2025-02-03 17:00:53“Let’s see…. Conquest of Frenen…. War for Kalern…Yes! Chronicles of the Age of Nobles” Luthen said after about an hour as he picked up a dusty scroll. “Can you read this, Sophia? The language is ancient.”
“Ok then. Let’s see what it says.”
“In ... the ... beginning, the ... world ... was ... ruled ... by–”
“Can you read any faster? We have a lot to cover!” He complained
“I am trying! This isn’t a piece of cake!” She defended herself
“In ... the ... beginning, the ... world ... was ... ruled ... by ... gods ... who ... controlled ... the ... seven ... types ... of ... magic. So basically the Shards and their Seven Aspects” She continued
“I thought there were six?” Luthen asked
“The world thinks there are six because nobody has had an Ability with the Null Aspect. Except its Shard.” She said.
Wait…How did I know that?
“Is that Kane’s Aspect? That would make the Null Aspect, not Soul, to be the rarest Aspect then.” Luthen said touching his chin
“No two Shards use the same Aspect.” She shook her head
“Oh....Good. Continue.”
“It ... was ... a ... time ... of ... peace ... and ... great ... prosperity ... till ... a ... great ... evil ... emerged. ... The ... gods ... fought ... amongst ... themselves ... and ... dragged ... humans ... into ... it. ... The ... war ... and ... destruction ... waged ... till ... the ... Benevolent ... Goddess ... and ... her ... allied ... gods ... defeated ... that ... evil. ... The ... victorious ... gods ... repentant ... for ... the ... destruction ... they ... caused ... voted ... to ... let ... humans ... rule ... themselves. ... The ... Goddess ... chose ... the ... First ... Seven ... Nobles ... and ... empowered ... them ... to ... lead ... humankind. ... So ... began ... the ... Age ... of ... the ... Nobles.”
“Is that all?”
“Yeah… Pretty much.” She put the scroll back to its original position.
“What next?” He asked
“We need to find out what privileges the Great Nobles can grant. Voyne wanted to present his request before the High Council. We need to know what he could ask for.” She said.
They spent about another 50 minutes inside the vault.
“No clue. The Great Nobles do have a lot of privileges to grant” He said. They were both exhausted.
“Our time would soon be over.” She looked at the timer. Almost 2 hours and nothing yet.
An earthquake shook the vault. That was unexpected. Earthquakes did not usually occur in Rhyne.
“You said those gods from earlier were Shards, right?”
“Gods? Yeah. Most likely.”
“Let’s see if we can find anything on them. If there is no relevant information to catching Voyne, then maybe we can find something that would make us stronger.”
That was their best lead for now. Their time would soon run out and it would be risky to break in again.
“Fine. Look for anything on the Benevolent Goddess. And quickly.”
Another 7 minutes later, She found a book Legend of the Goddess Benevolent. It wasn’t as dusty as the others. She picked it up.
“Sophia? Anything? Time’s running out!”
“Luthen, I have found something.”
“Great. Let’s go. We have less than a minute till the security protocols kick in.”
He teleported Sophia and himself out of the vault to just out of the tour group’s range. It was very convenient that with Spatial World, he did not need to touch anyone to teleport them. They may have been caught then.
Sophia quickly joined up with the group and tried to fit in.
Luthen first recognized her. He had only seen her on TV before. The Archduchess Klare. He quickly hid before she discovered him. He tried warning Sophia.
Archduchess Klare got to her first. He had to leave.
“Duchess Sophia, it is a pleasant surprise to see you. How are you?”
“Huh?... I’m fine. How do you do, Archduchess?” Sophia quickly overcame her surprise.
“Oh please. Drop the formality” Klare rolled her eyes. Despite their differences in position, Klare was not older than Sophia. They used to actually play together as children.
“I have seen better days. How’s Rhyne? I am truly sorry for that incident with the Shard.”
“Uhm. It is okay, Archduch–Klare.”
“What are you doing here though?
“Oh that. Uhmm.. I came for the tour.”
