directly to Kataline's face. "We're talking about life or death here... For The General... Or for you..."

"Hey!... Easy, easy..." Kataline halfheartedly put her hands up by her face as she instinctively leaned backwards. "Death has less consequences for me than it does you... And even if you get me first, you'll follow soon after..."

"I'd call your bluff on the first part... But I'm not so foolish to think the second part is a bluff." The Sergeant reeled his staff away from Kataline's face.

"Look. That's what I have to offer. It really doesn't get much better than that. The only thing I get out of this is a guaranteed shot to make Korkolo look bad... You have everything else to gain." Kataline waltzed past The Sergeant, neither turning around to face the other. "How about it, soldier boy?"

"She probably intends to hide her true purpose for as long as possible... I can do that too." The Sergeant's staff retracted back in length as he placed it back in his back bag... "Should we start with that one from the office?"

"Addle? God no." Kataline whipped her head around with widened eyes. "That psycho isn't worth the headache. Besides, he's gonna be on a leash under Korkolo unless Meius gave him some other order... So, unless one of us gets caught, we won't have to worry about him-"

"Worry about who?"

The Sergeant and Kataline both locked up, refusing to budge an inch. Without even looking back, The Sergeant felt the residual vibe of sheer destruction. A great, searing heat running sparking off and around his shoulders and neck. Bolts of yellow splashing out and grazing the back of his armor... On the other hand, Kataline's normally shadow-obscured face was lit up in a manner similar to a candlelight. A furious, flowing flame alight in front of her very eyes. Both in a position of checkmate, neither wanted to move out of fear of what might come next...

"Come on now... Why are we so quiet?" Addle stood between both The Sergeant and Kataline, both arms outstretched to them. His right arm was sparking off with electricity, his hand held straight and flat as the yellow, boundless energy formed an unstable blade at The Sergeant's neck. His left hand was made into the shape of a gun, a meteoric ball of flame sitting on the end of his index finger lingering right in Kataline's face. "Keep talking about treason. It is infinitely more interesting than what Korkolo is doing..."

The corners of Addle's mouth reached the far ends of his face, only slightly elevated in a wide grin that shone more curiosity than excitement as the standoff ensued. He held his breath in anticipation. Something had to give, and he wanted one of them to make the first move... A justification. However, a minute passed before too long, and it seemed that neither The Sergeant or Kataline wanted to give him his justification... That was, until it happened in a singular moment.

The Sergeant lowered his position, twisting his hips to the right and backhand swinging his arm towards Addle's electrified arm. With a burst of wind rising up, both of their arm's clashed. The golden bursts of electricity covering Addle's arm crashed and cackled off of the visible currents of wind shielding The Sergeant's arm. The clash threatened to push him off balance, Addle having to resist forward pressure from shoving him from behind.

Meanwhile, Kataline ducked her head down as she clasped her hands together. Seeping out from under her shoe, a thin black tendril shot up and shoved Addle's wrist up higher. Without even a single second to spare, the ball of fire hovering at his fingertip fired off in a thin, jolting line that traveled at an inconceivable speed through the air. It audibly whirred for a moment before falling to silence as the clash ensued between The Sergeant and Addle. Then, as they held their struggle, a great ear-splitting explosion erupted from the sky as the light of the sun was overtaken by a brief moment with a deep red smolder and black smoke. The light in the immediate area dimmed for a brief moment as Kataline slipped a needle into her hand from her sleeve. Rising upwards with a fluid movement, the needle met skin and penetrated through.

Blood began to drip down from Addle's arm, slowly adorning the blades of grass below with a bright red color. Kataline took a few hops backwards, bracing herself as she took a defensive stance. Addle and The Sergeant continued their struggle during it all, but Addle had felt the needle penetrate his other arm and knew he needed to get away. Addle backpedaled while maintaining the clash, changing the meeting point of their magically infused arms until he was able to break away from The Sergeant. Once free, Addle had disappeared from his position much to the surprise of Kataline and The Sergeant. But, he reappeared several feet away by the edge of a tree.

"Where the hell did he come from?" The Sergeant felt his heart race as he inched himself closer to Kataline. The sheer surprise had nearly given him a heart attack.

"Addle is notoriously fast... He could have just been listening from afar and then decided to hop in..." Kataline moved in to the side of The Sergeant, nearly touching him as they both stood side by side.

"Bingo. I think I'd rather watch someone bleed out for twelve hours straight than sit in the same room with that geriatric dwarf for any longer." Addle puffed his chest out and held his arms out to the side as he took a deep breath and stretched his body. He twisted and curled his arms, then outstretched them in front of him. "So, I came out here to see how much of a nuisance I could be. Lo and behold, mystery bitch and mask man are out here conspiring together... Tsk tsk. Pf. What were you even hoping to accomplish?"

"Just ignore him." Kataline gazed up at The Sergeant, darting her eyes and nodding her head towards the needle still in Addle's arm. "He's a dead man anyways now... There's no cure for the poison my body produces. I can either stop it altogether or accelerate it. Given one needle, he'll drop dead in about ten minutes."

"You called him a psychopath who wasn't worth the trouble... Yet, now he's going to die... Did we get lucky, or did you overestimate him?" The Sergeant had his sight trained on Addle. What he normally saw in terms of structure and energies within a soul was apparent within Addle, but it seemed to radiate an extraordinary heat that made The Sergeant sweat.

"The former... For sure."

"Are you so sure?" Addle rolled his eyes, giggling as he lifted his stabbed arm and slid the needle out from under his skin. The metallic tip of the needle was slightly curved, almost drooping as he held it out in front of him. Addle released the needle onto the ground, and turned the stabbed side of his arm upward... The Sergeant and Kataline both watched on with surprise as a billowing of steam rose out from the small needle-shaped hole in Addle's arm... Immediately, Kataline's eyes darted to where a drop of blood had seeped out from his arm. Upon the blade of grass where it landed was a tiny hole with scorch marks...

Blood Boiling: A casting motif within Fire Magic which primarily serves as an Enchantment/Manipulation technique. The user can raise their internal body temperature to an extreme degree using this technique. That is, precisely to two-hundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit, where blood begins to boil (as the name suggests) and then way further beyond that if the caster wishes to. The main intent of this technique is to enhance physical attributes, as Fire casters become faster and stronger the higher their body temperature is.

"Look at that confidence. Even if he's a primarily Fire Element caster, he shouldn't be able to erode away your poison with heat, right?" The Sergeant turned to face Kataline.

Those who are primarily Fire Elemental casters can withstand great heats without feeling any sort of pain or discomfort. That, of which, can span up to and beyond the intended temperature of Blood Boil. It is often said that Fire casters locked in battle typically have their matches solved by the pure magical force behind the attacks, rather than the element unless the motif gives it an edge... However, there is an upper limit to which even a Fire caster cannot withstand. Given a heat greater than one-thousand three-hundred degrees, Fire casters begin to falter and suffer immediate damage.

"I-... I'm actually not sure." Kataline continued to watch the tower of steam escape the needle wound on Addle's arm...

