Jack carried Raina onto the bus. She was bleeding from dozens of wounds where crystal shards had embedded themselves into her body. He left the shards lodged in her flesh since he feared removing them would lead to further blood loss while he carried her. As gently as possible, Jack laid her down on the padded seating closest to the entrance. An impact rocked the bus from above and Jack saw something fall from the roof. As he went to tear the first aid kit from the wall by the stairs, he heard the shots of Renner’s sigiltech rifle fire across the battlefield. A quick glance out the window revealed Roa had found an opening in her opponents’ defenses and Ripper was receiving ranged support from Renner. Their fights would be over within moments.

In the distance, he glimpsed Ciel lay waste to his opponents. From the looks of it, the Celestial was done playing around. The massacre took no more than ten seconds. Jack had barely gotten the necessary supplies out of the first-aid kit before Ciel appeared at the entrance of the bus.

“How is she?” he asked Jack. His tone was light, but his expression showed concern which surprised Jack. Then again, Ciel could only be worried about losing his investment for all he knew.

“She’s alive, but she’s losing a lot of blood and if I’m not mistaken, the crystals used by the Spiremen are poisonous, so we have to get them out of her before it’s too late,” Jack answered. Ciel nodded before reaching down and tearing open Raina’s shirt. Golden light encased the Celestial’s hand as he traced two sigils over her heart. The sigils glimmered against her pale skin before disappearing. Immediately, Jack heard her heart rate and breathing halt. She was as still as death. A flash of anger crossed his mind  as he thought the Celestial had killed her though it disappeared as soon as Ciel spoke.

“There. I’ve put her body in stasis,” Ciel said cheerfully. His bright smile returned and he patted Jack on the shoulder. “Would you mind grabbing those first-aid supplies and following me upstairs? I’ll remove the shards and heal her up once I get her onto one of the beds.”

He didn’t argue. Ciel scooped up Raina from the seat and made his way upstairs with Jack close behind. Above them, the shooting had ceased. Jack also stopped hearing the sounds of conflict outside so he assumed the fight was over. When they stepped onto the second level, Alindal was descending the ladder. The elf glanced from Jack to Ciel to Raina’s unconscious form before he aimed a questioning look at Jack.

Before he could say anything, Ciel said, “Ah, Julian, would you mind fetching Renner and making your way downstairs? I’m going to need the second level to myself while I’m treating Raina.”

Alindal swiftly complied with the Celestial’s wishes. Ciel deposited Raina carefully onto the bed in which Renner had slept earlier. Alindal reappeared from the roof with Renner in tow and the two went down to the first level without a word. Jack placed the first-aid kit on the adjacent bed then moved to follow his friend downstairs, but Ciel stopped him.

“A moment, Atlas. I have a few questions.” The man’s tone was nonchalant, but Jack’s stomach clenched. He took a deep breath.

“Sure, what do you need?” he answered as evenly as he could manage.

“What happened behind the bus?” Ciel asked. He didn’t wait for Jack to respond before he donned a pair of gloves from the first-aid kit and began removing shards from Raina’s body using a pair of tweezers.

Jack frowned. He didn’t want to be interrogated by a Celestial if he could help it. “Well, things didn’t really go the way I wanted them to. The Spireman followed me before my summon could get much done,” he said holding up the hand with the Shadowtitan’s Fist. “Thankfully, I—”

“Out of curiosity, why do you have such a Relic?” Ciel said, interrupting him. “In my experience, such Relics typically summon the same creatures that drop them. Their attribute bonuses are also determined by the nature of the creature. That being said, why does an Appraiser have a Relic no doubt geared toward martial designations?”

