亚洲综合中美

Meanwhile, inside the office, Reinhardt and Jannette worked tirelessly. Their minds focused on the situation at hand. Reports from Fusefall were sent across – the scouting party from that outpost managed to survey the land. The rumors of people burning when getting close to the anomaly were true. None knew what it was, a heavy-fog blocked everything out. An impermeable wall of unknown. The monster attacks were focused on Ground-Zero and Reforge only, the others were left alone.

It took Elmer and Jen a few hours to evaluate the damage sustained. Many lost their lives sadly, with forces as tight they were – there remained only one option. A special request to the builders to fix the communication was placed. One of higher priority, connection to the main-guild had to be made.

Time passed without notice, it reached noon. Ground-zero was where most happened. The antenna got fixed, the builders chose to obey the Captain’s orders.

“It’s fixed,” said a man dressed in yellow, “-if you would excuse us, there’s preparation to be made,” followed by a team of six; they returned to the second checkpoint.

“Captain,” Jen called – each outpost had the same layout. Identical to the last detail, since it was last minute; not much thought could be placed in esthetics. The activity here was sorely lacking, no merchants nor traders. The taverns and inns only served on tight schedules. The people who worked here were scared beyond belief. Every night was a hell – they lived in perpetual fear of the wall being breached. Little did they know that said wall would be the beacon of hope for Hidros someday.

“Yes?” sat inside the office with four assistants as opposed to them alone, Elmer studied and evaluated the situation.

.....

“Communication is up and running,” to which, the Captain didn’t waste time. Messages were exchanged with Raulf himself, the matter at hand was people to fight for Azure. Last night had been a fluke, if it hadn’t been for Reinhardt’s gamble, Ground-zero would not have survived.

“Captain Elmer, we apologize sincerely for said inconvenience. However, the guild can’t stand to send any more adventurers to the border at this time. We can only do so much, the people under our supervision are but lowly fighters without guilds – the ones who survive off odd jobs and such. A guild named Kniq has already been sent to the vicinity – they’re the best we can do. If more men are needed, there’s always the option of contacting the mid to high-tier independent guilds.” To which afterward, details of said people were given.

“Thanks for everything, Guild Master, we shall do what is necessary to survive,” the exchange ended after a good thirty minutes. Both on either side sat with visible frustration; it was all for naught. Raulf wanted to send more help. Will alone could only take one so far, losing more people right after that defeat would cause unrest.

One option remained for the Outposts, the independent guilds. Phone call after phone call, Elmer phoned everyone in the contact list – from low to mid and high, none wanted to join forces and fight for Hidros. As expected, many were only interested in money and glory, not for the safety of people. Those were the mind-set of their guild leaders which didn’t reflect the whole organization.

“Pathetic,” he sighed, the two names remaining was Blades End and Pegasus.

“Seeing that response, I assume that we’re hopeless when it comes to fighters?” Jen presumed right.

“From what I’ve heard so far, they all but want one thing, easy money. Not to shame the reason for why they might think that way. Hidros is already a hard-enough place to survive, it’s to be expected,” the phone dialed Pegasus first.

“I understand the situation,” after a few minutes, the lady speaking on behalf of the leader replied, “-care to hold for a bit?”

“Greetings Captain Elmer,” a deep voice took over the conversation.

“Greetings, may I have the honor of knowing thy name?” the tone courteous, Elmer felt the power resound across his flesh and body.

“I’m Arthur Ragenald, guild leader of Pegasus,” it sent shivers, the name was as powerful as the man’s voice.

“Mr. Ragenald, it’s a pleasure, may I assume that you know the details of why I called?” impressed but unshaken, Elmer continued.

“Yes,” he paused, “-the details have been given, it shall be a good learning experience for my recruits. Pegasus is willing to help without care for money nor fame. Two parties of five members of which the lowest rank is Tier-eight Steel and highest Tier-five Ruby shall join thy efforts.”

“Thank you very much,” the voice filled with relief, the phone hung. “The high tier guilds aren’t as bad as I thought, Pegasus is sending over two-party of five people,” Elmer relayed.

“That’s the second strongest guild which focused on combat only,” Jen explained the assistants who stared cluelessly at the Captain. “With them on our side, it’s going to work out.”

“Now for the ranked one guild,” pressure and anxiety, the conversation went similarly. As opposed to the leader replying, tis was the vice-leader, a woman by the name of Luna Nova. Her voice was sharp and stern – it took a bit of convincing.

“I see,” she thought,”-after hearing the story, I’m willing to send over a single party of four members. Tis all we can spare at the moment, it compromises of two Steel ranks, one Tier-six Emerald and Tier-four Bronze which should cover for the lack of numbers,” the phone hung.

“Yes,” he proclaimed, “-another party is being sent our way,” a smile, one big and comforting, “-Ground-zero can finally take a break. Once the second checkpoint is completed, the responsibility of protecting the wall will be sent over to Reforge. Our duty will then change to survey and providing support as is needed. Not to mention that life will be less hectic as now.”

“Yes, I agree,” Jen breathed a sigh of relief. The news about who was to join the efforts was sent across the network.

Time reached three in the afternoon, Kniq remained on standby. Staxius, on the other hand, went monster hunting. Tired of staying still, he teleported from place to place around the vicinity of the border. All that he found were but weaklings. None match the aura that was felt before – the search was for the ones responsible for said incident. Needless to say, rather than waiting for Reforge to give any news nor information – he teleported farther and farther away.