"Not sure? Not sure?! That's what I thought!" The steam rising from Addle's arm morphed into a sickly black color for a short few moments before ceasing altogether. Addle flexed his arm, letting it fall back to his side after while the heat in the immediate area spiked several degrees higher.

However, Addle's body has special attributes placed and manifested within him that make it so that he can endure temperatures of up to ten-thousand degrees Fahrenheit! Thus, allowing him to use the Blood Boil technique to extreme and powerful precisions. In this case, completely purging his body of Kataline's poison by evaporating it entirely.

"I gotta be honest. I couldn't give a damn about preserving the integrity of the cult or any of that stuff! I especially don't give a fuck about Korkolo! I'm just glad I have a reason to lash out! So!..." Addle raised up both of his arms and pointed at the two of them at the same time. Looking over at The Sergeant, and then Kataline, Addle gathered his goals. "You!-I'll melt down your teeth while they're still in your mouth! And you!-I'll at least keep you warm enough to use!"

"Euch! Fucking vile freak!..." Kataline winced as she slid three more needles down in between her fingers…

Without another second of pause, Addle shot forward and closed the gap between the three of them, standing directly in front of Kataline. As he began to bring his arm back out wide, she pulled back and away, scampering some feet away from him. So instead, The Sergeant took center-stage, putting himself in the path of Addle's wrath. In a single, fluid motion, The Sergeant reached his left hand into his back bag and whipped out his staff. The staff erected itself to its full length as The Sergeant gripped it with both hands and followed his motions with a full on swing.

"Psh! Alright then!" Addle bore his teeth, relishing in the frantic atmosphere consuming the area. The Sergeant's swing was rapidly encroaching towards the side of his head. However, Addle's arm had already been moving in the opposite direction which gave him an easy chance to block the hit. A burst of steam erupted from the small hole in his arm as a noticeable bubbling rose to the surface. Coagulating into a thin, rope-like strand, a streak of crimson gained poise and form. Swirling into itself endlessly without losing any substance or drop of itself, the suspended line of blood was gripped into Addle's hand with length comparable to The Sergeant's staff. A stream of his own blood had taken on the shape and properties of a whip within a moment as Addle swung his arm around to block the attack from his opponent.

Using his own special advantage, Addle can utilize Blood Boil in order to continuously raise and maintain high temperatures within his blood. It can be done to a point where he can control the exact temperature across individual cells and have different levels of heat in every particle. This precise control allows him to harden the sucrose within his blood, solidifying it in certain parts rather than evaporating it. And thus, turning his own blood into a superheated deadly weapon.

The Sergeant was able to perceive what Addle had done. The crimson whip was liquid in all but the exact center where there was an extremely fine, sharp edge. It allowed it to flow and weave wide and quick attacks while having the cutting power of a blade. However, Addle's swing was to block The Sergeant's attack, not to hit him. And thus, he had his advantage over Addle...

"He's not gonna stop his attack or anything? I'll slice that damn pole in two and shove them pieces up his ass!" Addle's eyes dilated with tremendous excitement, practically quivering in his sockets as he planned out his next move. It was as simple as following through on the opposite side. All Addle had to do was swing again, and adjust his stream of blood accordingly…

But, as the two weapons were going to collide... The Sergeant's staff hopped past the stream of solidified blood without being sliced or losing shape. In fact, there was no sound of the two colliding at all. So, the staff remained on its trajectory towards Addle's head. The gigantic smile on Addle's face dispersed the moment the cold steel of the staff slammed against the side of his head. Addle's concentration dropped, having the whip of blood de-solidify and lose shape as it splashed out onto the ground and singed the grass below. His head twisted to the side with a loud crack ringing out, his vision going blurry as the sensation of his head rattling drowned out everything else.

Quantum Tunneling: A specialized Time/Utility Magic technique made from the exact concept it's named after. It is unique in that it isn't just restrained to one element, but rather all Soft-Cast elements. However, it is considered to be one of the absolute hardest techniques to master as it not only requires great understanding of Time Magic, but also a certain feel for casting that type. At a basic level, Quantum Tunneling is the concept that, given extremely precise and near-impossible odds, a solid object can pass through another solid object by the particles being misaligned at the single moment. The technique itself, with its use of Time and Utility Magic molding it, bends reality to make those exact odds come true in a given moment for whatever object/thing the user has their Mana imbued in.

A swing followed up by one after the other... Resounding thuds and cracks ringing out in the area as The Sergeant gave Addle no reprieve from his onslaught. From the left, from the right, a lower angle and even from a higher angle, the staff was used to bludgeon Addle's cranium. Despite the sheer amount of violence The Sergeant was unleashing, Addle didn't seem to lose any composure or poise. Instead, he essentially continued to remain planted to the ground, only with his neck and face twisting around with each hit. And, with each blow, Addle's insidious and scorching blood splattered out onto the greenery around them along with The Sergeant himself. Each droplet of his blood burned and tore through The Sergeant's armor and outfit, almost like it was burrowing to the surface of his skin...

"Shit... Don't tell me he's gonna-..." Kataline gripped the needles tighter, clenching them until her knuckles turned white. As much as she'd considered trying to take down Addle now while The Sergeant had him pinned in his flurry of blows, she figured it would work better if Addle took him out now instead. Which, if he was doing what she thought he was...

"For your sake, you should probably just go down!" The Sergeant reeled back from his last attack, building up momentum for one final swing as he brought the full weight of his power straight across the right side of Addle's face. Echoing throughout the area was the sickly crunching of bones and crushing of flesh. The Sergeant winced as the biggest spilling of blood washed over his chest area with the droplets immediately searing through and cooking his skin.

Addle remained steadfast in the face of that mighty, final attack. But, as he turned his face back to the position of being directly in front of The Sergeant... His entire head was disfigured. The position of his brow and eye sockets were brazenly shifted out to the left side of his head and sunken in with ugly dents on his right. His eyes themselves were nearly bulging out of his skull entirely. His nose had completely caved into his face, almost creating a smooth and flat portion from the meeting point of his brows to the top of his lips. His jaw was shunted out of place in several different ways that exposed his chipped and ruined teeth.

"Ouch. That hurt." Addle's mouth twisted and malformed itself as the words left his busted and bleeding lips. There seemed to be no utterances of pain emanating from his tone... The Sergeant took a step back, unsure of what exact kind of monster he was dealing with. Addle brought his hands out wide to his side, raising them up slowly before suddenly slapping them onto his broken cheeks. The Sergeant watched on with the horror written on his face behind his mask. Addle's face took on a shade of reddish-pink as a veil of supreme heat became visible around his head. Shifting bones with crunches and pops galore became the only audible noise as Addle's hands began to massage his face. The structure of his head twisted and shifted with each pressing and pulling done by his palms.

"God... It's always so gross no matter how many times I see it..." Kataline gritted her teeth and squinted as she could visibly make out the steadily altering shape of Addle's skull from behind. "Because of how high he can bring the temperature of Blood Boil... Addle's always been able to fix his own injuries. It's not true healing... But he can reshape his bones and flesh by melting them enough and then solidifying them after. I dunno what tricks this guy has up his sleeve, but I'm gonna wait and see if he can really handle Addle..."