Jack did his best to remain calm as he realized his mistake. In most of his jobs, Jack didn’t hesitate to fight in melee. When people questioned his strength, he claimed it was from his previous life. Designations didn’t determine everything about an individual especially at the lower ranks where attributes scores were smaller. For all people knew, he could’ve been a brute in his previous life. People didn’t always receive a designation that suited them. However, because of Ciel, he had been too worried about exposure to enter the fight himself. Instead, he’d played the role of a typical Appraiser working for the Relic Hunters guild which made his equipment suspicious. Many of his clients were, more or less, his peers, so they didn’t ask questions as long as he did his job. Questions could lead to uncomfortable situations and answers the asker didn’t want to know. In other words, questions had consequences. The majority of people in ranks D and E were just trying to get by while the rest only cared about about acquiring eidos stones and Relics to accrue power. Jack’s mistake had been assuming those rules would apply here. Ciel operated on an entirely different level with entirely different rules. Why would he avoid asking questions if he found something curious or suspicious? What consequences did he need to worry about? Ciel could do what he wanted because he was at the top of the food chain. If he saw someone with a noncombat mage-class designation that had a metal club as a weapon and a martial-oriented Relic, why wouldn’t he question it?

“I didn’t really have a choice in the matter,” Jack lied after a brief pause.

“Really?” Ciel responded as he continued to extract the toxic shards from Raina. He wasn’t even facing him but the meaning was clear. Jack would have to give more of an explanation than that. On the bright side, Jack didn’t hear any outright suspicion or hostility in Ciel’s voice which, hopefully, meant the Celestial was simply curious.

“Yes. On one of my jobs, we got a good haul of Relics so everyone on the team got one,” he said, lying again. “There were better Relics but the crew picked before I did and this was the only thing left. It isn’t so bad though. I mostly use the summon to help me run away when I’m in trouble since it can restrain people and the Relic gives me extra Might so I can sort of fight if I’m backed into a corner.”

“Ah, is that what happened behind the bus?” Ciel’s easygoing voice contrasted with the tension Jack felt accumulating in his shoulders.

“Uh-huh. I managed to surprise the guy with a decent hit when he attacked me but he destroyed my summon so I ran. Thankfully Raina caught up and finished him off. If she had arrived a second later, I don’t think I would have made it.” He changed the details of the story though tried to keep it as accurate as possible. In his experience, a lie woven with elements of the truth withstood scrutiny much better than a complete fabrication.

“I see,” Ciel said in response. Jack stood there awkwardly for nearly a minute before the Celestial added, “You may go.”

Suppressing the urge to sigh in relief, Jack turned to leave then stopped and said, “When she wakes up, tell her I said thanks for saving me.”

“I’ll let her know,” Ciel said. With that done, Jack wasted no time descending to the first level, happy to be away from the Celestial.

***

Raina awoke sore and confused in a bed. She realized that she was on bus because of the padded seating near the bed which matched the one she had sat on earlier. The rumble of the bus as it passed over the rough terrain told her that they were on the move again. She reasoned that she was on the second level of the bus. The question was how had she gotten there? The memory of the Spiremen attack and her battle played through her mind. The last thing she recalled was Atlas moving toward her after she killed the Spireman. Strangely, her body tingled all over though it wasn’t unpleasant. She groaned as she sat up; however, someone spoke out startling her.

“Stay still,” said a voice that she recognized as Ciel’s. She turned her head to look near the stairs and Ciel was seated at the table looking at a tablet. He gestured at her. “Lay back down. I’ve put a restoration array on you, but you’ll disrupt the healing process if you move around to much and disturb your wounds.”

Raina blinked at him and looked to see what wounds he was talking about. First, she noticed that she was almost completely naked. Someone had undressed her with the exception of her underwear. However, even as her face flushed red, she saw dozens of red scars all over her chest, stomach, legs and arms. Lastly, she spotted several green symbols dancing along her skin just below her collarbone.

Then, she remembered. The Spireman had attacked her before he went down. He had detonated the crystal plate on the back of his armor. Her fingers traced over the cuts. She forgot her embarrassment as she realized there were even a few on her lower neck. Had she almost died? She looked to Ciel but he gave her a stern look and gestured for her to lay down again.

She didn’t argue. She pulled the thin cover over her exposed body as she settled down. There was a brief moment of silence before she said, “Is everyone else alright?”

