Chapter 532: How they grow

Blood flowed down the spikes sluggishly. The body rested in an arc, no movements, nothing. 'Is she dead?' wondered Igna staring up.

"Good job," whispered, *Woosh,* "-hold on there."

"How did you?" asked he with a blade inches from the lady's petite neck.

"Simple," she clapped, "-I substituted myself with a corpse." 

Staring up once more, the body was none other than the ghoul. "You're strong," commented he.

"Same can be said about you," she dusted off the shoulder and cracked her neck. "Lady Elvira, I think the boy is qualified enough to be left alone."

"Was this a test?" the lady jumped to Elvira.

"Good job on passing her test," said she, "-go on back. There's nothing more to do. I'll contact Éclair about matters."

"Alright."

Turned to face the brighter inside, "-Tia, have her sign the papers."

"Are you sure?" 

"Did I stutter?"

"Alright."

Elites of Phantom were now in Alphia. They'd soon leave after a few days. On that, Igna returned home, '-shut,' stopped midway, '-I forgot to ask Auntie about Celina.'

Konlda park, a place of nature and a host to the rejuvenating stream. Advertisement put it as follows, '-want to shave off two or three years off the wrinkling face, come on down to Konlda Park.' A hoax or perhaps the truth; pseudo-science or magic, who knew and who cared. The well-read and scientific of mind chose to ignore whilst those believing in superstitions, of which were mostly the elderly, came in masses. 

The evening was upon the city. Youth ran about the nature trail. Nice place to enjoy what nature had to offer, a gateway into the past – the remainder of the forest of angels. 

'Damn, really?' a message read; '-keep Celina safe until we leave for Hidros. Go on, show her a good time or something, be nice to the girl, she's gone through a lot.' 

'Aunt's taken a liking to her without even seeing the face,' he breathed, the bellowing of cold breeze gave a glimpse into coming rainfall. The breeze, innocent at first, turned into full-blown gusts that took with leaves, umbrellas, and troubled those running.

"Éclair, can I have a vague idea on the hierarchy used in Phantom?"

"Sure. It's divided into four parts. Per Elvira's orders, there's no ranking opposed to other organizations. Everyone could interact with the Leader. General communication allowed for ease of transfer. This efficiently cleaned the chain-of-command and avoided sullying of crucial information. Obviously, some supervisors control the lowest bunch. The hierarchy is loose since there's no problem in discipline. All know their places and work to do what is needed."

"Sorry, sorry. I mean the underworld, not Phantom."

"Be more precise," sighed he. "It's different here, the Godfather stands at the top. Below there are the right-hand and left-hand, else known as the Don's. Their job is to control the families in the familia. It's confusing, don't get me wrong. What's there to know is the families, under which falls thugs and other hoodlums, report to a don than then reports to the Godfather. The power is handled by three at the top and the rest is decided by what faction/family one belongs to. In your case, the godfather gave the name Pluton – which excludes you from belonging to any other family. Basically, a lone-wolf. It's a sought-after title since they are allowed to fight by the Godfather's side. Elliot, Yves, Tia, Julius, and now you. Tis the information needed at the moment; time will teach of the other intricacies." 

"What about the Overlord."

"He's the ruler of the Dark-Guild, Godfather's are his confidants." 

"I see." The mild shower had people running for cover, some under trees and others for the parking-lot. 

'Didn't expect the organization to be so complicated. All I remember was going around and ordering people. I supposed Elvira took care of most of the grunt work. She's really the best candidate to push Phantom into an unseen future. I'm satisfied by this,' he straddled over the bike, '-being named Pluton means I don't have to obey if I don't want to. Knowing mother, she'll never be defeated unless faced by a god. I wish I could sense her presence; the dormant death-element is a boon and curse. I can't gauge people correctly. If I die, I return more or less the same, the regeneration is so slow. My arm still hurts from the fight against Tia, she's strong, maybe stronger than me,' the last moment replayed, '-she stopped my knife with a single finger. Never mind that, substituting for the ghoul and going for my blind spot. Not a matter of sense, she moved so fast I couldn't even track. If she didn't speak up, I'd have been defeated. My chest burns from the battle-wounds. I can't sense but it's obvious, these are the mark of a possessed individual. The ancient-art of binding a demon to a human in hopes of defeating vampires.' Rain poured on relentlessly. The bodysuit soaked in seconds; each droplet felt heavy. 'Vampire-Slayer, Mages, then Adventurers. That's the evolution I've examined. What about her, she's somehow different from vampire-slayers.'

"Let me answer that one," said Éclair. "Next step in evolution, the Alphian's. Humans who don't use mana for their special abilities. Alphia is first and foremost, a place of a relative unknown. Open your eyes and look around, the people aren't normal. The very definition of normality is indescribable. Odgawoan isn't subject to the truth of Alphia, the people here are very much humanoid. There's even surgery performed to hide the evolution of the Alphian's. They are the future. Tia's born in Hidros with the blood of an Alphian and Vampire-slayer. Put in retrospect, her abilities would be Tier-2 Gold and Tier-4 Bronze in the Ardanian ranking. That's only considering her innate ability. She can amplify her powers without limit, the body's made to sustain the backlash. In a way, the demon reference made is her actual blood." 

"Damn," he smiled, "-the people are getting stronger."

"They've been strong since the age of monsters. Nothing forces the anatomy to evolve than the fear of extinction."

"What about the monster infestation of Alphia. I remember Whuotan being subject to their wilds."

