Enigma

Chapter 131 : Enigma

For a split second Agni felt as if she was staring into the gaze of a predator, one running rampant and unchecked. The waves of energy she felt from Ryo were enough to cause her to take a step backwards unwillingly. Within a matter of seconds the oppressive energy on display began to shrink away.

The whole scene took place in less than ten seconds, but to Agni it felt much longer. She turned to glance upon the faces of her nearby party members, only to find that they too were frozen in place. It was not an isolated sensation…

A returning gaze at Ryo showed that he was now baring his teeth in a smile.

“Hmph. The weaklings can have those.” Ryo said as he pointed. ‘Those’ referred to drop items which littered the ground, more than Agni had ever seen in a single place. Ryo returned to his position next to Vivian, allowing the others to feel slightly less on guard.

“What was that?” Gates whispered as he drew closer to Agni.

“No idea. But it felt….”

“Invasive.” Gates finished the thought precisely. It felt as if her insides were clammy, cold and slimy. That didn’t even begin to describe what might have been a hallucination, the world turning gray.

[Bracha Modesa has invited you to join her party, ‘Rescue Queens’. Do you accept?]

Agni shot a glance towards Bracha who seemed completely unbothered by the whole display of power. Instead she smiled and waved, prompting Agni to accept the invite.

*Great. This is much easier in enemy territory. From here on out we should communicate as much as possible without using words. This is what experienced adventurers do after all.* Bracha’s voice echoed in the succubus’ mind.

*What the hell?* Agni was genuinely surprised.

*Agni? Why can I hear you right now?* Dealla asked.

*A very handy party module that allows one to communicate with party or alliance members. Most people never purchase it, because they would rather spend their points on other things. I’m more of what you’d call a purist though.* Bracha explained. Now that they all joined her party they were all linked telepathically. For Agni it was simple to get used to, she’d had Shula in her head for weeks already. The others struggled somewhat with the trick of intention needed to broadcast selective thoughts and hold others back.

*This is so cool!* Gigi practically shrieked, accompanied by a girlish giggle.

*Ugh. Someone kill me.* Shula added.

“Let’s get going.” Vivian said. “Oh, and those have been left to you all if you want them.” The kitsune said as she pointed to the drop crystals on the ground.

*Bracha… what’s the deal with this Ryo guy?* Gates was the first to share his thoughts as he knelt before a drop crystal and reached out to touch it.

[Fulgurite - An ore infused with lightning magic.]

*You can’t recognize one of your own kind Agni? Well.. I guess that’s to be expected. He’s a special case.* Bracha said as she too began to collect the drop crystals, unlike Gates she simply grabbed them up without inspecting them.

*My own kind? Do you mean a demon?* Agni responded. She glanced over in Ryo’s direction, catching only the glimpse of his back as he followed Oliver and Vivian further into the forest.

*Correct.* Bracha replied.

Gates and Dealla set about picking up the items, it didn’t matter much to Agni for she’d gathered a fair amount in the past. Katrin helped mostly out of a kind nature but she turned her gains over to Gates who happily took them.

*That much was pretty obvious to me. He seems scary enough--no offense to Agni or Shula.* Gates remarked. Agni couldn’t even register a comparison between herself and Ryo, so she had no qualms with Gates’ assessment.

*But what was that power he used? It felt….it’s hard to describe.* Gigi asked.

*Mmmmm. I don’t think I want to tell you. He he he.* Bracha thought.

*What? Why not?* Agni felt a little agitated, though she really had no clue why.

*Because, you’ll find out soon enough, no?* Bracha thought, she then offered up a smile as she turned to join the rest of the high rankers. The walk to the shards was, for the most part quiet. This was due to the fact that everyone was lost in thought. Even the telepathic party link was silent.

The walk from Gardenia, the village of normals, was about an hour and a half to the blood shards. When the two groups arrived they found a scene that was less than optimistic.

“What? What is this?” Dealla mumbled, her eyes growing wider as she stepped forth towards the front of the group. The two blood shards were located in a small clearing surrounded by dozens of trees, each about the height of three meters and half as wide. Furthermore they were treated to a strange and gruesome sight.

The blood shards were extremely close to one another, less than a meter apart (3ft or less). The strange part was the energy bouncing between the two, deep crimson crystals. Black lightning, it's the best description for the phenomena they were witnessing. However, Dealla was focused on something different altogether.