"I'm gonna love tearing apart your charred corpse with my teeth!" Addle swept his arms out to the side with a grin that spanned from ear to ear. The Sergeant instinctively hopped back, twirling his staff around while he waited to see what Addle would do. Addle brought his arms back front and center with his right arm outstretched and the palm facing The Sergeant. His left hand clasped onto his right arm with the palm sitting directly over top of the needle wound from earlier. His eyes were so wide that there was nearly no visible white portion of them. Bounds of yellow bolts rose from the ground and swirled around his feet, rising up to the top of his body and meeting the overtop of his head before disappearing. A curtain of electricity struck out in three-hundred and sixty degrees all around him, twice... The veil appearing and disappearing within a moment...

"Good God... This guy really is a lunatic... I fucking hate cultists so much..." The Sergeant kept up his defensive position, not sure what exactly the man was planning. What was clear to The Sergeant was that Addle reserved himself to take the offensive... But how exactly?... The Sergeant didn't know. And with that guy's speed, he'd rather not get caught defenseless against his speed because he got greedy with attacking him.

"Addle's going to fry this man... He's really going to take it that far..." Kataline watched on in disbelief. It was in-character for Addle to do so, but what shocked her was how brazen this would be. After all, Addle was usually always on a short-leash... She had to stop this. Though she had the ability to get away unscathed, Kataline knew she had to change her mind and attempt to get rid of Addle. Especially when she was unable to shake the feeling that he'd come after her next...

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

Kataline went to swing her arm upward... But found that her entire being was unable to move. Something held her back... A glimmering aura composed of a dark pink color with violet shadows wrapped around her body. A deafening roar of hums rang out within her ears, drowning out nearly all of her thoughts with artificial silence. She was still able to dart her eyes around, even among the stasis she seemed to be trapped in... Both The Sergeant and Addle appeared to be caught up in the same predicament.

"To think I can't even let you out of my sight for less than five minutes... Five minutes!" Korkolo strolled out from behind a tree with two robed cultists accompanying him side by side. As they revealed themselves, so did a slew of other cultists a well to a total of over twenty. His arms were behind his back as his body glowed with the same shining aura that encompassed the three of them. "Explain yourself, Addle."

"K-... Korkolo!" Addle tensed every muscle in his body as the heat all around him soared up in temperature. He was barely able to inch his head around, Addle's true intent to thrash himself free being thwarted by Korkolo's force. "Those two!... They were-!"

"Oh-! For crying out loud! You can't even hide your murderous intent! What a waste of space!" Korkolo ripped his right hand out from behind his back. Holding it up slightly, he thrust it downward a few inches with a burst of speed. Following suit, the aura that encased Addle rose up in the air and then suddenly smashed flat against the ground, creating a crater at the center of the impact. "I get the idea you didn't like the way our guest looked at you and lashed out. How in the hell am I supposed to make this all go smoothly if you're going to act like this? We only have a couple of days to prepare everything!"

"Dur-! Ga-! Hrng-!" Addle was reaching his boiling point in more ways than one as he viciously tried to yank his head and neck around in the confines of Korkolo's magic.

"What in the world was Usime thinking?... Sending a violent dimwit like you out here..." Korkolo marched his way over to the crater and peered over it, shaking his head at Addle. He sighed, turning himself around and allowing his magic to fade out. The three of them found themselves released from the grip of Korkolo's power... "We're so close. I refuse to let us fail now. And if Usime supposes that nonviolence will secure our victory, then I shall ensure that peace reigns for this mission."

Addle continued to lay face down in the crater, curling his fists and clenching until they turned white. Both The Sergeant and Kataline shot a glance at each other, understanding that they should not have gotten off so freely from this encounter. Kataline was the first to move on from the scene, taking deep breaths as she brushed past all of them. Korkolo followed behind in tow, leaving the other two behind. The cultists all walked back to the village as well. The Sergeant turned his head slightly and caught a glimpse of Addle out of the corner of his eye. The man was so caught up in his own rage that he didn't even care or notice what was going on. Shaking his head, The Sergeant left the scene as well, only leaving Addle behind.

The moment all of them were gone, Addle began pounding his right fist into the ground over and over. His knuckles bled as the skin tore off of his hand and his joints malformed from him repeatedly bashing the ground. A blood vessel burst open in his left eye, painting the whites of that eye with a splashing of red...

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"Oy... Get a load of this guy." Lylas jerked his thumb over to Bif who sat beside him. Despite the ever-bumpy roads ahead and constant shifting of the wagon, Bif seemed to be fast asleep as he rested his head on the front left corner of the wagon. Even as each bump threw his head around, Bif's body remained still and continued to reset his head back to the corner where it was nestled in. "It's hardly sunset and we're almost there. Yet he can't even stay awake for just a tad longer..."

"It's weird to see him like that. Normally, he can't shut up or sit down." Olicia sat in the front right corner, comfortably positioned to have her arms resting over the sides with her legs kicked out.

"It's surprisingly peaceful for a cart ride." Ventrix sat at the helm of the wagon, holding the reins to guide the steed ahead. "You almost kind of miss the chaos and loud volume though."

"Almost." Olicia leaned her head back, gazing up at the sky as she scoffed.

"He's probably going to be bored the entire time. After all, it's just an excavation. There isn't really going to be anything for Bif to attack." Avures sat with his back against the wagon walls and his legs crossed. Avures stared at the wooden floor of the cart directly at the center, seemingly for no reason at all other than to have something to fixate on. "I won't blame him if he just reserves himself to sleep the entire time."

"It's kinda weird that they asked for you though." Rael kicked her feet back and forth as they dangled over the back gate. She was laid down with her knees resting on top of the gate, and her head resting on Avures's leg. She looked up at her pillow in the eyes, crossing her arms under her chest while touching one of her index fingers to her lips.

"It does baffle me a little. I suppose I have an ability suited for this... But..." Avures's vision traveled up the length of his left arm. His sleeve covered most of it, but he already knew what it looked like below. The spatial patterns that his skin was now composed of from his hands up to his shoulders... "Who exactly would know that?... You know?"

"I'd say a stalker. The only way people would know ya is from the festival showdown... And who'd figure that ya would have an ability like that?" Lylas had his arms resting on the wagon wall behind him, leaning back while looking as nonchalant as possible. "So... How's it feel to have a stalker?"

"Nothing new I suppose... Like an overbearing weight on my lap." Avures rolled his eyes... And then winced as Rael threw her arm up and back and punched him in the shoulder. Lylas scoffed with a grin on his face, the air escaping his nostrils as he kept his mouth shut. Avures rubbed his shoulder as Rael dug her head into a more comfortable position on his leg. "How far out are we anyways?"

"We should almost be there. Arrival in about ten or fifteen minutes I suppose." Ventrix peered ahead, spotting what looked to be a roof peeking over the top of a line of trees a few miles ahead.