"The quarantine district of the North is a battlefield. Heroes train day and night inside their borders. The reason why the Alphians are increasing their power."

"Scary," said he, "-if they decide to invade, there's no stopping them."

"Not really," argued Éclair, "-in terms of firepower, we far-out rank them. Don't forget," a sly chuckle echoed, "-a single press of a button and the district could be wiped at any second. I mean, have you forgotten?" images flashed, "-the detonation of the Pabruska V1 in Legrury. The blast radius spans dozens of kilometers. Uninhabitable and as news reported, unknown. They blamed it on a factory explosion, but we both know the truth. We've gotten smarter too, the nuke is far stronger, I dare not comment on what damage it could bring about."

"I guess you're right," time showed 18:00, he'd been on the bike soaking as if a sponge. 

"Message from Alicia, asks you to head to the hospital."

More than not, the time spanned had changed the world. The alteration wasn't noticeable, slight, and inconspicuous at the time. Forgetting Alphia's AHA and the super-humans was a hard swallowed pill. On the ride back, the promise made by Emperor Sultria VI, to marry and bring Eira to the continent. 'What an unpleasant piece of information.'

Odgawoan City hospital climbed on high between the skyscrapers of downtown. Downpour cause multiple jams. Those in cars sunk into the inner-heat and pleasant smooth songs. Visibility dwindled; the visor didn't help in keeping the rain for it mostly impaired vision. Wind and rain, an awful combination, especially since the former blew grotesquely. Instead of water, it felt like needles. 

The hue of headlights, the traffic-lights, the sound of the rainfall, and prominent lights of building in the distant soothed the heart. Mournful piano ambled onto the roads; a tenant of the affordable apartment held no trouble blasting the music. 

'That's the Synyata C'oldo played by Syndra. The emotion of the composition is even sadder than before. She did look confused around the time of Cle. Whatever, the lady's making a life with that insufferable Kyle Darker.'

In before he realized it, the hospital stood mere footsteps away. The bodysuit dripped as a leaking pipe. Attendants frowned to exchange expressions with others. "Sorry about that," said he.

"No problem," frowned the cleaner with a twitch of the eye. 

"Igna, over here," gestured Alicia at the waiting area.

"Hey," they hugged as a greeting, "-why did you call me here?"

"It's the representative of Alice," to which she led the way to the lady in question's room. Multiple soon-to-be artists and their managers hung in the corridor before the door. The glares were uninviting.

"I get why you didn't stay around here long," whispered Igna.

"Shut it," returned a mumble. 

"Please, the lady's been waiting," said a butler opening the door.

'Butler?' he gave a once-over and got pulled inside.

"The boy I wanted to see," said the heavy lady moving her head, "-how have you been?"

"I've been well," he approached, "-the injuries, are they bad?"

"No, no," feeble as she spoke, the strong nature never left, "-I'd have died if not for the first-aid you provided."

"I see," he scratched his head and exhaled, "-there was another injured, how are they?"

"Died. Doctors were too late in saving him."

'Died, the story doesn't match by what I predicted. What's going on here, a cover-up?' a discreet scan of the room using the interface revealed naught. '-maybe the walls?' nothing.

"Hey," said she, "-I know you tried saving us both. The other's injury was a little too critical."

'Impossible, I'm sure I stopped the bleeding.' Regret washed down the wet-face, "-I should have been better."

"Don't worry about it," said she, "-did you look outside?"

"Yes, a lot of people," returned he politely. 

"They're nothing more than hypocrites trying to get on my good side. They know Alice and Ikoen's worth and want to be hired badly. I tell you; this industry doesn't have a place for anyone kindhearted. Trust me, don't believe in what anyone says, don't believe in me either. However, I must repay the kindness shown. If not for you, as the doctor said, I'd have been dead. Thanks for saving my life, I appreciate it a lot."

"Don't mention it, ma'am. Wanting to save another is commonsense, is it not?"

"Common sense," the head flipped to the rainy outside, "-it's rarer than you'd think. The shooting showed the dark side of humanity. Everyone thought of saving themselves instead of another. You stay behind and fought, bought time for the escape."

"You give me too much credit. Let the past be, I wish not to remember the traumatic experience."

"Éclair, what's the difference between Ikoen and Alice."

"Ikoen's the music brand, Alice's the modeling brand. They're the same just different names."

"Igna Haggard," she paused, "-I've thought long and hard. The decision is made, you'll be working for Ikoen. I need help from you as well," she stared coldly, "-Ikoen's not going to endorse you. The job would be a one-time thing. I want you to become a representative of the brand. If you can manage to garner the attention of musicians and built a reputation, I'll be able to pull-strings and provide an endorsement. What do you say, Alchemist of Cooking, up for the challenge?" 

"You know," he smiled, "-what's the time-frame for the objective?"

"Indefinite, be sure to pull in attention, I'm sure the company will see the benefit of endorsing then."

"Then it's a deal, Ma'am."

"Call me Sally," said she, "-I'll be in touch with Alicia. Do be proud, both of you."

"Will do ma'am."

"Visiting hours are over," said a nurse struggling through the door, "-everyone out, the lady needs rest." 

"You've done it," the noisy outside ambled into full view, "-God almighty, Igna, how did you?"

"Alicia," he held a high-five, "-don't underestimate our power."

"Hell yeah," she cheered and slapped, "-OUCH!" 

"Too hard. Shall we head home?"

"In this rain?" she held her numb palm.

"Obviously, tis the best way to ride!" 

"Crazy idiot," big inhale, "-let's do it. You and I are going to conquer Odgawoan."