Arc 8.07

-Break-

Φ Walking around Jedidah slightly ahead of Cyrus, I say, "A horrible country composed entirely of slaves, this place doesn't really fit that description. Everyone here seems to be rather jolly and hard at work, smiles all around, and if I were to compare this place to Skydust, everyone is barely working, isn't that right, Cyrus!"

Hearing no response, I turn to Cyrus and say, "Have anything to add to the conversation?"

Looking at him, I see Cyrus is freaking out. "I c-c-c-c-c-c-c-can't do this, I can't do this."

This is bad; he is causing a scene. Grabbing him by the ear, I lead Cyrus into a back alley, "Cyrus, what is going on with you? Don't you know this is an undercover mission!"

"S-S-S-S-Sorry, let us go home!"

"What's wrong with you? We are finally here, don't you want to meet your sister?"

Cyrus keeps stuttering and falling over his words as he tries to speak. Reaching my mental limit, I step back and then I punch him in the stomach and shout, "CALM DOWN!"

Stepping out of the alleyway, I bow my head to the passer-by's and say, "Nothing is going on over here, just continue your business."

Walking back in, I grab Cyrus by the collar and say with a half-smile, "Sorry about that, I just got annoyed, but trust no matter what the reason is I won't judge you, so please just spit it out."

Staring at me, Cyrus says, "You still look angry."

"HURRY THE HELL UP!"

Cowering Cyrus says, "I-I-I-I-I am s-s-s-sorry. It is just that I am scared to see my sister."

Confused, I calm down and ask, "Why?"

"I wa-a-a-anted to show my sister ho-o-o-ow I have grown, but to be hon-n-n-nest I haven't. I-I-I-I-If I were to meet my sister like this, I would be ashamed. I have a-a-a-always relied on my sister for everything, so I at least wanted to grow a bit before I see her again."

Sighing, I kick Cyrus in the balls, and then I let out a scream of pain. "What the fuck, why are they so strong, my foot hurts like hell."

Looking at his crotch, I say, "You know now I am a bit curious, but that can wait for later. Cyrus, take it from me that if I had someone to rely on me like you rely on your sister, I wouldn't have ever had a bad day."

"But-t-t I still want to be able to help her."

"That's exactly why we are here, your sister might be in a dire situation, and the only person who would possibly care is you. So, I bet if you come in as a knight in shining armour, your sister would be thrilled."

Hitting him on the back I say, "So straighten up, tighten your butt cheeks and march Cyrus." Pushing him from the back, I say, "Let's GO!"

Φ Stretching my hand out of the opening in the walls, I let my Omega eagle land on my arm.

The omega eagle is a wonderbeast that can record and play anything it seems.

"Now, what did you observe in the desert today?"

Looking through the eagle's memories, I notice something, so I shout, "GUARDS COME IMMEDIATELY!"

"Vizier Adi, what do you need of us?"

"I need you to inform our king that intruders have arrived in Jedidiah. Waste no time."

The two guards in front of me look at each other weirdly. "Was there some issue with my instructions?"

"You see, his majesty is missing."

"What!"

"He woke up earlier today and went for a walk. He has been missing for about 9 hours now."

Enraged, I say, "And you didn't think to inform me!!"

"We knew if you found out, you would burst a blood vessel."

Grabbing both of them by their heads, I say, "GET HIM BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"We're on it!"

Φ Jumping from building to building, I take note of a few things. First is the gorgeous architecture all around; the city is completely stunning. Second is the happiness of all the people walking around, from what Ai told me, I thought it would be much more of a dictatorship, but nothing of the sort is happening. And the oddest part is how orderly everyone is, despite being incredibly packed in the streets, not a single person is getting in the way of anyone else, I don't even think ants are this well coordinated.

As I continue to jump from around the rooftops, Anto on my shoulders says, "Orb I am hungry!"

"I will find you something later."

Throwing a tantrum, Anto says, "NO, I WANT SOMETHING NOW!"

"Don't be a baby, Anto." While trying to calm down Anto, I mess up my footing and fall into an alleyway in Jedidiah.

Recovering from the fall, I say to Anto, "This is what happens when you don't behave!"

"This is what happens when you don't feed me!"

"Right now, feeding you is at the bottom of my list of things to do."

"The bottom of your list. Then all I got to do is change how you think!"

Using his legacy, Anto tries to strike my head, but I grab his hand and say, "What the hell are you trying to do?"

"I want to eat now!!!"

This little brat. With my ears, I start to hear a grunting sound, so I look around me and under me, I see a man, crap we fell on him! Slamming Anto into a wall, I say, "Behave!"

Then I immediately make to check for the man I just saw, "Are you ok!" The man is just skin and bones; he looks completely ragged. "We need to get him food now!"

Name: Omega Eagle

Height: 78cm

Type: Carnivore, Wonderbeast

Description: An eagle wonderbeast with green and gold feathers. The eagle has extraordinarily hard feathers on its head, which form a golden crown, and transfixed to it is a third eye, which it uses to project its memories for all to see.

