“Swish … swish”
Black dots sped through a dead forest which mostly was occupied by large trees that had a grey shade seemingly mimicking what could be described as a ‘bone’ forest. The surrounding terrain remained barren with only the sweet sound of flocking vultures screeching unendingly. The figures would ground on the firm branches and then leap toward another in rapid succession. Their target you ask?The one codenamed “Ace”, this illustrious figure had particular sets of skills, sets of skills that made many people very angry, including the Evergreen household which led to this hunt. Well, factually speaking the only reason why any of these nobles have decided to act has to do with a special item that was stolen from the household. If this ‘item’ had not been stolen by Ace then none of the noble households of [Shea] would’ve reacted with such swiftness but such trivialities didn’t matter to Neil because he only sought to enter the Auction-Conference to attain ‘that’ thing. Based on their speed they should be able to reach [Antea]’s outer regions in exactly an hour and through this hour he would try to probe Lyc,Skyler, Angon, and Yoke to further understand them in case of any mishaps. Neil was supremely confident that he would be able to handle any situation that may occur but that didn’t make him stupid all of a sudden. He knew that having a cautious nature is what would help him avoid unnecessary encounters and survive life-death situations. So, he looked at Ernest who took leadership over them and said,
“Will you tell us the Item you want to retrieve?”,
The group was stirred by the question, curiosity blazed like a sea of inferno. They all turned their attention to Ernest waiting for an answer.
Ernest’s ears twitched slightly as his surprise was evident by the question asked by Neil. He didn’t expect Neil to blatantly ask him about the item. Did he have to lie? No. Those glistening gazes on him left him baffled and a shiver went down his spine.
'This guy, Neil, already wants to instigate chaos by planting ideas in the others and they are falling for it.', Ernest thought.
“Its name is [O.E.M], Omnidirectional. Eve. Matrix. It has a single but powerful ability and that is a 100% chance to attain a [Composite] concept as long as the conditions are met… “, Ernest said, keeping it brief.
Every member made ‘out-of-character’ expressions while Lyc was the most exaggerated one. Lyc was literally salivating immediately thinking that the artifact would be best in his hand, his expressions grew animated before he claimed his neutral countenance thus calming down.
Lyc knew that a [Composite] concept was a prerequisite to reach the Corpreal Aspect so for an item to guarantee that notion meant it was an object that helped the user with their Concept attainment meaning it should be an artifact that helped ...
'It assists in achieving Extreme Compatibility'. That's Crazy', Lyc thought as everyone else also had similar thoughts.
“Then … why would [Ace] want this artifact if he already has attained a [Composite] concept? Sell it?”, Lyc asked Ernest.
Ernest turned his head to Lyc with an irritated expression, “I was getting to that!”
” [O.E.M] is rather a mysterious artifact, while it breaks the laws of conventional physics ("Physics" here pertains to their world), it too has its limits and currently it is in its weakened state so the 100% success rate it ought to have isn’t available but even a 50% chance still is doable. [Ace] has two choices;
- Sell it to the [Purgatory Circle], a black market where the baddest of the baddest call home. A place where even the Sovereigness of Rein treads with absolute caution. If he manages to sell [O.E.M] then we will have no choice but to buy it. It will probably be at a high cost, so high that even I wouldn’t be able to purchase it and thus will be lost forever.
- [Ace] will use the artifact to reach an even higher of Compatibility strengthening his already elusive concept therefore making him even more powerful, to the point where even all of us combined will be mere cannon fodder in his eyes. But to upgrade his concept will be a gamble considering the 50% success rate the artifact now has to offer, in the event of his failing to upgrade his concept then the only outcome is death.
So, the obvious answer is the former, which is selling the item to the [Purgatory Circle]. If that occurs then we can consider this mission failed and you all gain nothing.", Ernest summarized.
Neil listened carefully and understood what Ernest said was plausible but what made him fall into thought was the description about [O.E.M]. He believed that Ernest hadn’t told them all about [O.E.M] and there definitely was a secret to it that made [Ace] covet the artifact.
“Hmm, it seems we have to pick up the pace, no?", Skyler said with a smile then a slight chuckle.
“We aren’t that far though, we should reach the borders of [Antea] in a matter of minutes at our current pace”, Angon said to Skyler.
Yoke simply nodded; nobody knew what this member was thinking.
Neil only followed, not saying a single word after Ernest answered his question.
“Yeah. Angon when we reach the borders, we will rely on you to find his location”, Ernest said as he slightly increased his pace, eager to reclaim [O.E.M].
The group continued their journey forward with each step drawing closer to said location. Each of them grew serious as they tread onwards preparing for a great battle that would soon erupt and if not careful would be their grave. An atmosphere of tension accompanied by silence took refuge among the group. Failure wasn’t an option.
