Chapter 163: Identical Missing Pieces

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"If all this damage was caused by you all, I don't want to even think about your current internal states. All of you, you'll all have to be pulled out of the trial. Needless to say, this won't inhibit your admittance from an academy. However, this does bar you all from entering the rankings," Irauk muttered.

Upon glancing around, Irauk conjured 11 wisps of golden flames and sent them into the bodies of everyone. This included the unaffiliated Xineen and Nadida. A gentle yet purposed flame flew into their bodies and dealt with the direst injuries they suffered first.

But, when his eyes fell on Aaron, Irauk frowned, "A severed arm, with the arm itself burnt to ash. While there are things to heal this, the arm won't be exactly the same. There will always be a subtle disconnect—the meridians won't be the same—it won't feel natural. Luckily, it's not his dominant hand. I'll wait till he awakens to hear his decision."

Meanwhile, a mind-boggling thing happened in Apollo's body. More precisely, the pendant around his neck. When the golden flames entered his body, the pendant absorbed it but then released an even stronger flame in return. The power itself wasn't stronger, but it was fine-tuned to Apollo's body!

To put it differently, while the others received general healing. Apollo's exact problems were being healed. Of course, it wasn't some divine panacea; only the basic functions were being restored with haste. Anything else could be awakened at a later time.

As long as he regained his basic unhampered power, then academy life shouldn't be an issue. When he awakened, the only thing on his agenda would be to find things of the utmost Fire Element. After doing so, the pendant should be able to work its magic. Unbeknownst to Apollo, the origins of the pendants were special. Even Azridan was unaware of its true purpose.

Soon enough, the others caught up as well. The instant Artemis saw the unconscious Typhir, she grabbed him and held him in her embrace, "My sweet b-...hmm? What is this odd feeling? Why does your mind feel tampered with."

She narrowed her gaze, looking directly into Typhir's mind. On the surface, his Soul Temple didn't seem to be damaged, but that wasn't what she saw. The reason he was unconscious wasn't due to bodily injuries, it was the damage done to his mind. Fortunately, the golden flames were useful for even this. 

The tendrils parting from it filled in the gaps in his mind. Due to this, Typhir didn't know it yet, but he had been given a blessing in disguise. With Apollo stealing a part of his Soul Temple, it was replaced by Irauk's irregular power.

Shortly after, Typhir's eye fluttered open. The hazy image of Artemis focused, "Mom? Why are you here? Ugh, what happened?" He asked, gripping his head. The brand new portion had yet to settle, thus, there were remnants of pain.

"That's what we would like to know. We lost the image of you all, so we are unaware. Care to fill us in, son? What took place during the moments unaccounted for? Don't worry, there will be no repercussions. Well, except for your current conditions. It is fortunate none of you have been killed or damaged greatly," Artemis breathed a sigh of relief. 

The hassle of injured Great Family descendants was too much to bear. The process as well as the people who would appear following the situation could only be classified as overbearing. While their offspring could sow tyranny and seeds of despair among their peers, the same couldn't be subject to the same. Needless to say, the upper echelon of the world were notorious hypocrites.

"OH! Well, you see. It went like this mom. At first, we fought and th-...then…" Typhir blanked, almost struggling to remember any faint images of the events. However, no matter how much wracked his brain, he was unable to recollect the happenings.

"Is something wrong my dear? Continue the story, we need a recount of what took place. All this damage here, it shouldn't be something you all are capable of unleashing. Was there someone who intervened? Well, besides that boy from the Supremes of course," Artemis insisted.

But, Typhir his head. "Mom, I can't remember. I can't recall anything. Maybe you should ask the Castille Family's girl, Claire should remember well. She was directly involved and contrary to us, her family specializes in the mind."

"You're right. That's a magnificent idea, actually," Artemis answered. Afterward, she rose to her feet and moved over to where the Castille Family's representative was. Like her, their family representative was a woman.