"Hm. I can't shake this feeling of familiarity..." Avures had watched the trees, hills, and plateaus roll by for almost the entire duration of the trip. All the while, he had been gripping the handle of his new blade that Ventrix provided him before they had set off. Something in his head screamed out about him recognizing this area... But he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Then again, Palmenae was a large country which consumed the entire continent. A region that mostly consisted of several forests, some plains and a few mountains along with a mesa region. At a certain point, if one were to travel around the entire country, most areas probably started to blend together.

But this was different. As the trees rolled past the wagon, and the full-scale of the buildings came in... The gut feeling within Avures's core began to flare up with uncertainty. He knew this place. He saw it from somewhere. As Ventrix guided the wagon to the nearest stable and stopped the horse, Lylas shook Bif awake as the other three hopped out from the back of the wagon.

"Ah. You must be the help, correct?" Quickly paced footsteps encroached with a scratchy voice accompanying it. As Lylas and Bif stepped off and Ventrix finished stabling the horse, the six of them turned to face the origin. "I am Korkolo Dunis, the mayor of this humble little village. Who among you is Avures Kovar?"

"That would be...-" Avures closed his eyes and sighed as his body faced Korkolo. Reopening his eyes as he spoke, his tone and voice faded with the short man entering his vision. It was as if he were frozen in time for a moment. That sensation of déjà vu continued to rise as the shape of the man alongside his voice set off an alarm in his head. "Me..."

Korkolo and Avures's eyes met as their gazes were locked on to each other. Everyone watched on, not sure what to make of the interaction. Avures was caught in a bout of confusion, and Korkolo was taken aback by the familiarity of the boy's appearance. As this happened, Ventrix darted his eyes around, feeling an odd presence outside of their direct gathering.

"Try not to make the weirdos aware, eh?" Lylas scooted over to Ventrix and bumped his shoulder into him as his hushed tone made Ventrix the only one privy to his words. "It was the first thing I noticed too."

"Which weirdos? Ours or theirs?" Ventrix placed his hands on his hips as he jutted his chin up, casting his gaze over the rooftops to the side.

"Both." Lylas grinned, rolling his eyes as he focused in on Bif and Rael. The two of them were both stretching out and yawning as they waited around. "Those two probably don't know. And even if they did, the two of them most likely wouldn't care or would act out."

"That makes sense. Why fear something when you're strong and brazen?" Ventrix closed his eyes and nodded his head.

"Bitch probably noticed..." Lylas's eyes shifted over more to focus on Olicia. She looked incredibly unamused with her arms crossed under her chest and her head tilted off to the side. "But she's extremely confident in herself. So she’ll be ready if something happens."

"What about Avures then?" Ventrix lifted his head and opened his eyes, staring at his dark-haired counterpart.

"That's a toss-up... What do ya think of all this, Blue-Blood?" Lylas reached his hand to the top of Ventrix's shoulder.

"I wish the weird one would quit staring at me. I'm not one to be quite squeamish, but his gaze is unsettling." Ventrix peeled away from Lylas's grasp as he stepped forward past his leader.

In the distance and around the corner of a building, Addle stood in plain view. He hadn't attempted to hide at all, but took part in the similar examination of the group that his peers were doing as well...

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"Oh God... He's back..." Kataline stopped in place as she craned her neck around to view Addle striding towards her and The Sergeant. His hands were behind his back as he stumbled forward with an uneven walk.

"Don't tell me we're doing this again..." The Sergeant reached back towards his small bag again, but found himself hesitating as Addle stopped a few feet away from them.

"Oy." Addle pulled his hands out from behind his back, revealing something orange and black behind held up by the fingers on his right hand. The whites of his left eye were still covered in red. Dropping the object from his grasp, and giving a light kick forward, the object was propelled to the feet of both Kataline and The Sergeant.

"That's..." The Sergeant used his boot to flip over the object... Charred skin... No, a charred head.

"Do what you want. Korkolo is a fucking bastard..."

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"I have a particular interest in someone going to that site. Make an appearance and try to behave yourself for Korkolo's sake... But your main objective is to test the ability and will of this young kid. Feel free to kill him if he doesn't impress. I'm talking about the one by the name of-" The message from Meius played in Addle's head... The entire reason he was here...

"Ventrix Felsta..." Addle's body was completely still while his eyes were solely focused on Ventrix. A wide open gaze with an ominous aura signaling his murderous intent. "You are my prey."

Kataline watched on from a distance, sitting at an open table out by one of the buildings with her cloak obscuring her face. A vast ocean of disdain filled her being as her eyes looked upon Avures. But beyond him stood her goal... All she needed was the perfect moment...

The Sergeant stood against a wall with his arms crossed. He recognized the kids from before, seeing them once before in the post office in Tumae where he originally started his tracking of Kataline from... It was all too coincidental.

"Well then. Shall I show you the site?" Korkolo gestured behind him to the six teens, beckoning them to come with him...

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"The name of this artificer was Sylvano. Supposedly, he was a great and powerful mage before the time of the Magi. However, it is said that he was driven mad by his pursuits and had to be put down by his closest friend. After his death, the potent artifacts he made were sealed away. In regards to who made these seals, it is entirely unknown. But to be honest, most references of those times are steeped more in legend than reality." Korkolo's footsteps slowly and carefully carried him down the steps, each one threatening to make him trip or fall over with how big they were compared to his legs.

"Aren't most stories of the past more myth than truth?" Olicia traced her hands along the jagged and crystalline walls of the stairway corridor... "Even things that happened a hundred years ago often get lost in translation. There's no way Mathias was ever an angel, yet that one is perpetuated all the time."

"It's a rarity for most people to live past forty in such a volatile world. So, prior events often get muddled by those lucky enough to have survived long enough to pass it on. No one can really discern what legends of the past are true or not... Except..." Korkolo reached the bottom step, and waddled forward...

"Except for me, right?" Avures hopped down the final step, gazing on ahead to the back of the dwarf's head as they approached the object of interest...

The walls were a light, reflective blue crystal and the stairs a darkened and jagged stone alongside the floor. The crystal wall seemed to produce bright light all of its own, making the interior of this cave-like site lit up like the morning sky. It had all been near the absolute center of this village with stone pillars surrounding the entrance which was a spiraling stone staircase. It had taken some time to get to the absolute bottom of this place...

Lying ahead of Korkolo and the six teens was a wall where the crystals appeared to end. Encrusted on the edges of this wall, the crystals jagged and pointy shapes all centered on the middle of the wall. A large spiral with eleven lines composing it and all meeting into one point at the center. Around this area were a few tables and chairs with empty cups and bowls.

"Precisely. A contact of mine has an interest similar to my own in seeing this artifact recovered. He pointed you out to me, noting that you have some sort of ability that could be used to discern the past." Korkolo gently placed his hand against the spiral on the wall, letting his fingers slide down as he turned towards Avures.

"And just how exactly did they know that?" Avures narrowed his gaze onto Korkolo.

