This is a bad idea. Mother Elaine repeated. She sat in the back row in the middle of the three seats. Helda was driving Daniel’s truck like a maniac, and Rebecca, who sat behind the driver’s seat, had to consistently warn her of the speed she was traveling, and it was not her vehicle to begin with. Thora sat in the front passenger seat, being the navigator.
Mother Elaine doesn’t know where they all are heading but is still in a constant state of worry that Daniel will take their sudden disappearance in a different direction. “Did you guys leave a note?”
“No, why?” Rebecca responded.
“Oh, Jesus.” Mother Elaine mumbled, putting her hands over her head.
“Will be fine, we should be done by noon and get back before he wakes up,” Thora stated.
“But you ordered Helda to sneak into his room to take the damn keys.”
Thora then turned to her, “Look, it’s okay. Everything is gonna go to plan.”
“Where are you taking us?” Liam asked.
One right turn revealed the massive building ahead with large, imprinted characters on its respective corners. And below it was the translation in English, or Englisc as inhabitants of Raal called it. King Martial Arts Center. Straightforward but generic.
Helda went on the detour that led to the building’s main entrance. The place was the most modern earth-like structure Mother Elaine had seen so far out of all the other places she passed on the way here.
“And here we are,” Thora announced, first exiting the truck.
Helda moved a little over next to the wide entrance before pushing up the truck’s gear stick to park, massaging her forearms. “Oof, this truck was kind of hard to articulate around. Stiff driving wheel.”
“What did I say of you driving like a maniac,” Rebecca mentioned.
“Oh, please. I've driven trucks before. Just not like this one,” Helda refuted. She exited the driver’s seat, shutting off the Ford pickup. “This has to be customed.”
Rebecca opened her side and Mother Elaine followed her way out. She walked out, closing the door behind her.
Zhengyu, Xavier, and Zarlise leaped off the truck bed, and everyone gathered behind Thora as she took them into what turned out to be the training facility.
Qi energized doors in action when Thora gracefully walked through the vibrating and transparent shield. She gestured to the rest to come through. Rebecca hesitated.
“It’s okay. They don’t slam our heads,” she clarified, pointing up where the green light flashes on the outer door’s frame.
Mother Elaine gripped her shoulder, “Then let’s go together.”
She paced through the door with Rebecca in her grip, pulling her in. After passing the doors, they arrived at the lobby, and she let her go.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Thora turned to Rebecca, and Helda caught up with her.
“Let’s hope we can find out what you two are really,” She commented, flashing her blue eyes. “Because your qi is stabilized enough to pass the minimum, you should be able to perform the basics once you are taught the steps.”
The two breathed and followed her as she directed all up the humongous stairs.
Mother Elaine sauntered the way up, being the last arriving on the second floor. They were wondering why she was slogging, and she muttered about Daniel, causing them to be a little fretful.
“One more word and we are leaving you behind,” Thora warned.
This is not good. Mother Elaine mentally expressed the doubt, but visibly nodded at her warning.
Continuing along the second floor, turning to the left led to the entire main training facility. The windows to the outside were on the right, revealing the direction of the outskirts of Kriegshan where the hotel is also relatively located.
The open part of the gym where people can test their qi and perform various simulations is on the right. Trying to cast the negative thoughts away, Mother Elaine was fascinated by the quality it provides, reminding her of a gym facility in downtown Colemond that was opened only a couple years ago.
Already the King Martial Arts Center was relatively much bigger than the Colemond gym. She was surprised there were no computers or similar technology despite the feat the world of Raal has shown so far with such buildings and technology operated by qi and magic, that she anticipated learning about soon.
Continuing walking behind the group, she overheard there's one more stair to go up to. All walked up the other set of stairs. The windows on the right haven't gone away like a long hiking trail.
An earthquake vibration abruptly disturbed the walkthrough causing all to stumble and braced the stair’s railing. Mother Elaine stared at the window, horrified at the view of Kriegshan’s outskirts.
The Light Pillars! She immediately recognized the sky-blue pillar shooting upwards as tall as a skyscraper. However, a skull mask levitated in the air that was generated from the qi. It roared loudly across the radius of the city, generating another vibrant shake. Mother Elaine’s horrified expression turned to anger as she knew this was going to happen.
“Y’all said it would be fine!” Mother Elaine exclaimed. “Are y’all excluding him?!”
Thora’s eyes flashed bright blue, casting a magic that locked Mother Elaine to the floor. She landed on her knees with her arms. Everyone beside Thora turned right at Mother Elaine with blue eyes shined through their pupils.
Mind control?! When the hell did this happen? Mother Elaine thought.
“I have to admit, you are hard to get over,” Thora commented; almost as if she was complimenting her. “But you are just as annoying as the man you came with.”