“A tour?” Klare laughed and asked surprisingly.
“Yes. I have never actually been here before”
“Okay. Next time you want to come here though, just write to me and I’ll show you some extra exhibits.” Klare winked at Sophia.
“Thank you Klare. I do need to go now.” Sophia said.
“Oh yes. Do take your leave. I’ll see you later” Klare said and turned to leave.
She paused after a few seconds
Wait! Klare thought. The tour isn’t over. She turned to face the tour group.
Sophie wasn’t there.
*******
Sophia left the building. In an instant, Luthen appeared by her side.
“That was close!”
“I knew why I insisted on registering and following the tour group, instead of just teleporting in with you. If anyone wants to check the records, there would be evidence that I came for the tour.”
Good reasoning. Thought Luthen
He on the other hand did not need a complicated alibi. He was already accused of being a mass murderer so if he was caught – seen actually because it was nigh impossible to catch a teleporting Shard – it would be like the least of his accused crimes.
“Did you get it?”
“Yes I did.”
Luthen breathed with relief “Let’s head back.”
*******
For the first time since this tournament, Kane just tasted his own blood. That last blow made his head spin. The force of it could have taken out 3 of these fighters, who were operating above normal human fitness level, cleanly. His ear buzzed.
Kane was not the only person surprised though. His opponent, looked at him with surprise.
“Y-You stood up?”
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Chapter Fifty-Four: Sacrifice.
Maron jumped in front of her right in time with a blue cube construct to protect both himself and Ari. The cube shattered from the impact with Luthen’s hand pushing both him and her away.“Luthen!” Lyann shouted and tried to stop him.“Stay the f*ck where you are and don’t f*cking interfere. F*king get out of my way, Maron!!” He cursed in a loud voice. This was a side of Luthen none of them had seen before, except one person. Something flickered across Maron’s face. Was it familiarity?Juren and Johann both tried to get to Ari’s side but got blocked by Somen and Kane respectively.“Why don’t we catch up on old times? My scar still stings where you hurt me.” Somen taunted Juren.“We’ll leave the former friends to catch up. You are my opponent now.” Kane said to Johann.Ari stood up finally with some pain and bleeding. She turned to Juren and gave him a s
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Chapter Fifty-Two: Pestering Child.
“Reese surrendered himself to her.” Somen said, munching on some rabbits that had been prepared before Luthen came in.Lyann was speechless.“Why would he do that?” She asked.“To buy us time.”“You should have just killed everyone and left.”“That’s the easy way out.” Kane said, speaking for the first time.She looked at him and twisted her mouth. That statement seemed to trigger something in her. The moon shone brightly in the sky and the critter of the forest was audible.“Look, I know you’re reluctant to come with us-” Luthen started“You make it sound like I don’t have a choice.” She cut in.Kane chuckled in scorn, then winced from the pain.“Don’t mind him. How about this? You help us rescue them and it’s quits.”“You leave me and my crew alone? No city authorities involved?”“None.” Luthen promised. “Fine. We’ll go in the morning. My men will stay here.”Luthen heaved a sigh of relief.*******“Ahaa…” Ari wailed. “Why do we have to complete a mission at this time of the night?
Chapter Fifty-One: Speechless.
Meanwhile, in Jonelle and Reese’s barely hospitable ‘room’.Reese twitched. Jonelle squeezed her mouth and looked into his seagreen eyes. He tried to offer an apologetic smile.She really knew it would come to this. The boys and Lyann would be at each other’s throats before they could ask for help.“I did tell you this sort of thing could happen.” She said.“I did know Lyann could be this stubborn. I din’t expect Kane to be just as stubborn and both of them even used Supreme Techniques!”“Well, it’s your fault. If you’ve listened to me earlier, we would never have gone to prison.”“I thought it was a physical prison. No, they couldn’t leave things on easy mode. We just had to be trapped in a Spatial Maze. I didn’t expect this.” Reese said, rubbing his chin. “I really underestimated them. They really do have some info on us.”