"I'm not too sure about that myself. Personally, I have my own skepticism, but it's not like I've been able to make much headway here myself. So, I figured I'd have nothing to lose taking a gamble on that information." Korkolo removed his hand from the spiral and placed both of his hands behind his back. "Well?... Am I the fool, or not?"

"Mm..." Avures brought his left hand up to his face. He placed it directly in front of his vision, holding it in front of the spiral as his focus swapped between the strange pattern and his own hand.

"Is there any sort of literature associated with this? I imagine it's like a doorway..." Olicia eyeballed the spirals., resting her hand on her chin.

"You're correct in that assumption, and there is written history and knowledge on this. It was all done by the same person who created the seals, and they intended for the codex on it to be used as a deciphering tool for whoever needed the artifact. However, the code to reveal how to undo it all becomes complete gibberish as you read for no apparent reason. I would be surprised to find anyone who could actually parse it." Korkolo shook his head and sighed, walking over to the other side of the spiral and picking up a dusty book from off a nearby table. He held it up and rolled his eyes.

"Is it damaged? Or actually nonsensical?" Olicia waltzed up towards Korkolo, taking the book in hand as he held it out towards her. She flipped through some of the pages. All seemed fine at first with a relatively short explanation and history given on the item.

"Energy Siphon/Refiner Tool: Sylvano made this tool with the issues of Flow and Mana Impurity in mind. It basically looks like a wine glass except the stem is thicker and acts as a funnel to the base with the bowl itself acting as the storing mechanism. It's also not see-through, and has a mechanism at the top which can open up the bowl for direct filling or turn it into a spike to directly suck out energies from whatever it's stabbed into. Like most of Sylvano's created tools, the top and bottom are modular, and thus can be slotted against his other tools for added functionality."

"Being one of the people who were entrusted with sealing his tools away should he pass away in an untimely manner, I have to admit something within this text that has been bugging me ever since this piece was put into my custody. I have no clue what the hell this was supposed to be used for. I understand that this was most likely a complimentary piece to his other works, but all of his tools have some form of useful solo-use which defines it's bottom-line functionality and possible functions when combined with another piece. It was Sylvano's signature methodology which derived from his extensive study of Ancient Kingdom technology."

"But I don't get this. On its own, it takes energies and allows the user to slightly purify them in different ways. Flow Sickness and Degeneration can be mitigated, but not fully stopped. And Mana Impurity can also be treated in the same way... But these aren't cures. Maybe I'm just not seeing the big picture here. I think it is a heap of junk, but I'll respect Sylvano's wishes."

"Here let me see!" Bif swiped the book from out of Olicia's hand and brought it up to his face. Olicia groaned as she did a double take over to the boy. She crossed her arms and shook her head as she watched Avures peer over Bif's shoulders. Bif adjusted the book in his own view so he could read it as well.

"Nonsensical. Personally, even if this artifact has little to no use in our day and age... What with Flow Sickness and Mana Impurity not existing anymore... Recovering Sylvano's tools is a worthy cause, and this one is no exception. Money is no concern with history on the line, thus the contract reward..." Korkolo shifted his gaze between the three of them. He sighed, knowing that Avures had the answers he needed but also knowing he needed to play dumb.

"What the hell am I even reading?" Bif reeled his neck back as he held the book out a little farther before readjusting both his vision and position.

"That... That really is just a bunch of garble." Avures brought his hand up and rubbed his eyes for a moment before looking back at the text before his eyes.

"That said, I can only wonder why someone will want to dig this up. But I will pass on instructions on how to undo the seals in the event it is somehow needed. For starters, I recommend you gather some knowledge on the Golden Ratio. Without knowing how to utilize it, you will never be able to knead bread to appease the bull. Eleven lines, eleven points of activation, and eleven different variations of pacts to create the strongest seals eleven people could make. It truly is a work of art... That is, if you consider a punched and shattered "wall-scribble" art. To be honest, this was all shoddily put together and only functions because of the pacts and imposed restrictions. These two things made everything possible. However, one of these seals will only be possible to undo between the times of "four" and "eight". Specifically, one must shoot for six at least six times. Beyond that, patience is key. Only after untying the previous seals will you be able to begin this eleven-hour process of continually tailoring to suit yourself. And honestly, having taken so long to finally mystify and document the seals, I forgot how we did the last couple of them and how to undo them. So, you might just have to beg and plead or destroy it with one-one hits."

"Exactly. Some of it seems like it could be deciphered with a little bit of time, but everything else is all... Drivel." Korkolo reached his hand out as Bif puffed his cheeks out and released a sigh that indicated his overwhelmed intelligence. Grabbing the book from him, Avures put his hand to his chin, looking between the book and the wall.

"The bottom-line of this is that I can either use my ability on the book or seals themselves in order to figure out how to undo them. That's your intent here." Avures staggered himself as he crossed his arms and peered over at the rest of his friends. Bif and Olicia both looked at each other and shrugged while the other three seemed to just meander about and gaze at the bright crystals. "It would save you an immense amount of time and effort."

"You get it then. So... What are you waiting for?"

"Hm. It's kinda late, don't you think?" Avures closed his eyes and let out a long, drawn out yawn before stretching out and cracking his neck. "We've been on the road all day. Why don't we start on it tomorrow when we're fresh?"

"Well-... It's a contract. You signed it. You're obligated to start as soon as possible. If you don't, I'll just-"

"You'll do what? Get someone else? Do it yourself?" Avures rolled his eyes, maintaining the usual bored look on his face. The other five classmates immediately stopped their actions and stared at Avures like his head had been lopped off. "We're in no rush, and you haven't indicated a reason to be in a rush yourself. So, just ease up and it'll be done tomorrow."

"You... You little-" Korkolo's eyebrows tightened up as his gaze took a spurned expression. But, he relented, allowing himself to calm down and repose himself. "Fair enough. I suppose I shouldn't get worked up over this. Head on up, and I'll show you a place where you all can stay..."

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"Damn Kovar brat! I would have killed him and his friends one by one right then and there!" Korkolo swept his arms over the desktop that sat as high as his neck and threw every single item sitting upon it to the ground with a furious roar.

"Pf. I can't say I'm surprised to see you get all worked up over the smallest slighting someone can give you... But what's this vendetta you have against the Kovar name?" Kataline sat in a chair across the office with her nails in front of her face as she mindlessly examined them.

"I could ask you the same thing "Avura"! Don't try to paint me out as the vindictive one when you've taken the name of the very girl we tried to take! Especially when you pushed for that entire raid!" Korkolo nearly burst a blood vessel in his eye as he lowered himself down and thrust his hands under the desk. In a quick, heavy heave, Korkolo threw the desk upside down in front of him with the slamming sound echoing throughout the building. "Sixteen years ago... We could have had Ozix among the living again sixteen years ago! But that stupid brat cut her damn arm off! And now-! Now-! That stupid infant we didn't finish off shows up with that same damn arm!... It's not that I hate anyone named Kovar... But any ordeal with them has either been a headache or a failure... Even both."

"And now you have to play pretend around him and give in to him... That's some good irony." Kataline grinned, closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair.