“No..” Dealla stopped short before a particular patch of stained grass as she glanced down at a bloody necklace. She quickly knelt and grabbed the accessory in her hands as she inspected it. There were dried blotches of blood along the gem which comprised the centerpiece of the necklace.

“What is it?” Vivian asked as she stepped over towards the dragon kin. She immediately noticed the sight of blood drenched grass.

“This belonged to Lee’ahn’dra. The leader of my unit.” Dealla said as she struggled to keep her fears in check. She handed the item over to Vivian before standing again and taking a few deep breaths. The familiar feeling of foreboding once again took hold for Dealla. She felt, more and more that today’s outing would have grim findings.

“Chloe.” She whispered privately as she grasped the cloth of her cloak. Her free hand grasped the longsword at her waist as she struggled to steel her resolve.

“This is...dangerous.” Bracha said suddenly. Her voice was enough to draw everyone’s attention to the two shards.

“What do you mean?” Oliver asked as he stepped forward.

“These two shards. Unless they are cleared now, they will fuse together.” Bracha said as she pointed towards the black lightning which surged and arced only the length of the two crystals.

“Fuse? What do you mean? I’ve never heard of that.” Vivian said as she stepped forth.

“Mm. Well, most don’t. Because Guardians usually keep this sort of thing from happening.” Bracha replied.

“Explain.” Vivian seemed skeptical, yet intrigued. She couldn’t help it, after all, her nature as a kitsune meant that uncommon knowledge was irresistible to her.

“Guardians, like myself, are given a single task and we can perform it however we please for the most part. In my case, I’m the Guardian of the Training Chapel. As long as I fulfill that task, I have certain benefits bestowed upon me in return.”

“Right, but what does that have to do with this?” Vivian asked as she pointed towards the crystals.

“The Guardian of this area should have prevented the Grimlock and shards from growing out of control. As it stands, this area doesn’t seem to be under the control of any one.” Bracha explained.

“I’m not sure I follow you. I thought Guardian was just a pretentious title you all gave yourselves.” Oliver commented as he folded his arms.

“You mean there’s actual merit and status behind that title?”

Bracha simply smiled and nodded.

“So you’re saying that whoever is Guardian of this territory is slacking off...or worse?” Vivian asked.

Bracha nodded affirmatively once more.

“So, what’s this ‘fusion’ business about? I’ve never heard of such a thing either.” Oliver asked. It was now his turn to be skeptical.

“Well, I assume you know how shards work, yes? In order to prevent them from expanding, someone has to go inside and either clear them of Grimlock or destroy the core to collapse them permanently. The alternative is that one of several things begin to happen. ” Bracha continued.

“Shards continue to expand, and when they reach full expansion they can overlap on our realm. This allows all the Grimlock inside to freely move between our realm and theirs.”

“Yes, yes. We already know all of this. Can you explain what this fusion is? Time IS of the essence.” Oliver said, rather grumpily.

“Fine!” Bracha remarked.

“Aside from overlap, shards can also divide into smaller shards. Shard fusion is the opposite. Two shards will come closer and closer into proximity, finally becoming one. When this happens the domain within the shards increases exponentially, the enemies within become even stronger and in worst case scenarios, overlap may occur instantly.”

“What? That’s...terrible. Why haven’t I ever heard of shard fusion?” Oliver asked, he almost seemed annoyed.

“Generally Guardians are the ones that keep this kind of thing from happening. In other words, for many Guardians , it’s their duty to prevent situations from getting out of hand.”

Vivian remained quiet throughout the explanation while Ryo seemed disinterested in anything discussed. For Vivian she realized that Guardian was actually a sort of title given by the Systema itself. She knew that there were certain abilities and powers associated with it, but could never find out the truth behind such standing.

Bracha’s words shined more light on the mystery, yet provided many more questions as well. Based on the way Bracha chose her words carefully, Vivian surmised that there was much more to the conversation than meets the eye. Still, she didn’t push the issue further.

“So where’s the Guardian of this area? Do you know?” Vivian asked as she glanced around. Indeed, there was no one nearby -- Guardian, Grimlock or otherwise save them.

“That is the million dollar question, isn’t it?” Bracha smiled gently as she affirmed Vivian’s realization with the point of her finger.