Fuck you! Mother Elaine reacted with a fully tightened neck and mouth open, revealing her bleeding white teeth. You won’t get away with this! Her anger reached the peak that led to her arms to tender, in reaction to the binding space. The encircled rings revealed themselves encircling the torso and chest. Her golden qi leaked out due to the pressure of the rings that strangled her. Viewing the rings, it moved as if it had its own flow of river in a circular path.
“Stop resisting, It’s futile…”
How the hell am I gonna stop! Mother Elaine couldn’t talk but her mind was still ranting like a lion’s roar. Finding out her legs were still movable, she extended out her ankles to regain footing. Come on…move it. Quickly, she got up on her feet, surprising Thora and prompting her to charge down the stairs. The rest on the stairs went on defense pose in reaction to the scenario taking fold.
Mother Elaine growled, continuing to apply more pressure between the chains that locked her.
Crack!
The rings visibly showed cracks, disrupting the flow and it abruptly stopped. She breathed in and looked up and saw Thora closing the distance. One more! Mother Elaine exerted once more, causing the rings to shatter and spew away from her.
Boom!
Heavy gusts emitted from her body due to the significant constraint. A golden aura surrounded her, and Thora was blasted away by the initial gust, allowing Mother Elaine to punch. She thrust a downward punch, prompting her to go down on the concrete headfirst.
Possessed Helda and Rebecca leaped into the air. I am sorry. Mother Elaine dodged away, and a vortex of qi swirled from her right knuckle, hugging her entire right arm. No hesitation, an uppercut to Helda’s busty chest, ending her knuckle to the bottom of the jaw. Levitating her from the air, she redirected the movement right at Rebecca, who was on Mother Elaine’s right.
Effectively, it knocked both out and crashed onto the wall, cracking a bit of the window.
Thora lifted her head from the damaged floor, witnessing her head pattern imprinted onto the cracks.
Stolen novel; please report.
Pew!
“Gah!” Mother Elaine grunted. She felt a sharp sting inflicted on her shoulders. Half-turning to the end of the stairway behind her, a couple of archers were already in position and eyes locked in.
21.2
“HRAHHH!” Daniel yelled, echoing across the wide parts of Kriegshan’s outskirts. Celeste, Solomon, and Sally observed the upgraded power he received after leaving the underground Main Street arena.
That felt good. He relaxed the muscle tendons around his shoulders, descending back down to the ground. Looking at his entirely new fit, he slowly grew to like the upgrades it received. It was heavy upon first wear but quickly adapted to it.
“It feels empty,” Daniel muttered, referring to the smaller group standing alongside him.
Celeste checked her backpack, pulling out three emblems. “I know, but we can’t let their deaths be in vain. I’m sure Hierax, Armando, and Summer’s sacrifices were their own right decision in the hope we have better lives to look forward to.”
She handed the three emblems to Daniel.
“You keep it in the bag for now, I don’t have proper pockets at the moment.”
What’s that? Daniel looked in the direction of the source of qi.
Solomon repads his arms, “Someone you recognize?”
“That’s…Mother Elaine’s qi, no doubt about it.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Sally asked, seemingly concerned that they all might have to assist the ones who left Daniel’s emotions in shambles.
Daniel took a couple steps forward, “I’m going for the sake of more information. Sounds reasonable?”
“Well let’s go then,” Solomon urged, leaping his heavyweight up to the air.
The three glided into the air to avoid the crater Solomon inflicted and caught up to him. Daniel sped up to lead the way. He traced the qi to the right and did a hard curve; the square white building looked like a convention center.
--
Enhancing Vision’s range
--
He saw his truck parked at the front entrance and right above was the window where the qi came from. There she is. Daniel pulled the brakes, stopping mid-air. He summoned Licht without the scabbard within his grasp, now a greatsword with a white hilt and black blade. He flung it like a spear, aiming it right at the window.
It sprinted through the high depths in a rapid descent, shattering through the shards of glass and landing on the concrete floor, separating Thora and Mother Elaine. Heavy foggy mist exerted from the blade, blocking views from both sides.
“Solomon and Sally, you take care of everyone. And don’t kill them yet, as well spare Thora, I’ll deal with her,” Daniel commanded, hand gesturing to the right.
He, along with Celeste took the left and sped down through like a projectile. Recognizing the archers with matching outfits as the S.B. who attacked his hotel room, Daniel thrust both of his hands and crashed into the two archers to the floor.
Using their bodies as leverage, he flipped away and landed on the floor with his left foot. Furthermore, he thrust his right leg upward before slamming it down so hard that he heard the startling crack coming from the spine. Blood squirted like a balloon pop upon impact and collapsed a part of the floor.
The whole place turned into a panic as the confrontation began. He looked in the direction of Mother Elaine, who was staring at the commotion that was occurring behind the foggy mist. He went up beside her and lifted Licht out of the floor, dispersing the mist.
“Stop Thora…” Mother Elaine muttered while gripping her bleeding shoulder.
“What?”
“She controlled them all.”