"Seeing those green eyes of his takes me back though... His expression is nearly lifeless... But it still resembles that accursed woman's gaze." Korkolo took some deep breaths as he brought his hands up to the buttons on his black jacket. Undoing them one by one, Korkolo stopped when he was able to show off the upper left area of his chest. There were some gray and white hairs around, but there was a large area where there were no hairs at all. In fact, there was a large, circular shaped and indented scar overtop of his left pec along with a drawn-out, vertical slash going through it down to his abdomen. The skin was irreparably marked with a great and terrible wound. "That bitch of a woman got me good that day... So when I see those fucking eyes, it sets me off..."

“Ha! And Meius didn't heal it?" Kataline shot up from her chair and strutted over to Korkolo, examining the wound herself.

"He thought it should serve as a mark of shame..." Korkolo scoffed, buttoning up his shirt and jacket again. "So, tell me... What's your vendetta?"

"Vendetta?... I suppose you're clued in about the fact that I don't like Avura or this Avures." Kataline turned away and blew a raspberry, placing her left hand on her hip and her right on her cheek. "But you wouldn't get it."

"So it's personal?"

"You could say that." Kataline moved the hand on her cheek to her lips, easing her nails under her teeth as she put pressure on them.

"Hmph. Don't wanna say? Suit yourself..." Korkolo huffed as he finished fixing his outfit. He moved over to the desk and flipped it back over in a moment of self-weakness and shame. However, as he finished, he noticed something off. "Where's Addle? And where is this Sergeant fellow?"

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"Oh how nice of them to give us all beds like this!" Rael spread her arms out wide and let herself fall over into a vast sea of softness and warmth. Face down into a pillow, and slid her face out from under it and turned to the side.

The room they were all in was rectangular with a few beds against the long walls pointing out towards the center. There was a single window at the end of the room in between the last two beds. There were eight beds in total with four on each side, like a small bunk house for soldiers. Rael had immediately been drawn to the bed on the right side of the room at the end with the window being there. Avures, naturally, picked the next one down from Rael's bed. Ventrix chose a bed at least one empty space away from Avures on the same side of the room. Bif, like Rael, dove overtop of another bed to land squarely into the one on the far left corner next to the window. Lylas settled in the next one down with Olicia being another down from his.

"Mm." Avures set some of his stuff aside from his own bed.

"Ya might have pissed that guy off." Lylas was all smiles as he sat on the edge of his own bed and removed his boots.

"So?" Avures walked over from his bed to the window at the end of the room. He stared outside at the dark of night, the only illumination being a sparse littering of lampposts. "It was a long trip."

"You alright, Brainiac?" Bif flipped himself over and adjusted himself to the side, throwing his legs up on the wall as his upper body still laid flat on the bed. "You're all tense."

"Something is really off. I can't shake this horrible feeling... But honestly, I might just be paranoid after how the first contract went." Avures had vocalized some of his concern, but truly he had another idea entirely that he didn't want to reveal until he knew the answer for certain...

"I adamantly believe that we need to tread carefully." Ventrix had a white cloth in one of his hands, carefully running it down the length of his blade. "There is something truly uncanny about this place and the people whom we've met so far."

"Can't say I feel too different either." Olicia was already laid back with her arms behind her head and her legs crossed. "But honestly, what do we have to worry about?"

"Ya say that like we're top notch Lancers and not a bunch of goofballs running around with a badge." Lylas grinned with an eyebrow raised as he nudged himself back against the wall while sitting upright. Staring over at Olicia, he shook his head. "Last contract was supposed to be an investigation... It turned out to be a big ol battle. How much of 'yer share are ya willing to put down on this being only an excavation?"

"Well... When you put it like that..." Olicia pouted, closing her eyes and digging her head further into her arms and pillow. "I still think we should be fine if the worst comes to pass. As long as we stick together..."

"You know, Avures... If it would make you feel better and safer, you could always push your bed up to mine..." Rael flipped over and raised herself up, staring at Avures with her usual soft glare and slight smile. "I'll keep you safe..."

Avures's eyes shifted over to meet her own. He wasn't able to directly tell if she was trying to get a rise out of him or being serious... Usually, around the others, she just joked around for her own little comedic bit. But there sometimes was just the tiniest bit of seriousness lopped in there... He wasn't planning on accepting that anyways. Avures would have been too embarrassed to agree even if it were just the two of them and he actually wanted to do so. He ignored her proposition entirely, moving his gaze back to the outside world through the window.

"Eh?" Rael's eye twitched as the rest of her expression slowly morphed into a look of scorn. Her face flushed a bit as she could only release a few stammers. Bif was absolutely floored with stifled laughter watching her squirm about. Rael took a deep breath, closing her eyes and trying to reset her feelings... But her clear annoyance still showed through. "A yes or no would suffice, Avures."

"Bah-Ha-Ha-Ha!..." Bif rolled to his side with his legs still sticking up as he wrapped his arms around his gut. Each laugh that left his being made Rael's face grow a little more red.

"That's rough to listen to." Olicia giggled under her breath as she chimed in quietly to the side. Avures almost felt himself smile at making the two of them laugh while Rael squirmed about.

"Mm-Ah!... You're such a jerk, Avures." Rael buried her head in her pillow and pounded her fists against the mattress, but even those sounds and her muffled voice weren't able to disguise her own laughs she let out.

"I'm going to go for a walk. Hopefully it'll clear my head." Avures turned away from the window and yawned as he meandered through the middle of the room to the door.

"Don't be out too long. Ya got a big day tomorrow." Lylas wiggled side to side until he scooted himself off the wall and was laid down flat.

"Avures, I swear to god..." Rael craned her neck and head up, shooting an angry glare to Avures as he turned back to look at her. "If I get the feeling something bad is happening and you're almost dead like last time..."

"That's not gonna happen..." Avures rolled his eyes as he swung the door open. He stepped out of the room and began to slowly shut the door behind him. "See you guys in the morning."

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"I hate to be discreet and take the "lone-wolf" approach, but I have to see this for myself." Avures stepped outside the house the six of them were staying in and ventured down the street. The sparse littering of lamps made the streets and other houses somewhat visible as Avures guided himself towards the edge of town where they had arrived from. "The best case scenario is that I was being paranoid over nothing... But the worst..."

There was a tiny bit of guilt in his heart. Avures was clutching the handle of his sword... That new sword Ventrix had provided him. All his friend said was that he commissioned the blade for him, but not from where. Noticeably, the hilt and handle mirrored Ventrix's own except his was black instead of gold. This made the guilt two-fold.

Missing a blade in the first place and Avures's life almost ending were both a product of his own misguided initiative and personal mistakes. And now here he was... Possibly making the same mistake again. However, it needed to be done. And if he had one thing going for him, it was that Avures knew he was valuable to the contractor. If something awful were to go down, if Avures made a big enough of a noise, they would surely come to his aid.