“Renner suffered a minor injury, but he’s fine now,” he said, not looking up from his tablet. Then, he appeared to recall something. “By the way, Atlas wanted to thank you for saving him.”

“I should be thanking him,” she said. “I would’ve been in trouble if he hadn’t helped me. Speaking of which, thank you for healing me.”

“No need to thank me. I couldn’t very well let you die, now could I?” Ciel responded jovially. Raina smiled. She was glad she could rely on Ciel. His presence made her feel at ease. She’d suspected her benefactor was strong after seeing how much respect someone as terrifying as Manticore had given him, but after seeing him in action, she really understood. Ciel was powerful, really powerful.

As Raina laid there, the truth of her new reality started to settle in on her. Over the past few days, everything had happened so fast that she had just rolled with it. From the weird sci-fi landscape of Asylum to the strange creatures she saw on a daily basis, Raina had taken it all in stride. Nevertheless, Ciel’s power scared her. Even though she had won, Raina was under no illusions about her fight. If Atlas hadn’t intervened with his summon, she would’ve lost. Even if Ciel would have saved her, what would happen if he wasn’t nearby next time or she ran into someone just as powerful as him? Despite killing the Spireman, she had suffered so many wounds. Once her Ethos went down, she was still human. What would happen if she died again?

Dark thoughts played through her mind as she traced the cuts with her fingers beneath the blanket. She had to get stronger. Mentally, she summoned her Status.

[Status]

Name: Raina Durante

Designation: Warrior (D-1)

Available Eidos: 0

Ethos: 170

Vigor: 280

[Attributes]

• Might: 14
• Stamina: 14
• Dexterity: 12
• Agility: 18
• Intellect: 16
• Willpower: 20
• Focus: 11
• Resonance: 16

[Abilities]

View kills?

View Traits?

View Relic Skills?

Raina focused on her designation. A new message appeared in her sight.

Designation: Warrior

Warriors are a martial designation specializing in melee combat. This designation utilizes enhancing skills to push their bodies to extraordinary levels and increase the power of their attacks.

• Designation Rank: D
• Designation Level: 1/10
• Eidos Allocated: 0/1000

Hopefully, she would receive a decent amount of Eidos from the Remnant Gate like Ciel claimed she would. A bit of fear worked its way into her heart alongside the excitement she already felt about the gate. According to Ciel, Remant Gates were like portals to entirely different worlds that were full of monsters and Relics. If she killed those monsters, she could get more eidos stones and level up. On top of that, once she entered the Remnant Gate, she might receive an objective which would give her even more rewards. While she thought about that, Raina noticed a notification at the corner of her vision. She focused on it.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked a hidden objective.]

Objective: Protector of Mundus

Unlock Condition: Successfully protect a new World Core

• Assignment: Continue to protect the World Core until it reaches Phase 1 of its maturation

 “Huh?” she said under her breath. She stared at the objective, completely confused. Since Ciel had explained objectives to her, she understood what a hidden objective was. Ciel also told her that the information to unlock a hidden objective was very valuable. Normal objectives received within Remnant Gates gave rewards equal to the gate’s threat ranking. Hidden objectives, one the other hand, gave rewards that were sought after by everyone, no matter their rank. That being said, she had no idea what to make of this one. What was a World Core and when had she protected one? She called out to Ciel, “Um, Ciel?”

He looked up from his tablet and answered, “Yes, Raina?”

“Can you come closer?” she said, feeling embarrassed. If hidden objectives were really as valuable as Ciel claimed then she didn’t want to go announcing that she’d received one across the room. Ciel raised an eyebrow, but played along. When he was close, she propped herself up on her elbow holding the blanket over her chest as she did so. She whispered, “I just received a hidden objective.”

Ciel’s eyes widened slightly and he held a finger to his lips. With practiced hands, he deftly traced a complex pattern of white symbols in the air around the two of them. Once he finished, the sound around them faded until she couldn’t hear much other than the rustling of Ciel’s robes as he knelt by her bed.

“That will stop us from being overhead,” he said, his smile widening. “Now, tell me about this objective.”