Daniel looked at her straight in the eye, “I know. I sensed it from outside. But you’re hurt!’ He looked at her shoulder, yanking the arrow off. “Those S.B.’s has no dignity. I wonder if Thora was the one that sent it to my room.”
Celeste palmed the gaping hole, closing the wound after a second touch of her palm. “She’s clean.”
Daniel nodded before turning back to Mother Elaine. “Mother, this is Celeste. She’ll take you back to the hotel and direct her to my truck.”
“What about them,” Mother Elaine questioned, pointing at the rest lying on the floor next to Solomon and Sally as they stood tall, watching them.
“Change of plan!” Daniel sighed, calling Solomon and Sally. “Take them all and follow Celeste.”
“What about that lady there,” Solomon mentioned of Thora.
“I’ll deal with her alone, you guys go first. Hurry, the KPD will be arriving quickly.”
As they went along, Daniel walked right up to Thora, whose head was traumatized by the punch Mother Elaine inflicted which surprised him.
“You—”
“My god, you got some terrible allies to begin with according to the papers.”
“What in god damn’s worth do you know?!” Thora rambled. Blood rained from the pores of her skin, dangerous as told.
“Everything he has written,” Daniel muttered, grabbing her neck, and lifting her in the air. “Victoria is with David, is she?”
--
Mission Added (1):
Take her powers.
--
Thora didn’t react to his question. Daniel angrily tossed her outside and he hovered above her as she was in the air. “Come on, show me what you really are!"
He fired a tennis ball blast from the palm of his left hand right above her. Not before getting the chance for her to defend, the tennis ball exploded a few inches away from her. Daniel went through the clusters of smoke, kicking her as if he was doing it to a soccer ball. The force took her to the area where he first arrived at underground Kriegshan.
She crashed down to the ground, and Daniel descended on the ground, waiting for her.
Buzz!
A yellow bolt of lightning flashed from debris. Daniel thrust his left hand out, coming to contact with a fair degree of electricity. “Come on, that’s lame.” He gripped his fingers down as if grabbing the electric charge, quickly dispersing it right in front of Thora’s eyes.
--
Electric charge: 500,000 V/ 500,000 V
Max Limit!!!
--
“How the hell!”
Daniel fired back the lightning bolt she charged that shattered a bit of her armored layer, exposing a bit of her skin.
“You’ll pay for this!” Thora yelled, deploying her axe midway through the jump.
Daniel lifted Licht as she slammed down the axe right onto him. The blade reacted to the clashing with her axe, summoning a high-temperature mist to melt a chip off the axe’s blade. He thrust it right at her, sending her off guard.
Subsequently, he performed one long horizontal slash, creating a pillar summoned that shot up from the ground, blitzing her in the air.
<< I don’t think the lore of notes matched her capabilities.>> Licht commented.
< That’s the vibe I’m getting. >
<< Have you realized all that they share? Her, Lord Buhne, David, and so on. >>
Daniel was not intrigued by this at all. He immediately rejects the mission Skoltor displayed. < They are so fakes in battle. The mind is their pride. Once that’s gone, they are useless >
<< Bingo. And stop wasting time, just end this, there’s nothing else useful from her. We still have that bastard David left to deal with. >>
Stabbing a tiny bit down the ground followed by an increased grip at the hilt, a staircase of pillars that progressively grew per level was summoned in a long line. Fast as the speed of light. The last level engulfed her, bringing farewells to the traitor.
--
Mission Ongoing (2):
Take her powers.
Kill Thora
↓
Mission removed (1):
Take her powers.
--
Mission completed (1):
Kill Thora.
Rewards:
General Class Meter ↑
Swordsman Class Meter ↑
Electric Charge ↑
--
General Class (LV.2) Meter: [1%] → [1.5%]
Swordsman Class (LV.1) Meter: [0%] → [5%]
--
“This was not a warm welcome. What a boring scene.” Daniel mumbled to himself. He flew away, heading to the hotel.
Arriving back, he found Solomon, Sally, and Celeste had just arrived back at the hotel with the truck back at the spot where it should have been.
“Where’s Thora?” Celeste asked.
“Dead with Lord Buhne. Two frauds reunite in hell.”
“I told you,” Solomon chuckled.
Daniel shrugged and walked in first, directing them up the stairs. He was greeted by the clerks.
“Welcome back, Daniel. How’s the underground rumble,” The lady clerk asked, not realizing the appearance changes. The male clerk went out the counter directing Solomon up the stairs and others followed along. Daniel leaned on the counter and lifted his beard, revealing the metal implants under his jaw.
“Oh my god! What happened to you?!”
“There’s a time distortion underground, so only an hour here which is more than one year below,” Daniel answered while gesturing his finger down.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
Daniel smiled. “It’s fine. It’s painful but it saved me in a way.” He nudged away from the counter, heading back upstairs. “By the way, call me Julius, and if you want to know the story, come upstairs... I’ll invite him as well.”