However, that idea in his head predicated on the notion that they weren't part of some scheme against him. After all, the first murmurs and trembling in his heart came when he thought he recognized the surrounding area before the village. Then, it grew to a tumultuous quaking in his being when he caught sight of the outskirts. And finally, it blossomed into a full crescendo of an earthquake when he saw that man...

Korkolo Dunis... The extreme familiarity was burning a hole in his mind and body. If not any one specific feature, mainly his size and shape sticking out to him. There was only one answer in his head. That was why...

Avures crossed out from another street down to where they had first entered into the village. A single dirt street defining the line where the town began and ended. A large, stone building to the right... And another large building to the left with several houses down the way... The one on the right stuck out to him. Avures meandered over to the double-wide entrance and then turned his back on the building... As he backed towards the building, the familiarity set in again. The angle, the arrangement of the buildings and trees off to the side of the road...

"No... There's no way..." Avures's eyes began to play tricks on him as his vision swayed and blurred. He clenched his lips tight and bit down on the center of his bottom lip that curled into his mouth. His sword hand began to quiver and waver on the handle as his entire body trembled and twitched. It felt as if the world around him was reshaping and changing as the topside of his vision where the roofs and trees were draped in a blanket of orange light. That was when he heard it again...

"I wanna go home... Avures."

The words themselves had nearly recreated the same nudging feeling he had felt when he first witnessed that experience. Everything began to blend together, but the images he had witnessed before were as visible as ever. His right hand trembled as it inched its way closer to his head, planting overtop of his face with his fingers spread out as he peered through towards the recollection of his earlier visions.

Bif had been laid against a tree with fresh stains of blood painted up and down the length of the bark. His left leg was completely taken off of him and thrown off a beaten path. His right hand was sliced off with a straight cut from off his body, and his clubs were thrown about. What remained of his body had been made into a pincushion for knives. Several tens... Maybe even a hundred knives were jammed into him from the front to the back. Aside from his hair, he was unrecognizable…

Along the ground, a rope of pink, fleshy tubes piled up at the foot of a tree. As Avures's gaze slowly rose up, he was greeted to the site of Ventrix's body. His hands, feet, and his body were pinned to the tree by several swords and knives in a crucifixion-like manner. His midsection was cut open, and his guts were left to hang…

Pieces of silver and gold chain-links were strewn about over the immediate area with locks of purple hair being carried away in a light breeze. Occasionally, there were bits of the same skin-tight, violet bodysuit that Olicia wore which were nestled under bodies or weapons. Despite his frantic attempts at locating any semblance of her body, there wasn't a single recognizable piece of her physical form.

Facedown in a mixed puddle of blood, mud, and water... Lylas's hair and outfit were spotted above the surface before the sight of his actual body, buried by precipitation and other casualties. Avures could only imagine the horrors of mutilation that sat below the surface of the tainted puddle...

"Tch!... Fuck!... No!..." Avures's breaths climbed to a heightened rate while his fingers curled, digging his nails into his skin. The heavy air of blood and death permeated around him while the weight of a body leaning against him ever-increased. As he continued to hyperventilate, Avures desperately tried to free himself from the burning grasp of terror and anxiety curdling deep within his chest. His nails penetrated below his face as he used his crumbling might to drag his palm downwards, tearing away at his own flesh...

Then, the memories of that future peeled away. Like watching an ice cube lose shape and form as it melts away in extreme heat, the desolate and morbid scene ahead of him gave way as Avures regained his grip on his surroundings. The cool trickling of his own blood offset the deep-seated heat and hopeless vision he had witnessed once again, freeing him from his own psychosis. Avures's breaths crept to a normal pace again as he pulled his right hand away from his face, taking note of the red stains sitting atop of his spatial hand. He shook his head in a violent manner as he wiped his right hand across his face, smearing the blood overtop of his face but drawing an end to the slow drip of it.

Avures took this moment of newfound lucidity to reassess the situation... But the moment he tried to gain a clear, coherent thought, the sound of tearing flesh and gargled breaths were faintly heard down the street ahead of him. He had the quick understanding to know that someone may have just been murdered or was in their last moments. The street it originated from was one he hadn't walked down. He thought that no one was out tonight. That was all the more reason Avures immediately hopped into action. Foregoing his apprehension, Avures kept his left hand on his sword's grip as he ran off down the road ahead...

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Sparks of yellow energy leapt out from a reddened arm as a figure stood overtop of the gruesome scene. At the feet of this figure lay two pieces of a human. An upper and lower half, separated by a diagonal slice that emulated the clean slice of a butcher against a slab of meat. The life drained from the victim as quickly as one would expect with no recourse or final words to be had.

Addle held his blood-soaked arm out in front of him as the yellow bolts of swirling electricity which sat overtop slowed down until they no longer existed. His mouth was slightly pursed open as he watched the dancing light of energy fade out. His eyes sat upon his arm. His face held no discernable emotion. However, he soon closed his eyes and shrugged as he turned himself around, kicking the upper half of the recently deceased man out of his way as he stood face to face with The Sergeant.

"There's no passion or excitement in this. A useless test." Addle placed his hands on his hips as he turned to the side and gazed off.

"I just wanted to see if you were being truthful. You went through with it, so I suppose you really are aligned with us. But honestly, I took you for someone who enjoys killing." The Sergeant felt uneasy with the sudden shift in overall tone that Addle had undergone. The usually strange and obscene man now looked to be uncaring and rather conscientious.

"You look at people and think you understand their nature? You're just asking to be gutted like a fish." Addle scoffed, spitting at the ground as he refused to turn and look The Sergeant in the eyes. "... I do enjoy murder. But these-... Things? There's no fun in that."

"What do you mean by that?" The Sergeant wasn't someone who became particularly queasy by death or sickened by the macabre aspect of brutalization. But, he found himself unable to peel his own gaze away from the severed body behind Addle.

"The numbers within our outfit are all husks without meaning. They serve a singular purpose, and that is to be a body. They are to be an engine of death and destruction. In that way, most of them have their personalities torn from them... Or, in some very rare cases, they end up like me... And those like me end up as Priests usually. But to plainly explain what I mean in all this..." Addle twisted his neck to lock eyes with The Sergeant. A creeping smile spread out across his face with a perverse tone gleaming outwards. "They don't scream. They don't cry out. They might as well have been considered a dead soul before I ripped away the essence of life from them."

"That's right... For a moment I had considered that perhaps there was a bright side to this person... Something salvageable. I was playing the fool from this guy's moment of mania that formed from a denial of satisfaction to his own blood-lust." The Sergeant closed his eyes, finally tearing away his vision from the deceased cultist behind Addle.

"Were you disturbed by the lack of feedback from when you struck me across the face earlier?" Addle placed his bloodied hand on his cheek, imprinting the crimson stains onto his face and overtop of his lips. "In that way, I am guilty of being just like them. I didn't feel a thing, nor did I feel the need to cry out. But in that same breath, you understand exactly how I feel about killing cultists."

"It did feel pointless to hit you like that... But my staff isn't a direct killing tool. I was just doing it-"

"Because I had to."

"Because I had to."