Chapter Fifty: Mass Destruction.
Ever since she escaped from Voyne, she had a lingering fear of being found by him. This made her fear staying in the city.She instead preferred the clandestine nature of the docks on the outskirts of the city. Those docks had once been the city’s pride, however, they were now a meeting place for criminals and safe haven for smugglers. Even pirates came around here occasionally.Every person around here was focused only on the reason he/she was here. They also avoided actions whose consequences would affect a member of another group. In this way, the criminals were able to coexist with one another.When Renee woke that morning, she had the sense that something was wrong. The day seem too bright, as if the Sun had finally vented all its light in its dying moments. When she checked outside, she saw that the Sun was not to blame. A second ‘Sun’ had appeared in a different place above the docks.No that can’t be right. How were are
Chapter Forty-Nine: Supreme Techniques.
“I might be bleeding, but don’t think I am done just yet.” He said confidently. “Stay back, Luthen.”“You both should have just left when you had the chance. Instead you decided to say something stupid.” She said, her sharp gaze full of fury. Her eyes turned golden. She started to ascend, her clothes flapping wildly. More of those dots orbited her.“If you can cancel my attacks, I’ll just ! Even you have limits!” She said.She pointed again and one of the dots move to her finer tip. She flicked it and it came to rest over the boys heads.Instead of blowing up this time, the dot formed a sort of circular portal.“Energy Manipulation: Heavenly Fury!” Golden energy rained through the portal upon him.However, a black sphere covered him. Null Armour!“Kane, I’ll back you up!” Luthen said, preparing to fight. Kane stopped him with a gesture.&l
Chapter Forty-Eight: Saying Something Stupid.
“Viral Plant: Entrap”“Desert Rose: Thorn Oasis”“Winter: Falling Icicles”“Mythical Fire: Devouring Dragon”“Flowing Mud: Golem Construct”The crew unleashed their Abilities to counter the Shards.“You two go meet her. I’ll join you when I am done.” Kane said.“Like hell you will! Go instead. I’ll meet you two later.” Somen said.When violence was involved there was no reason with Somen.“Hey! You do know we can hear you right?! Do you think we’re pushovers?! I was planning on leaving your corpses intact. Because of this, I will use your skin for my boots!” One of the crew complained.The two were already gone.“Hey, you! Sword-former! Where did he go?! I am not done yet. Come back here!” The crew member who had previously addressed Kane said. He tried to follow the windows.
Chapter Forty-Seven: Shipping Indeed.
“You don’t deserve to call me that!” She said.Voyne chuckled.“Don’t tell me you are still having second thoughts about today. You saved your friend.” He said.She turned to face him.“You just used me! What have you done to Sophie?!”“It’s late. Keep your voice down. The last thing your subject’s need is their Noble landing in an asylum.” He said and turned to leave.“Are you threatening me?! In my own house?!” She said.The night wind blew softly.“Just do as we tell you. Goodnight, Klare.”*******This Noble is a bit much.He was just about to retire to his room when he saw the Archduchess in the garden. He just wanted to prod her a bit and she went full steam on him.Not too mention the reason he was finally going to his room this late at night was because he had to get chewed on by Mot
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“You’re our guests.” A guard said in scorn as she shoved Jonelle and Reese into a small room. “Diplomats.” She added laughing, still in scorn before she resumed her post just outside of the room. The guard still remembered what was told to her a few minutes ago by the General.Don’t let them escape.That command carried an inherent threat in it.Reese, as well as Jonelle remembered also because they were there, bound. The room they were kept was the only thing to be thankful for in this mess. It was small, of course, but it had far more pleasures than your average prison, including a proper toilet, a bed and some aesthetic.“These mainland Shards couldn’t even identify the traitor in their ranks.” Reese said. He wasn’t angry, he was amused instead at how everything played out.“You should have gone with them.” Jonelle said.Reese turned to face her, sighing as he did so. He looked into her scowling face and replied “And leave you here by yourself?”“I would be fine. There was no point
