‘So they’re dead,’ Yuki thought, leaning back. She rubbed her eyes and sighed. ‘I guess that’s to be expected. I wish I could have seen them though. From this, I think they wanted to see me as well.’

She also wished Sophie was here. She wanted to tell her that this wasn’t her fault. There wasn’t any way she could have known that such a thing was going to happen when she gave those shards out. It was just all an unfortunate series of events. 

‘I want to give her a hug. But of course, she’s gone too. I think I see a pattern here.’

She laughed to herself and picked the notebook back up. There were still some pages left to go through. It could give her a clearer idea as to what happened to her parents since Sophie looked like she would be investigating it. 

‘Show me what you got. I’ll help you solve this.’

I revisited the town again. It’s just as destroyed as it was when I was there two days ago. The smoke has cleared up though, so I could see the wreckage much clearer. The attackers seemed to be mages which I guess would be obvious. It would be foolish to try and attack demons without people skilled in the use of magic. 

The shard is still gone. I cannot sense it anywhere besides the leftover remnants it made when it rested there. The same for the egg. Vivian and Jared’s whereabouts are still unknown. I do not have a path to follow in finding them, but hopefully once I have more information on these attacks, that path will reveal itself.

The good news is that my investigation has begun to bore fruit. I was right in thinking the attacks were a concerted effort by an unknown group. From my question of survivors of other attacks, many of the attackers bear marks that signify them as a member of some organization. I believe they are gathering the shards in an attempt to gain the power of Gaea. What worries me is that they knew about the fact the orb was shattered. That might mean they know the secrets behind dragons and who we are as a species. I’m going to have to look into it more and determine if this is the case. If it is, then I’ll need to find who is the one responsible for this and deal with them accordingly.

Another thing of note is the sudden influx of earthen elemental energy the Dragons of Gaea reported to me. I pinpointed where it came from and will be visiting. It may give me a clue as to the plans of this group.

‘So this was when Akira was released.’ Yuki flipped the page.

The site has been examined. It was an old demon shrine and we’ve brought all the contents back here into the school. There was mainly inside, but the shrine was made to summon something. A chimaera from the looks of it. The victims of this trap were still there, dead of course, their life sucked out of them. I disposed of them but I inspected them first. 

They have markings on their shoulders. I’ve drawn it on a sheet of paper and will compare it with what those survivors remembered, but I do believe they are from the same group. It’s a curious symbol. A snake. I’m not sure why you would pick a snake.

I believe they were drawn to the shrine because of the energy that its former resident emitted. The chimaera that was in the statue most likely had its aura dampened by the magic in the room. Whatever group that went in there probably believed that it was a hiding place for one of the shards. That at least gives me an idea as to their skill level at this time. They must have only felt the energy. A more experienced and practiced mage would have been able to tell the difference.

I’ll be back with more information later. I’ll be ignoring the chimaera for now. It is free and eventually we will meet it when it has grown. For now, the shards are of utmost important. And locating Vivian and her partner is almost at the same level.

Yuki shut the notebook and placed it back into the drawer it came from. She rubbed her face with her hands and let out a sigh. Everything was getting clearer and clearer. 

‘Of course they’re behind this,’ she thought. ‘They always seem to be.’

The fascination with power and the snake symbol being the sign of their group meant only one thing. It was the Shikaku who were the orchestrators of the attacks. They may not have been the instigators of the Demon Wars, but they took advantage of it to take the shards. 

‘This explains a lot. So many things falling into place to put me here.’

In looking for the shards, they sent a group to the demon shrine where Akira resided. The trap activated and Akira was born where she went out in search of a source of earthen elemental energy that she could attach herself to. 

Meanwhile, Yuki’s parents held a shard and when they were preparing for Yuki to hatch, the town they were in was attacked. From then on, it wasn’t clear what happened, but Yuki felt like she had a good idea as to the events and timeline.

The town was attacked and her parents must have hidden her and the shard together in a place that masks both the aura of the shard and Yuki’s egg. However, such masks rarely work with spirits as they are much more sensitive to mana. Akira was essentially a spirit during this time.

‘If you combine the shard’s energy and mine which is compatible with every element, then it would glow brighter than the shards by themselves. That must have attracted Akira.’

The only question now is how Yuki’s adopted parents found her and who found her egg. She had no memories of when she was born. She also had no memories of her elven parents telling her how she came to be their child. She had assumed that she was born to them like every human on Earth was.

‘That’ll be answered in time. I need to focus on other matters though. Like the Shikaku and them gathering shards.’

She remembered her first run in with the Shikaku. The day her elven parents were murdered. The man with those blue flames was searching for something. Her next run in was when her aunt was killed and again, the man that time was searching. 

‘They wanted the necklace. The shard,’ she thought. ‘I was wearing it both times and they never noticed. My own mana and Akira’s combined must have masked it. Maybe the shard’s signature canceled out with my own. I know it absorbed my mana.’

But what the reason was, one thing was clear. The Shikaku wanted her necklace. Right now, she didn’t have it with her. Akira had it stored away in her ring. Yuki let her keep it for now since it was safer there. 

The next thing was that the necklace brought on the deaths of everyone in her family. Her parents, her adopted parents, her aunt, and to an extent Sophie—all dead. All because of this shard that no longer existed. 

She remembered why she trained in the first place. Her experiences in Ethros and all the events and problems she encountered had side tracked her on her objective. The guild was made not to help Libra. It was made to stop the Shikaku. 

‘I’ve been focused on other things for too long. I have Akira. Erica. Yuna. Ember. I have my guild. And I can use the dragons. This is like two birds in one stone. I protect Ethros. And I crush them.’

“Done?” Akira asked as Yuki stepped out from the room. 

“Yes,” she replied. “Did you tell Erica?”

“I did.” Akira looked at her with furrowed brows. “What happened? Did you find something?”

“I found a lot of things,” Yuki said. “All of it isn’t good to say the least, but it is important information. We’ll need to talk about them later in a different place.”

“Is here not secure enough?”

“No.” Yuki remembered Sophie’s worries about a traitor or mole in the Dragons of Gaea. “Not all ears that may be listening here are trustworthy right now. Especially with the information we need to discuss. And our plans.”

“Alright. I told them to wait for us, so we can head back to the council meeting site if you want.”

“That would be a good place. Then we can move and find a more secure location,” Yuki nodded. “You still have my necklace right?”

“Of course,” Akira smiled. “Do you want it back?”

“Not right now. But soon. We’re going to need it.”

“For what?”

“Our plans. I won’t get into it right now.”

“Mmm. But what types of plans?” Akira asked. “You can at least tell me that.”

Yuki smiled.

“The original plan. The reason for the guild. The reason for my training,” she said. “I think we’re ready. How about you?”

Akira cocked an eyebrow.

“Revenge?” she asked. Yuki nodded. “I’ve been waiting for it.”