Fact: They project their stored memories as a way to confuse their prey, and then in that moment, they strike their necks, killing them. They live for entertainment and thrills.

Name: Anathematised Paranant

Height: 0.1M

Type: Obligatory hematophagous(Bloodsuckers)

Description: They are small bugs with golden spherical-shaped bodies, with six short legs attached to the bodies, which they can drink blood from. On the front of their body lies one eye from which they can conjure lightning.

Fact: They are pack hunters who will always act as a collective. They get their name from the researcher who found them, Paran, so they are called the Paran-ants.

Name: Tahajalmud

Height: 290m

Type: Wonderbeast, Carnivore

Description: A Large quadrupedal wonderbeast, it has a golden armoured shell and a long thorny tail. Beneath its armour, it has two wings that are very similar to those of bugs. It is capable of rolling into a wheel shape to run over all its targets, then it uses its thorny tails to pick chunks of them off its armour

Fact: They have races with the rest of their pack when they are alone, and in those races, the older ones tend to let the younger ones win.

Side story

Φ Walking into the man's shop with Suzuka and Cyrus behind me, I say in a polite voice, "Are you finished?"

"I finished up just a few minutes ago. Do you want to take a look at it?"

"Absolutely!"

As the man walks to the back of his shop, I see Suzuka beside me start to fidget. Grabbing her by the waist, I start to tickle her and say, "What's with all the fidgeting?"

Laughing Suzuka says, "Stop Orb!"

"When you cough up the secrets."

"I SAID STOP," she says, swiping her tail back at me. Dodging away, I see she has a red face filled with anger.

As she approaches me with hostile intentions, I hide behind Cyru,s saying, "Oh no, I am about to get broken in two."

" I am going to tickle you to death."

As she tries to catch I move around using Cyrus as a wedge between us so she can't grab me. "What I did wasn't that bad, so why don't you just stop this and answer my question?"

"When I get my revenge. Cyrus, grab him!"

"Ye,s madam!" Cyrus says as he grabs me.

"When did you start taking orders from Suzuka?"

"We had lots of time to bond while you were out doing whatever you wanted. Now it's time for revenge."

Taking off my shoes, Suzuka starts to relentlessly tickle my feet over and over again, "PLEASE STOP I AM GOING TO DIE!!!"

After a little while of tickling, Suzuka eventually lets me go and says, "That felt good."

Lying on the floor, a shell of my former self, I say, "Please answer my question."

Fidgeting even more, Suzuka says, "Well, it is just that I am nervous about my present, I don't get many, so I didn't know how to feel."

Getting up, I give her a hug from behind and say, "Stop being a baby." Then I supplex her into the ground.

Holding her head on the floor, Suzuka gives me a death stare and says, "Your right arm is all you're going to have left."

"Friends give each other gifts, so don't be a baby about this. From now on, this is your new normal, so get used to it, and remember my birthday is in Capricorn, don't forget."

With a kind smile, Suzuka says, "Thank you, Orb."

Walking back into the room, the man says, "Here you go!"

The man places two weapons on the table. First is a bow like I asked for, and the second one is Suzuka's weapon; it is like a gauntlet with three pieces sharp pieces of finger armour.

"I heard the little girl was a martial artist, so I believe this is the best way for her to wield a weapon. Sorry, I was only able to make it for one hand since the bow took up most of the metal you guys had, but I can guarantee it is the best work I have ever made."

Putting it on her hand, Suzuka says with an ecstatic smile, "Thank you so much, mister!! But what is really special about this stuff?"

"You see, spirit energy doesn't flow through all materials equally. It conducts through organic things very well, like the human body and wood, but when it comes to inorganic things like metal, it doesn't conduct well. So, you see, when it comes to weapons, there is a trade-off, but this doesn't exist with spirit metal. Spirit metal conducts spirit energy better than most organic materials and is harder than most metals, and due to all this, you can do crazy things like weave arrows of spirit energy using it."

"So, this stuff is amazing."

"Exactly, you should be thanking god that you get to wield such a thing."

Looking at her weapon with a demonic smile, I hear her say, "I wonder how much more fun fighting will be!"

Pretending I didn't see her, I say, "Well, I will take this one then." When I try to pick up the bow, I can't even budge it.

"Young man, if you want to move that you need to use spirit energy."

Snickers at me, Suzuka says, "Orb can't use that."

"It isn't nice to laugh at other people. Cyrus, could you help me with this?"

"YES!"

With great vigour, Cyrus picks up the bow and mumbles, "I'm helping."

Looking at the bow, I see it has a strange symbol(Ω) on it, so I ask, "What is this?"

"That symbol was etched into both of the robots. I tried to remove it, but it wouldn't come off even after I melted the metal down."

"I guess we can't do anything about it then." Bowing to the man, I say, "That will be all from us, thank you for your hard work."

"No, thank you, I never thought I would get the chance to think with spirit metal, so the fact I got to do this in such dire times is a god-sent."

With a smile, I ask, "May I have your name?"

