Chapter 101: Meeting at the Echo Building

Earlier…

"Xenia wait… Rein… He looked like he was about to apologize…" Saphrilla stopped walking for a second as they reached the Echo building entrance.

"Forget about him, Saph. He always does this. It was the same thing he did when he hurt Chloe. He'll come to his senses eventually. And anyway, it looked like he had something important to do. So everything should be fine, right?" Xenia proclaimed as Saphrilla looked down with a frowning expression, nodding gently.

The two walked into the building and to the receptionist, who was now at the counter where the stage used to be, the event being officially over. They asked for permission to go up to the top floor of the building, which they were granted.

They entered the elevator, which had its own dedicated glow stone hung up on the ceiling, acting like light, and power for the machine. They pressed the button for the top floor, making the elevator doors slowly close. A few moments later, the elevator was hoisted up by a sudden jerk, making them feel heavier for a moment. Then, they regained their weight as they arrived at the top floor, the silver elevator door beginning to slowly open as the sunlight from the outside hit their eyes.

They exited the elevator, entering a large office room, all of the walls being glass that overlooked the bustling metropolitan city. The sunlight that grazed the room was stretched across the walls and ceiling as the sun set over the horizon.

Behind the large, brown desk in the middle back of the room stood Ginald, looking out the window with his hands behind his back. He turned around to face the two girls, welcoming them warmly with a bright smile.

"Welcome! Right on time as well! I must say, that is a rare attribute for workers nowadays. Everyone's always so late!" Ginald ranted, trying to make the two laugh, but was met with deadpan stares.

"I assume you're the Ranger accompanying Miss Xilris? I assure you, there is no need for such overprotectiveness," Ginald said as he gestured for them to take a seat on the couch as he sat on the parallel one, face to face with them.

"Oh, I'm sure there isn't. However, I would like to stay here with her if it's okay with you? My name is Xenia Vossen by the way," she sat down beside Saphrilla, facing the man with a desk in between them, 2 brown boxes laying atop it.

"Of course! No need for formalities Miss Vossen! And I trust little Miss Tincer is at her father's home, yes?" He asked.

"Yes, they should be eating dinner as we speak," Xenia informed.

"Perfect. Let's get straight to business then," he put his elbow on the table and leaned forward, his smile twisting slightly.

"What is it you would like to offer us? I am open to virtually anything," Saphrilla began.

She sat up straight with her hands on her knees, listening attentively with stiff posture, Xenia putting her hands on her shoulder to calm down her tenseness.

"Virtually anything? Well, that's perfect," he said as he reached over to one of the boxes, what he said confusing the two girls slightly.

"First, I would like to compliment you on this groundbreaking invention. I mean this when I say that this could be the future of the city, nay, the entire continent," Ginald said as he opened the box which held the egg-shaped device that Saphrilla created, which was still vibrating slightly as the inside of it moved perpetually.

"Thank you. I am glad you think so," Saphrilla bowed.

"No, I mean, seriously! This is amazing! Not only would it provide us with a reliable, infinite source of power, but it is also cheap. That could be the solution to all of our problems…" Ginald held the device in his hands and inspected it closely.

"Indeed. That was mine and Raxo's focus when making these devices," Saphrilla explained.

"Now you say you both made it, but in reality, it was mostly you, no? All little Miss Tincer did was assemble it. You were the one who came up with the idea of perpetual motion, am I wrong?" Ginald asked, wanting to confirm something.

"I… do not understand the question…" Saphrilla tilted her head in confusion.

"What I mean is: this device is your Spring's doing. Am I correct in assuming so?"

"Yes… In that sense, the key component of driving the device lies in my Spring," Saphrilla said carefully, raising an eyebrow.

"Perfect. That's good to know," he put the device back into the box, then looked back up at Saphrilla.

"It is truly amazing… But wouldn't you say that it's missing something? Something the glow stones have that this device does not?" Ginald asked.

"Yes. Glow stone rocks can affect multiple objects at once with it's enhanced range. Unfortunately, our device still has not figured out a way to increase its radius. It will only work with objects within 10 millimeters."

"Yes, quite. Now, to get to my proposal. Or would it be more fitting to call it an order?" He snapped his fingers, metal screens suddenly dropping down over the windows, blocking out light from entering the room.

Dim lights turned on from each corner of the room as Xenia sprung up and stood in front of Saphrilla.

"The hell? What are you doing?!" Xenia yelled as she readied her greatsword, summoning it through her weapon ring.

"No need to be alarmed, miss, I am simply doing what is necessary to perfect this product," he put on a metal helmet, a glow stone propped up on the top of it as he began approaching the two girls.

"Now then Miss Xilris, why don't you put on this slave chain," he said as he grabbed Saphrilla by the arm.

As soon as he did, Xenia wound up her arm and punched him on the side of the head, holding back a little as to not kill him. He was sent flying across the room, bumping into the metal screens as Xenia shielded Saprhilla.

"Hehe, impressive. In terms of power, I don't think any machine could compete," he stood up with a smile on his face, unphased by the sheer force that was just imparted upon him.

"What… That punch should've cracked your skull… How the hell are you still able to stand?" Xenia posed as she stood there in pure shock.