"It's not the brotherhood that keeps me from killing them. It is that feeling exactly. It's pointless. It's not fun. But I have to for you to trust me, eh?" Addle shrugged, giggling in the process.

"What are you gaining from this?" The Sergeant tilted his head at the man. "What are you doing this for?"

"Everyone has a self-serving purpose within all things they do. For me? Personally, I want to redefine mutilation. I want to become the perfect vessel for hatred and malice. I want to create such grotesque scenes that the wrath of the heavens shall need to be brought upon me." Addle threw his arms out wide as he shunted his face to the sky. With his smile gleaming towards the moonlight, he basked in the purest idea of his dream realized... But he slowly let his arms fall to his side and his face fell back down to meet The Sergeant's mask once more. "But that first starts with me making sure you'll stay out of my way with my job here."

"So... Your job isn't solely to protect this Korkolo guy... What is it?"

"Simple. I'm going to kill that Felsta kid and consume his brain matter directly from his skull. Everyone else can do whatever they want... But my job is clear... Does that bother you? After all, I can tell you're anything but fond of all this. You hate me. You hate this cult you're serving..."

"Of course it bothers me... But my mission has nothing to do with you or that kid... So... Consider me out of your way..."

"Great... Now I think I-" Addle swung himself around to walk the other way, closing his eyes and taking long strides forward when he came to a sharp stop in his movement. His eyelids peeled open as far as they could within a single moment as his vision locked directly onto another's in front of him.

Avures stood there, frozen in the moment with his hand still on the handle of his blade and blood covered over the top half of his face. Addle was completely still as well with blood sitting overtop the right side of his face. The two were motionless... Addle was unsure of just how long Avures had been there. And there was no doubt that the two of them recognized each other from earlier. The Sergeant stood some ways back, realizing the sheer amount of complications now at hand... It was a standoff now...

Avures moved first, pulling at the handle of his sword and-

"Don't move or I'll turn your neck into a fountain and drink from it."

Avures felt the pressure of immense heat and energy against his neck as tiny bursts and electricity popped all around his head. Addle had his left arm out, wrapped once more in his yellow bolts pressed against Avures's neck. He stopped dead in his tracks, his entire body still as his eyes widened.

"How is this guy that fast? I couldn't have even used Future Sight..." Avures clenched his jaw as his heart raced. What could he even do? This was a death knell... "I can't believe I'm in another dire situation like before... Something has to give..."

"Hey. Addle, that's enough." Kataline stood down at another intersection a few yards down, the bottom of her face and her eyes illuminated by a dull lantern's flame. She strutted closer to the three of them. Avures managed to turn his neck just enough to catch a glimpse of her... He had no idea who this was.

"Oy, Avura... Don't tell me what to do. I'll gouge your eyes out with this kid's fingernails." Addle tilted his head back with a smile, further pressing his electrified arm against Avures's neck.

"A-... Avura?" Avures trembled as he fully honed in on Kataline. A bead of sweat trickled down his face as his heart came to a sudden stop. His breaths became heavy with uncertainty. His eyes stopped, halting the movement of time while he gazed upon Kataline's face. Pink hair... Slanted lime-green eyes... A scar crossing over the top half of her face going to the bottom... "You... You're not Avura."

"Hmph. Of course I am. What are you talking about?" Kataline matched Avures's stare with one her own, holding a slight smile.

"Then why d-... She's d-... Who are you?"

"I've had enough of you acting out, Addle!" Korkolo waddled down the path behind where Kataline had approached from. His arms were behind his back as he approached with a blank stare. Avures had hardly noticed at first, but he heard grunts right next to him and realized that a purple aura surrounded the arm that was pressed against his neck. He turned himself slowly and carefully, seeing that this "Addle" person was frozen. Avures ducked out from his reach, keeping his hand on his sword as he tried to create space between himself and the three of these people. Korkolo sighed. "I thought I made myself clear before... But this has gone on long enough... Killing one of our own innocent villagers out in the open. I'm so sorry you've had to see all this, Mister Kovar. I assure you that I'll be getting rid of this beast. Please, don't-"

"Korkolo. He knows." Addle dropped his struggle and spoke clearly. The purple glimmer soon followed his lack of struggle, fading out as Addle turned himself to fully face his superior. "I... Apologize. I apologize for killing one of our own out of frustration. However, this kid heard me talk and watched me do it..."

"Huh?..."

"I know what you are..." Avures drew his sword. The power of his Future Sight stretched out over his face and eye in the formation of cracks and lines, pouring into his pupil and causing it to glow with a bright white color around it. "You're all cultists... All four of you, and every person in this town."

"Unfortunate that you had to see that. Even more unlucky is that you said it all out loud too. You're a dead man now." Addle scoffed, breaking into a full on giggling fit.

"I don't think so. You need me." Avures steeled his resolve further, honing in his focus more and more. His entire body was tense, ready to jump at a moment's notice to the point that his eyesight became blurred with pure strain. "I know what the point of this is. You-... You want to use it to revive him... O-Ozix."

"He's right in that regard." Korkolo rolled his eyes while sighing. He shrugged, holding his hands out. "Addle, despite the fact that I would have no objections to you killing him normally... You can't until we get that artifact."

"So... Avura was right... She wasn't just building up a lot of steam or anything. It was actually the truth." The Sergeant continued to watch on, choosing to remain silent as he remained on standby. Though, he felt at least a little conflicted. "Had she not done that just a moment ago, perhaps I would have switched allegiances here... She probably did that on purpose though because she figured I would have flipped sides if he was able to fight."

"It's my advantage here... So, you're all going t-t-to let us leave... Or-Or else." Despite his best efforts to maintain focus and his conviction giving him an impression of power in this scenario... Avures felt his eyelids getting heavy. Against his own willpower, his vision was deteriorating. It wasn't sheer focus impairing his own vision, it was some other thing...

"And if I don't let you leave?" Korkolo grinned, crossing his arms over his chest as he began to stride forward.

"I'll... I'll make a whole helluva lot of noise. D-Do you think you can handle six o-o-on four?" Avures's legs began to feel weak as he nearly lost his balance and stumbled to his right. His thoughts started to become lost to nothingness, like a fog had formed in his own mind and threatened to bury him.

"Ha. Ha-Ha. Bah-Ha-Ha-Hah!" Korkolo stopped in place as he released a simple chuckle, but soon broke out into full on belly-laughing as he bent over and chortled to his heart's content. After a few more moments of indulging his laughter, Korkolo stood straight up once more. "Good job, Avura. A moment of misfortune has turned to our advantage."

"The part of the back where the neck and shoulders meet are quite resistant to pain. He never even noticed." Kataline raised her right arm up and held her hand over her chest. Avures was able to use what waning strength he had to peer at what her clenched fist was holding... Two needles in between her fingers... Avures blinked as the realization set in. He reached his right hand back behind his head...

"When?... When did she?..." Avures felt a long, thin needle poking out the back of his neck. He removed it without issue, pulling it up to his eyes before his hand totally relaxed and the needle slid out from his grasp onto the ground. "N-no... I can't..."