25. Stay Put

Scott stared at where Avernus previously stood after the Spectra vanished without a trace, while Brandon’s laugh reverberated through the messed up room.

“Interesting,” said Brandon.

Scott hummed before looking out the wide, glass windows, to the direction of Evander District. “I must thank that man. To think he satiated my anger by insulting you.”

“Oh, please.”

“But it’s odd. To see someone talk to you like that. Even if it was a Class IV like you, I would have expected you, to at least, tear off one of their limbs. Not that I would let that happen with what’s on the line,” said Scott, not hiding his murderous intent, even if directed at his own brother.

SPECTRA may be helping now, but that doesn’t mean that he had completely let his older brother off the hook from how he dealt with the overall situation. Brandon is still a scum.

Brandon grinned, similar to that carefree, cheerful grin he always had when they were younger. What a quick turnaround. What the hell happened to him? “Are you stupid? He’s backed by that guy. You might as well ask me to kill myself.”

“Oh? Who?”

It was General Marius who replied. “The Director of SPECTRA. One of our only two Class Vs.”

“Ah, of course. Brandon may be the Rank 5, but a Class IV is still leagues below those who reached the peak,” he said, clearly still trying to provoke Brandon.

Brandon clicked his tongue at that.

General Marius replied. “Yes. But even so, Mr. Scott. You’ve seen how calm Avernus was, no?”

“Yes? Unusually so.”

“Aye. He was prepared to duel your brother to the death. And I can only wonder what gave him that confidence,” General Marius said, his weary features flashing with an amused smile. “There is much more to him than you may think. Isn’t that right, Mr. Ian?”

“Sure.” The door opened, and Ian walked in. “There is a saying among active Class IIIs in the frontlines: ‘Do not fight Avernus. You’re doomed to die’,” he said.

Scott raised a brow. Sure, while he felt, even as a Level 70 Class III, that he could lose to Avernus–– that doesn’t mean he has no chance of winning. “That’s a bit much, don’t you think? Isn’t he only Level 52? Surely, he can’t be that strong.”

“If it’s a sparring, he’s not much. But in a true battle, I doubt he’d lose to any Class III. Even Zoren told me he’d most likely lose.”

Scott briefly stole a glance at Brandon, wondering if the asshole’s pride would push him to call bullshit. But, he only kept his eyes closed as he listened to the conversation. “That’s interesting. So, you could say that in terms of strength, he’s within the Top 10 within the Awakened.”

“You could say that, since the System Rankings only ranks us based on our levels, anyway. Like, it’s a well-known fact that father can beat Headmaster Kelly, right? Even if he’s a level lower,” Ian said.

Scott inwardly agreed. In terms of true power, the System Rankings really isn’t the best platform to measure an Awakened’s true strength.

To use Ian’s example, Brandon may be the Rank 5 in the System Rankings, but he’s considered the League’s fourth strongest, next only to the Sky Sovereign, the Director of SPECTRA, and Eclipse. Still, "I still feel like that’s a bit of a reach,” he said, perhaps out of his own pride as a Class III.

“Trust me. You’ll know if you spar him,” said Ian. “When we sparred, I won. But it’s like,” he added before pausing, gazing out the window, seemingly lost for words. “It’s like you could smell your own death. A subdued smell. So, it would interesting to see him truly fight an actual Class IV.”

At those words, no one spoke. Scott wondered if the others must be imagining themselves in Ian’s shoes like he did. To smell your own death, huh?

Ian broke the silence when he addressed Brandon. He did not look amused at all and spared his own father no warmth. “Anyway. I’m glad you’ve chosen the wise path, father. We should not have sent them to the Academy in the first place. I warned you, that if Lewisia couldn’t kill you, they’ll go after the family.”

“If you’ve come to gloat, then you may take your leave,” Brandon replied with a huff.

But it was Scott, alongside General Marius, who took their leave as the father and son ensued their usual senseless verbal spat.

***

Lucas panted as he splashed cold water on his face inside a public washroom.

Holy shit. I thought I was going to die! Lucas thought. He remembered that when Brandon did that Pressure Release thing, Lucas was so afraid that he actually mentally blacked out for a few seconds.

He’s fucking insane. He’s not the Rank 5 for nothing. But we’re past that. Mission is complete. Now, I just have to wait, Lucas thought.

And wait he did, not knowing why he waited inside the public washroom. Like, can you imagine the smell?

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Cale to ring him.

[Report.]

“Hold on. I’m in a washroom. Let me go to the rooftop real quick. Signal here is pretty bad,” he said, wasting no time before he vanished, appearing at the rooftop of a building, overlooking the city from above.

He managed to procure Blink again after losing his previous one when he used it to combine for his Cooldown Reduction spell.