"Chiron Gazer."

"Then from this moment on, this bow will carry the name Chiron."

With a smile, the man says, "What a great name!"

Walking out of the store, we all say our goodbyes, and when we leave, we are met by Avram, "Orb it looks like they are done with the ship."

"Then let's go check it out."

-Break-

Standing in front of the workers of the ship, one of them walks up to us and says, "We're done, all the renovations are complete."

I am unable to respond due to being completely and utterly dumbstruck. What the hell am I looking at? This isn't a renovation but a complete upgrade. The ship is way bigger and looks a lot more refined.

Jeter, walking up to them, says, "You were only supposed to make a few minor renovations!"

"Sorry, we couldn't help ourselves, boss, this might be the last thing we ever work on, and it is a Basileia artefact, we couldn't just let this chance go."

"You can't alter things you don't own. Look at the faces of Avram and the others."

Staring at Avram and everyone else, I see their faces aren't the happiest; in fact, I would say they even look mad.

Through the heads of the five people beside Orb, one thought ran throughout their minds: I WANTED TO DO THIS. It wasn't anger but jealousy over losing their opportunity to upgrade one of Basileia's artefacts.

Seeing their faces, the craftsmen from Skydust walk up to them and say, "We're sorry, we got carried away!"

Letting out a fiendish snicker, Avram says, "Don't be, you guys said this was your best work, so all I have to do is upgrade the ship even further, you got that, you scrubs."

"Challenge accepted, but the moment you do, we will outdo you."

Walking past all of them, I move over to Cyrus and say, "Has work here been good?"

"Y-Y-Y-Y-YES!"

I thought his stutter had vanished, but now it is back again.

Walking up behind me, one of the craftsmen says, "Cyrus here has been really helpful to us."

"If it wasn't for his strength, this would have taken us a month a least."

"But in barely a week, we are done. Thank you, Cyrus."

"It is no pr-r-r-r-roblem."

Letting out a sigh, one of them says, "If this is our last memory of Skydust, I think it is a rather good one."

"It can't get any better than accomplishing a dream."

"God gave us a lot of fortune."

Walking up to them, Jeter says, "Gevurah should be coming to check on our progress tomorrow, so if there is anything else you want to do, you guys should get it done as quickly as possible."

"To be honest, my king, I don't really know what else we could do."

"Well, it would be fun if we could have a party with everyone, but I guess people are dealing with their children, so that is impossible."

Seeing them all laugh, an idea hits me. Creating a pillar of ice underneath me as a platform, I shout, "LISTEN UP EVERYONE!"

When they all turn and face me, I say, "I have a rather exciting idea, but I need all your help for it."

-Break-

Φ "We're tired, let us rest."

"I don't want to work anymore."

"Put the work in you brats, if we don't get some help, we will never finish this scarf."

"Hey, Lanta, why don't we give those two a break?"

"No way in hell, those kids have spent the last few days sleeping and eating candy, we need them to work immediately."

"But our hands are tired!"

"I just want to sleep!"

"No time for that, get those muscles moving, we need to make sure Dush finishes her scarf."

Stopping her knitting, Dush says, "I think we should stop."

"What are you talking about? where over halfway there."

"Tomorrow, Jeter will be rejecting Gevurah, and war will break out soon after. I think you three should spend these last days enjoying all that Skydust has to offer, not with a 70-year-old lady."

"But what about your dream of uniting and reaching people through this scarf?"

"It was a fun one but futile, at the end of the day, my own choices have to lead me to this position, so regardless of whether I accomplish it or not should be no one's decision but mine. Though it would have been nice to see Tusk one more time."

Suddenly, a large noise approaches our position, then past the gate, Orb walks in. Running up to him, I tackle him down and say, "So you finally feel like showing your face around here," While putting him in a submission hold.

"I was helping out around Skydust."

"We are your first commitment, help us first! Don't just forget about us!!"

"I haven't, that's why I am here. EVERYONE COME IN!"

Through the gate, a crowd of people walk in.

"Orb, who are all these people?"

"Well, since everyone on Skydust has finished their preparations, I thought having a nice social event in the giant Kritz compound would be fun. They have all come to work on that scarf."

Walking up to Orb, Dush says, "But why would they come here?"

"Simple, no one could resist the invitation to be at the elusive Dush Kritz's compound. You happen to be very popular, so when people heard about the scarf you were knitting, they decided to spend the last day helping."

As tears start to form in Dush's eyes, I say, "It seems people have always wanted to talk to the pretty bird in her cage."

Letting go of Orb, I scream, "ELLIOT!"

"Yes, Lanta!"

"We have to organise everyone and get some food and refreshments. If we're going to have an event, we have to do it right."

Blowing a whistle in his pocket, all of the staff inside the mansion ran out. "Everyone, if you care for our lady, this is the time to show it, DO YOU HEAR ME!!!"

"YES SIR!!!"

With a smile, I hold Dush and say, "Now let's go show everyone my best friend, shouldn't we Us?"

"Yes, we will Lanta."