‘Better to see what is going on myself than count on others,’ Once reaching Stonegrove, wings sprouted to which he flew overhead and went to Updust.

“Wait up,” about thirty kilometers from the area, Adete urged for him to stop.

“What’s the matter?” he asked confused to her sudden outburst.

“That fog is trouble,” in form of a giant dome, the entire area was closed off. No one could see inside, the scouting party Reinhardt sent were seen approaching.

“I agree,” they hovered, “-even so,” the eyes locked onto the target -“I’m not that keen on giving up because of a fog.”

“Why am I not surprised,” she rolled her eyes.

“If the rumors are true, then we better buckle up,” no hesitation, five strong flaps later, the body turned into a human bullet. Instantly, they pushed and pierced the outer barrier which had burnt many prior.

‘Oh,’ once inside, all was dark. The skin began to melt. It didn’t bother for they landed. The fog intensified with each step he took, from the skin, it reached the muscles and made way to the bones. It might have seemed reckless, but after a few seconds, *Undrar’s Blessing: Protection against dark-magic,* a boon that blocked out magic from a single element completely. Even with this, the damage continued, *Dark-Arts: Mana cancellation,* the spell cast over the body. A shield that prevented foreign mana from affecting the body. The side effect was the restriction of using mana that meant no magic. The blessing and cancellation worked perfectly with one another.

“We’re in,” he walked, on top of dust, a strong gust of wind carrying metal and debris crashed from all over. Thunder and lightning reigned supreme, the gust also carried water, one if hit any who managed to survive this far – would take their head straight off.

“It’s not worth it,” Adete ordered again, since the spell was cast onto himself – regeneration from the Death Element was limited. The process turned slower than usual and only covered vital organs. The extremities of the fingers and limbs were torn and injured without time to heal, the damage was beyond expectation. Moving around in that state would only spell disaster.

“I guess,” he sighed, wings sprouted, and they retreated. They only made it to two kilometers. “Mother Nature is still as almighty as ever,” he sighed and hovered. An arm sliced off, the legs only bones, with half of the face melted – retreat was the better option than continuing.

“It’s for the better,” Adete added, “-who knows what’s in the middle. A dragon, a god, a demon, or creation itself – that amount of power isn’t normal. There’s no way someone from this realm has that much strength. Either it’s one that can traverse space and time or a descendent from the higher beings.”

“Guess you’re right,” on a small hill that overlooked the area, a break to recover was taken. Good thing that the fog was visible to the naked eye else people might have walked to their deaths. Regeneration kicked back in, he stood as if nothing happened. The same could not be said about the clothes, the right sleeve was gone as well as the pants that changed into shorts.

“Another perfectly good suit ruined,” the head shook in disappointment. “Let’s see if the all-seeing eye can travel inside,” the eyes closed.

“Should have tried that in the first place,” Adete sat with a little burn on her arm.

Concentration heightened, the dormant crimson eye came to life, it burnt vividly then opened. Palm on the ground, a shock later, he jumped out the body then flew over to the barrier. It entered without much trouble – no presence nothing, the weather didn’t affect the vampiric power. Through and through, all that remained was darkness till Updust came in view. Or what was left of said thing, a meteor had crashed, the impact could be seen. One that slowly built with the help of the storm. Nothing else could be seen, there laid something in the middle that powered the whole process – an Orb, one purple and vile. Next to it, a lady to which a single glance later, the all-seeing eye stopped. *Snap,* the right eye bled.

“Guess there’s someone responsible,” he mumbled, the eyeball shattered from one look. “Someone with the power to kill with a single glance, this is going to be a pain,” the voice monotonous.

“Are you alright?” Adete asked over and over again for he fell into a trance. “When in doubt,” her teeth pierced into his neck.

“Again?” the dream broke.

“Yes, again,” her voice stern and worried.

“We better head back. Whoever is responsible for that dome will be at it for a while. That faint glimpse, a familiar face – I know that lady from somewhere.” *Ancient Magic: Teleportation.*

“Probably mistaken,” Adete justified, “-better not dwell on fragmented memories.”

“I agree, let’s focus on the thing at hand,” they entered from the front entrance – the clothes torn and a bag filled with Qaisar. Hunting monsters earlier proved to be simple and easy, one after the other, they died without a fight.

“Just look at him,” the others who walked about stared in awe, “-I’d like to know more about said individual,” many were curious. A meeting had been called a few seconds ago which explained why people moved about more regularly.

“Sergeant,” Staxius called. The officer came out of the military building, she walked behind Reinhardt.

“Yes?” she stopped and asked, the lieutenant continued without looking back.

“I’m sorry to ask this, but is there any way I can cash in these Qaisar?” the heavy loot bag fell to the floor.

“O-oh...” taken by surprise, “-that’s a r-rather big haul,” her eyes wandered from side to side. “May I ask how many monsters you killed?”

“Oh, about two hundred or so,” the tone as cavalier as normal.

“TWO HUNDRED,” a sudden outburst that went unnoticed. “For now, just keep the coins; with no guild anywhere close – we’ll have to wait for a truck to come to collect whatever was earnt. The next one should be here in two days.”

“I appreciate the help,” a gentle smile later, “-you’re not that bad a person, even if the real intent is hidden,” a remark that touched her deeply.