He tightened his fluttering cloak around his body when he chilled from the cold wind, eyes at the Evander District. It would likely take him roughly half an hour to reach his destination.

As he considered the fastest and most inconspicuous path to take, he deactivated his Aura to allow his comms device function again.

A buzz and some radio noise later, Cale’s voice entered his ears.

[Report if you can hear me.]

“Brandon transferred the operation over to us. We can proceed,” Lucas said. They only have about an hour and half left before the deadline, and he’s itching for a fight. “But what was that about anyway? Did you have to be so rude?”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

[The Director and President Harvey wanted to rein him in. This situation is simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.]

“But why?”

[Master Livia. She–– expressed concerns regarding his treatment of Aoife.]

“She snitched.”

[I suppose, but good job. Now, I need you to head to these coordinates.]

“Okay. Should take about half an hour,” said Lucas. “Evander District, right?”

[No. Lowell District. The city’s western outskirts. Check the coordinates I sent you. But your ETA should be roughly the same.]

Lucas blinked as he checked his phone, to the coordinates Cale just sent. “Isn’t Evander where they’re being kept? Where is this?”

[An abandoned port at Lowell. I’ll explain the details later. Just disconnect your comms and go. Let me know when you’re there.]

Lucas fell into silence–– hesitating. Why Lowell? Rescuing Fia should be easy. But as he waited for Cale to further explain, there was nothing.

[Did you hear me? Your line is still on. Respond if you copy.]

Truly, he trusts Cale. He really does. But this would be Lucas’ first mission with him as his handler. He’s not sure if this would be the proper decision. “Why Lowell?”

[I said I’ll give you the details later on. You need to get moving. We’re running out of time.]

Lucas frowned but nodded.

For some reason, even if Cale wasn’t physically in the vicinity, the Mexurian’s voice had an air that screamed: Everything will be fine. So, despite his hesitation, Lucas chose to trust him. “Understood. I’m going offline,” he said. “But while I don’t know why you’re sending me there, I. trust you know what you’re doing, Cale.”

[Your concerns are noted, Avernus.]

***

It took Lucas a bit just over half an hour to reach his destination. Thankfully, his ETA didn’t change much after he changed route to make sure nobody saw him jumping through the buildings.

He could have flown as he originally planned, but air transport was also particularly busy tonight.

There’s some kind of a concert going on at the Freedom Arena, so plenty of hovercrafts of all sizes flew to and fro on the night sky.

“I’m here,” he said as he stood atop a hill overlooking the abandoned port, save for the shipping containers that must be empty inside. “Am I too close?”

[No, you’re fine. I’ll tell you when to jump down later. Remain hidden for now.]

“What am I waiting for?” he asked as he looked at the time. They only had an hour left before the deadline.

[Stay put and remain on the line.]

Lucas frowned as he heaved a light sigh. “This is going to be boring.”

[Do you sense anybody? Any third-party Awakened?]

“That’s a hard ask without my Aura on,” he said before removing an orb-like object from his pocket and throwing it at the sky. It silently exploded and melted like salt dissolving in water. “Just one soul core detected in a… uh, 5 kilometre radius.”

[That’s bad.]

“It is?”

[The Detection Orb can only detect Class Is, remember? To only detect one means there are Class II Awakened or above hiding their soul cores.]

“If we have Awakened hiding somewhere, what are they waiting for?” he said.

[Aoife is on her way. She’ll be there in about 10 minutes.]

“I see. Gotch–– Hold up. Did you say Aoife?”

[I said Aoife.]

Lucas fell quiet, squinting his eyes. “Hold on. Why the hell is Aoife coming? Did you ask her to––”

[She doesn’t know about us. She’s coming for Fia.]

“Then we need to––!” Lucas was about to shout, but managed to calm himself. “––warn her.” He didn’t know why he was agitated. He suspected that Cale must be using her as bait, and he didn’t like that.

[If you don’t want her to die, you need to stay put.]

“Damn it, Cale. Come on. Can’t you just tell me what the hell is going on?”

[…Do I have to spell out everything to you? I’m not sure how, but what’s important is that the kidnappers obviously told her to come alone if she wants Fia alive, and not tell anybody about. Then they gave her a false location. Thanks to our tracker, we know the coordinates they gave.]

“And she took the bait? That’s hard to believe. No one is that stupid. I’m pretty sure she must at least have told Scott if not her father.”

[Weren’t you paying attention earlier? They were only concerned about Fia. That means they don’t know what Aoife’s up to. That’s one of the reasons why I sent you there, to confirm that they don’t know Aoife’s being baited. As far as they’re aware, she’s still at the Academy enjoying her sleep.]