"Ah, it's a little thing called a Spring, I'm sure you've heard of them before? Basically, I am able to fortify anything I touch to near invincibility, however, they become susceptible to mental attacks. Of course, that's perfect for my line of work, since I can fortify any object, without the worry of it being destroyed mentally. That's why this metal screen behind me didn't break. There's no escape either. Everything in this room has been fortified, so don't even think about breaking out," he smiled maliciously as he slowly walked towards the 2 girls.

Xenia sprung up at full speed, suddenly appearing behind him, dishing out a full-force swing of her greatsword at his neck. However, instead of slicing through, the sword simply bounced off. She scoffed, then ran back in front of Saphrilla, dashing towards the man again, dealing a full-frontal assault with a series of swings. The man sighed in a bored manner.

"Didn't I tell you it was useless? And don't even try going for mental attacks, this helmet that I invented regulates my brain stability, so even that's useless. Of course, the helmet's been fortified as well," he explained as he stopped in front of the 2, Xenia still growling at him as she stood in front of Saphrilla, with her arms out as she protected her.

"Shit! How do we beat this guy? He's virtually invincible right now! If only we could communicate with someone from the outside, but I already checked, and the tablet's not turning on in here. If only Rein was here… He could invert…" That's when the idea hit her.

She could use her ring on him to invert his Spring, she just had to keep it in direct contact with him for 3 seconds, which was easier said than done. If it left contact for even a split second, the effect wouldn't work.

"Hm? What is that other ring on your finger? It looks just like..." Ginald's eyes widened as he grabbed Xenia's hand and inspected it, inducing fear in her heart.

The man tapped the ring and looked at it curiously, Xenia beginning to breathe heavily as she felt her trauma build up. She was frightened that he would remove the ring, that the effect would come undone somehow, even for a fraction of a second. She didn't want to live through that again.

"It looks very important to you… What would happen if I were to break it?" He said, which made her shriek inside as his large hands held her thin wrist.

"No! Get away from her!" Saprhilla yelled, using her telekinesis to try and rip him away.

However, to her dismay, her telekinesis was considered a physical ability and had nearly no effect on him. All it did was further anger him.

"Tch, you brat. Your telekinesis has no effect on me. Just give up already!" He used his other arm to swat Saphrilla away, sending her dragging against the floor as she held her cheek in pain.

Xenia gasped as he did, turning her face to the girl, anger building up through her body. However, she suddenly felt a crack in her elbow joint, a sharp pulsation of pain following her anger washed over her, causing her to scream at the top of her lungs in agony.

"Well, since I don't want to break that red ring just yet, I guess I'll only break your arm for now," he cast her aside on the ground as she squirmed in pain, pulling out a second slave chain from his bag.

"You could be a useful pawn as well, Xenia Vossen. I'm going to enjoy using you," he laughed hardily as he put the chain around her neck connecting it with a ring that he wore on his finger.

"No! Xenia! What have you done to her?!" Saphrilla shrieked as she got back up.

"Oh nothing, I just bound her to this slave ring that I got from the Collins family in Treaq. Quite useful items I'd say. Your mother wasn't very fond of them though, so we had to resort to other methods," Ginald imparted, to which Saphrilla's breath was caught as she stood there with uncontrollable fear.

"My mother..? What do you… What are you talking about..?" She uttered, her voice trembling like frigid ice.

"Ah, whoops. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. Well, no use in hiding it now I suppose," he said as he opened the second box that was laid on the table.

What it held was a yellow glowing dust that lit up the center of the dimly lit room.

"This was your mother's invention. It's called 'amplifying dust'. It heightens the range of effect on anything it touches. Even glow stones. If it was sprinkled on a hammer, the hammer would affect a larger radius. If it were used on a sword, the sword would begin cutting more things. A simple item, is it not?" He smiled maliciously as he held the box up.

"But how… Mother is dead… Her Spring is gone… You shouldn't be able to produce any more…" Saprhilla claimed fearfully as Ginald's smile grew even more twisted.

"Are you sure about that?" He held up a red ring, which looked exactly like the one Xenia and Raxo wore, but felt somehow different.

Saphrilla could feel her mother's aura exuding from it, giving her a nostalgic feeling, but making her feel sick at the same time. Her fear grew even further as she could barely contain her emotions, the man putting the box down and approaching her menacingly.

"That idiot Voron never found out. It was quite funny actually, the way he agonized over it. Mr. Alen never did either. We had to hide it from him since he was friends with Voron."

"You… You monster… How could you do that…" Saphrilla's fear mixed with anger as she saw Xenia struggling to stand up from behind Ginald, holding her broken arm with her other hand.

"I know you're there, slave. You can't sneak up on me," he snapped his finger, making Xenia stand up straight against her will.

"Oh, I have a fun idea," Ginald thought out loud as he threw the slave chain to Xenia.

"You put it on the girl yourself. Wouldn't that be an interesting sight? Hahaha," Ginald ordered, to which she began moving against her will, trying her very hardest to resist.

She slowly walked to the girl on the ground and knelt down, looking at her in her bright red eyes. Against her will, she lifted both of her hands, edging through the pain as she trembled her way to Saphrilla's neck.

"Yes, perfect. Just a little bit more," Ginald spectated, smiling through his teeth.

The two girls continued to look at each other sternly, both of them furrowing their eyebrows as Xenia's hand made contact with Saphrilla's neck. Saphrilla shut her eyes tightly and took a deep breath, when suddenly, the entire room shook immensely, light shining through the metal windows as they saw a spark of fire fly through, shattering the fortress that Ginald had set up.

"What the hell?!"