"Allea, I have a question. Has your niece remembered anything about the event?"

Sadly, Allea's middle-aged yet gentle visage seemed disappointed. Similarly, she shook her head. Something wasn't adding up, "No, we have nothing. There's no information. I didn't ask her about it, I searched her Soul Temple with our familial connection. It was...vacant. No, it was almost as if someone snatched the events from her mind."

Upon hearing this, Artemis's expression deepened with interest, "So you're saying, if her mind is like this, then the others should be in a similar state? Is that it? Well, how much of it is missing?"

"Well, all of it, after that boy arrived," Allea answered, pointing at the unconscious Apollo in Irauk's grasp. On the contrary, she didn't approach them but frowned instead.

Sure enough, each family's representative pried for information, but it was for naught. Not a single soul knew anything. This rang true even for Xineen and Nadida who witnessed the dome as well. Everything was gone! But, this rose suspicion; how could one simultaneously eradicate memories from 10 individuals?

The mental capacity required to do so was obscene. Much less those with established Soul Temples; even Allea was incapable of this and she was the 3rd strongest of the Castille. Beyond her was only her mother and grandmother.

Nevertheless, with Irauk involved, the chance of interrogating the youth in his hand was slim. To do so, they'd need to be remove Irauk from the equation. Regrettably, until now, finding a way to do so remained an enigma. However, that didn't mean certain individuals weren't searching for valuable information to remedy this.

"Since none of these kids can recall what happened and they're in no state to continue; we'll take them back to the special area in Pangea Island to recuperate," Sirius uttered, waving his hand.

Immediately after, he turned around and soared away. However, he was still confused and required an answer. Albeit faint, he sensed an extremely dark aura looming around the area. While it didn't feel like beasts, it felt inhuman. Therefore, it led to his speculation.

'There's no chance of them venturing this far is there? Furthermore, they shouldn't possess the ability to mask or disguise themselves to any extent. If so, we have never come across a Terror like that. Should they be evolving… then I understand why so many talents have appeared in this generation. We may be in for overly dark times.'

Meanwhile, both Apollo and Aaron awoke. Naturally, with the trauma their body suffered, each of them was in groggy states. In fact, Apollo could barely move whereas upon movement, Aaron felt like spears were stabbing into his body.

"I don't suggest either of you move. Unknown lad, you have been laden with tricky to remove spear intent. As for you, o' stubborn one, your body is simply a mess. Even my Golden Life Flames has healed you to a bare minimum. What type of power do you cultivate?"

"It's Aaron, not unknown boy. My name is Aaron," Aaron countered weakly. 

"Aaron? Interesting why does your name follow that naming pattern. Wait...are you," Irauk leaned forward, examining Aaron's eyes. As he thought, Aaron was indeed a descendant. "That explains why the spear intent is sticking to your insides, it favors you."

On the other hand, in light of the questioning, Apollo remained silent. Regardless, he had other matters on his mind, "Your arm, it didn't grow back."

"Ah, that requires a special type of cultivator but even then… it requires an even more meticulous blend of affinities. Light, Water, Wood—the three pinnacles of healing must meld as one. But to find a deviant Restorer like that, you're in for an adventure," Irauk chided.

"So where do we find them?" Apollo asked.

"The Crux Family, but I don't think that's a viable bet. While they are the most renowned healers, they aren't ones to do favors without anything in return. Not to mention, their old woman doesn't exactly mesh well with me. However, the young miss does fancy you," Irauk smirked.

Apollo narrowed his eyes. It was that smirk again, the same one he administered before shoving him into Sapphyr! In other words, there was some foolish gambit present in Irauk's mind once again.

"Don't even think about it," Apollo rejected with haste. In response, Irauk merely shrugged.

"Nevertheless, you all need to leave. Your ties with this trial have been severed," Irauk said before raising his hand and encompassing them in a translucent orb. At a leisure pace, he flew them back outside the Dark Ruin Labyrinth.