“But––”

[Remember that she’s not trained how to act rationally under pressure like us. But even you–– you’re making your own training slip, Lucas. If you don’t want her to die, remain calm and stay put.]

Speaking of calm. For some reason, while Cale’s voice was calm, it had a hint of impatience and annoyance.

[Think. False information? Awakened hiding their soul cores? You should already realize why you’re there.]

Lucas gulped, finally realizing the rationale behind Cale’s decision. “I do. . . ,” he whispered as he closed his eyes.

[No one is that stupid? Lucas, people act mostly based on their emotions. And as much as you must hate it, I need you to know that applies to you too. That’s why I didn’t give you the whole picture. Because I want you to realize that you’re only being logical when you want to. You apply logic to others, but not to yourself.]

That’s right. Lucas does criticize others when they act irrationally, like how he criticized Aoife for falling to an obvious bait, and obviously without a plan too.

What can she even do when she reaches her destination? Save her cousin from a bunch of armed thugs?

But, did he really have the right to call her stupid, when he acted just the same? If he was in Aoife’s shoes, he most likely would have done the same thing.

And if he didn’t listen to Cale and rushed to save Fia, then he would have fallen to Lewisia’s bait, and Aoife would be in danger.

He dreaded at the thought. I really am I slipping, he thought.

Basically, Aoife is Lewisia’s contingency if the Defense lied with having Victor.

“Sorry, Cale. For not trusting you . . .”

[In the future, there will be many more cases like this, and you won’t always have someone to guide you. It’s going to be a long process, but you’ll learn.]

“The future, huh. . .?” Lucas smiled. The future. It’s like Cale can see the future.

Lucas initially thought that it would be stupid for Lewisia to act this early on to steal Victor. After all, he was under the impression that Lewisia infiltrated the Academy to find and create an opportunity to steal the relic in the first place.

But instead, they blackmailed Brandon to give them Victor by kidnapping Fia, potentially bypassing whatever security the Academy might have for Victor.

And Cale foresaw this. Cale foresaw Lewisia making an early move. A pre-emptive strike. To act when they least expected it.

Lucas didn’t understand how Cale could have predicted their move. But he did.

Sure, Cale told him all about that criminal underworld stuff, of Lewisia placing a bounty on Brandon to learn what the government is planning to do by leaking Victor’s information.

There’s also the matter with the Seven Petals of Lewisia.

But knowing all of that in advance? It’s like he really can see the future, thought Lucas. He wasn’t swayed about the kidnapping, and focused on the bigger picture–– Case Farewell. And here I am, jumping at every fucking situation.

[We’ll take more later. For now, let’s focus on the mission. Once the Defense’s person gets here to do the exchange, and when Lewisia finds out they have been lied to, then I’ll rescue Fia and the rest. That’s when the kidnappers will come to capture Aoife.]

“Understood. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” Lucas said, understanding Cale’s plan was not without its merit. Because if he was in Lewisia’s position, he would know that there’s no way the Defense would give up Victor.

He would know the Defense will use the exchange as a distraction to rescue Fia. The how doesn’t matter. What matters is the intent. That’s when he would capture Aoife.

In hindsight, it really is a very simple plan. But knowing this without hindsight is what makes Cale truly impressive.

[Good.]

Ten minutes later, Aoife showed up, looking around in confusion. She retrieved her phone and placed it before her cheek. She looked both afraid and angry.

Lucas read her lips and expression.

“I’m here. You can see me? Where are you? You want me right? What? Wait for what? But you promised to release her if I show up! He hung up… What should I do now?”

Lucas whispered on his comms attached to his mask. “She’s here.”

[Still waiting on the Defense.]

Five minutes later, Cale’s voice echoed through his comms.

[Defense is here. They’re going inside to do the exchange.]

“Got it. I also see five figures approaching Aoife. Four of them are wearing cloaks, but one of them isn’t. Gotta admire the confidence,” Lucas said before retrieving a small telescope from his pocket. “Damn…”

[What?]

“It’s Araldas.”

[I see. Go offline. Let’s move in. No matter what, don’t let them get close to Aoife. And try to capture Araldas alive.]

“Consider it do––,” said Lucas as his mouth widened. “Holy shit.”

[I heard gunshots. What’s happening there, Lucas?]

“One of them, the Class I we detected, just pulled out a gun and began firing. Araldas avoided getting shot, but the other three–– head shots. They died on the spot. Araldas looks angry,” said Lucas as he watched Araldas activate his Aura. “I’m going offline, Cale. Good luck on your end.”

Not waiting for Cale’s response, black flames roared about Lucas as he activated his Aura, killing the comms signal.

He used Blink just before Araldas could stab the shooter deep in the chest.

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

***

Coming up next week on the Ring of Avernus is a battle...