[Approx.78.9Km South-East from Shea, 5-6 minutes from Ernest’s group, Near Borders of Antea]
“ Damnit, godDAMNIT”,
Vivid crimson blood stained the dead terrain beneath, a man was limping slowly towards the entrance of a small house located in a dark corner of an abandoned farm. Grey painted the scenery accompanied by an eerie atmosphere that could scare a person to death. The man struggled to move as each step taken was as difficult as scaling a mountain. His breathing was hoarse, easily audible for meters up ahead, moreover, the expression on his face clearly embodied the Devil’s anger. He slowly walked up to the cottage and proceeded just right to the doorstep.
Getting a closer look, he was a man in his late twenties with short, silky brown hair. His clear brown eyes were very striking and hid a profound wisdom that clearly tailored his current occupation. He was attired in a black tightfitting outfit radiating an aura of mysteriousness evoking an emotion of curiosity from the masses. This man was [Ace] himself, in the flesh.
He had successfully infiltrated Evergreen’s household stealing one of their most proud possessions, [O.E.M]. He possessed one of the rarest concepts, [Spatial Displacement]. While a branch of the Abstract Concept [Absolute Space], [Spatial Displacement] was still a very powerful ability as it allowed Ace to manipulate space to a degree where he could switch places with whatever he could Sense and between objects as well. This concept allowed him to bypass most security measures installed by Evergreen. During his escape, he would slip by most physical attacks but that didn’t mean was immune to all attacks, Evergreen responded with spiritual attacks, crazy abilities that affected his mind, and almost depraved him of the essence of a [CINTH].
Ace finally escaped with injuries which only got worse when mercenaries hired by the House of Evergreen chased him down to retrieve the item. He fought, using his elusive concept to deal with mercenaries swiftly and thus succeed in his escape.
He immediately set course to the location where an exchange would go down for the item, after all, he was a thief, and he needed something in return for the job he had just executed. The location was a desolate farm far southeast of Shea.
He obviously knew what [O.E.M] was capable of but with the artifact already in its weakened state it would be a gamble to use it and if he fails then the consequences would be too heavy for him to bear. While all this is true this artifact also holds another secret, a function that would allow the user to comprehend House Evergreen’s ‘Mind’ technique. Its name was [Blissful Soundscape].
This ‘Mind’ technique enables the user to trap the victim in a very powerful illusion projected by the victim’s own subconscious. The term ‘Blissful’ refers to happiness or being joyous and ‘Soundscape’ refers to a virtual/emotional environment created by sound. In essence, when the victim has succumbed to this technique they will be thrown into an environment that uses their precious memories projected by their own subconscious. The technique will play their emotions and twist their psyche into believing the illusion to the point of mentally breaking the adversary thus destroying their soul.
This could be a very powerful technique for opponents on the same level or people who lack a strong Mind, Soul, and Heart. A split second is all it could take to determine a winner and loser so it goes to say how valuable the technique is. But the question was why the technique was embedded in [O.E.M] to begin with. Then again that’s a question only Ernest could answer.
Ace remained lying on the floor taking deep breaths to calm himself and assess the situation. He slowly got up from the ground and stood straight before making his way into the cottage then navigating his way to a minuscule living room where a woman attired in a silky silver dress complemented with mysterious symbols and glyphs of rather terrifying creatures were engraved on the dress.
She had long cascading snow silver hair that ran down her back, sharp silver eyes that sparked with intelligence, a near beautiful symmetrical face, an appearance that one could describe as having been sculpted by heaven itself. She had a bountiful cleavage that stood erect under her dress, an hourglass figure with provocative curves that put Skyler to shame, and gorgeously long legs that would even allow the author of this book to kneel in defeat.
A mature beauty with the appearance to bewitch men in subservience.
A member of [Purgatory Circle] she is.
She simply narrowed her eyes hearing the footsteps that drew closer to her, and responded to the man who would reveal himself to her.
“I presume you were successful.”, she stated in a straightforward and condescending tone. She had a slightly high-pitched voice yet was pleasant to hear.
“It is done”, Ace spoke in a tired voice but remained respectful and addressed her with a professional standard of courtesy.
“Very well, let us proceed with the transaction.” " she spoke then opened the palm of her hand to reveal a cubical object. Ace’s eyes gleamed in excitement and proceeded to reveal [O.E.M].
[O.E.M] was shaped like a triangular prism and a lime green hue that beleaguered its entirety with the Evergreen symbol completely occupying all sides. The vertexes of the artifact were shaped into small leaves thus giving no definite angles at first glance. It had many scars implying how weak the artifact now was but it would occasionally glow with a green luminescence which slightly reverted the scars on it.
The woman slightly smiled exuding a mature charm capable of conquering continents but that all disappeared seconds as it came by and immediately she frowned. Anger followed as her countenance fluctuated once more.
Ace was stunned by the sudden change in her expression and before he could say anything, she disappeared in a haze of lightning, all he witnessed was a bright light that blinded him and just like that an explosion occurred that blew that cottage to smithereens.
"AHHHHH..."
