The Inevitable Split

There was only about a day's worth of food from Josh's rations. It would have probably lasted less time should he have run the distance.

Since Joe felt he was only a short distance away from his safe zone, he decided to check out what he had more thoroughly.

Taking out the objects in Josh's space ring, there were several objects he couldn't immediately recognize.

The odd opaque sculptures were one of them. They seemed to be made of some kind of crystal, and were very intricate despite being so small. The sculptures all looked the same.

Analyzing the sculpture while walking, Joe found nothing odd about the sculptures.

'Well, no point in trying to decipher something I clearly can't.'

Upon this thought, Joe gave up, and put it away.

Joe took out the three swords next. Two of the swords had their blades shattered, while the third was chipped on both sides. The third sword seemed to be usable, but not for long.

Putting those weapons away, Joe took out the last objects. They were three old and worn books.

As they were too large, Joe put away two of the books, only holding one in his arms while walking.

Wiping the front of the book with his hand, he saw the title. The words, 'Vol. 6 of the Virginity Scriptures,' were labeled in bold letters on its front.

Still reeling from the shock, Joe tripped on a nearby rock and landed face first with the book in his arms.

Groaning, Joe slowly stood up. Excitement grew within him, but uncertainty entered his mind.

'Can I still use this if it's volume six?'

Putting the book away, Joe scoured through the other two books.

It seemed that the other two books were volumes three and four.

Upon realizing this, he immediately went through volume three. He began to read while walking.

'There are a total of three paths in the way. The first two are for the dregs, while the third is for the worthy. However, even dregs can become great if nurtured correctly, but the worthy will become even greater. This book is for the worthy, and the worthy only…'

Joe continued reading for about three hours before he was stopped by someone.

Looking up, it was a middle-aged man in some kind of uniform standing before him.

"Hey. You should watch where you're going. If you get too absorbed in a book like that, you might get in some sort of accident."

The man had a nice smile while kindly advising him. The man continued on his way without waiting for Joe's reply, leaving him stumped.

'Where did that guy come from?'

Looking up, he realized he was just outside his destination. It seemed that the man who stopped him seemed to work as part of the security team.

It turned out that he was so engrossed in the book, he hadn't even noticed he arrived!

Upon realizing he was already at his destination, he put away his book before trying to get inside the walls.

Going through the regular security process, Joe made it through quite quickly, as he tried to find his destination.

Looking into the sky, he saw the tips of several towers. He knew where to find them, but he didn't know which one he should go to. He didn't even know which tower he was in initially.

He never bothered to find out because he thought it was unnecessary. Amelia might've known, but she was already dead!

After a few minutes of deliberation, Joe decided to search around. This would take a while, but it would nearly guarantee his entry into the right tower. It might be complicated walking into the wrong tower, as he didn't know anybody in those towers.

Taking it upon himself not to get into an awkward situation, Joe walked over to the areas around each tower. Upon finding the areas were unfamiliar, he moved onto the next one. Continuing this for five cycles, Joe finally found a familiar area.

Walking around the familiar plaza led him back to the tower he was initially in. Walking inside, the interior was very different than the first time he came inside.

Rather than the bored stares of the receptionists and the silent, cool atmosphere, there were serious gazes on the receptionists' faces as they busied themselves around the reception desk.

'Has news of the invasion gone through, or is it just something else?'

...

Sage City, Headquarters of the Wizard's Assembly.

A group of seemingly young men and a few women were situated around a large round table. None of them had many distinguishing features, or clear demerits. They just seemed like anyone you could find on the street.

Finally, someone broke the silence. "It has begun," they spoke in a solemn and serious voice.

More voices continued the sentences.

"The Fire Nation has started their assault."

"We must repel them."

"It must not end like last time."

More words were traded as a fervent atmosphere grew within the room. However, a pessimistic voice suddenly appeared.

"Our odds are low. The ancestor is dead. We have few advantages. We lost before, and we can do it again. I don't wish to fight in this war."

Tension filled the room once these heavy words were spoken, as everyone turned to look at the one who spoke. It was a seemingly young man with sunken eyes and a hunched posture.

A young man who seemed to be full of fervor and fighting spirit began to argue with him.

"Grand Elder, although you are of high standing, doing this is equivalent to making the ancestor's sacrifice in vain!"

The Grand Elder only sighed before looking at the fervent young man with eyes that seemed to say he knew everything. "Don't you also think that all of us being slaughtered is making the ancestor's sacrifice vain?"

The fervent man seemed to be taken aback by this as the Grand Elder continued while he stood up. "The ancestor made this chance for us to live. We can all leave on our own. There is no need to stay and fight. By living on, we can make it so the ancestor's sacrifice was not in vain!"

A heavy silence filled the room once the Grand Elder was done speaking. A voice spoke out after a long while, a young woman this time.

In a heavy voice, she spoke. "That is not what the ancestor stood for."

Silence ensued, as the Grand Elder slowly took his seat. "Fine. Maybe I can't convince you now, but a day will come that you'll regret the choice of staying."

"That day will never come," the young man retorted.

The Grand Elder's figure began to distort, before disappearing altogether. The mood of the room had become heavy after he had left.

…

Receptionists were making calls to who knows where, as more and more people came out of the elevators and into the lobby. Those who belonged to the Tower quickly walked behind the reception desk and busied themselves.

Those who did not belong to the Tower, and were only staying for a while quickly rushed out the doors.

They went so fast, Joe could barely get a hold of them. After several minutes of trying, someone finally realized that Joe was trying to flag them down.

Stopping in front of Joe, an old-looking man stood before him.

"What's wrong? Is there something you need?"

The old man held a nice smile on his face, showing his wrinkles.

"Yes, I would like to ask something. Where are you all going?"

The old man took a second to think before answering. "Well, we're going to make preparations should the Fire Nation invade."

"The news has spread so quickly?!" Joe exclaimed in shock.

The old-looking man let out a hearty laugh at that. "Did you think that the Wizard Assembly is so incompetent not to realize an entire town has migrated? And not to mention, their loud way of declaring they're here by ripping open the artificial space!"

The first sentence was not enough to convince Joe, but upon hearing the second sentence, he realized it was hard not to notice a crack in the sky. He put on a face of deliberation while thinking these things.

The old-looking man felt that he had answered all of Joe's questions, and so he sped away.

All of Joe's questions were indeed answered, and so Joe attempted to busy himself. He tried to talk to a receptionist about Josh's death, but none would make time for him. It seemed they were rather busy.

Joe decided to head over to the place he accepted his commission. Trying his best to squeeze past the busy receptionists, whose faces seemed to scrunch up as he walked past them, he finally arrived at the area with a castle-like theme.

Without redeeming the reward, he wouldn't have a place to stay. Although he felt a little shameless accepting the reward even though Josh did most of the work, he needed the reward.

However, when he approached the board, there were no receptionists nearby, meaning no way to turn in his commission. Joe frowned at this.