Sinister Entailments

Endyr awoke with a splitting headache and stiff bones. He was laying on a hard surface and was rocking back and forth. Sunlight streamed through and landed on his face, blinding him. As he raised a hand to block it, he couldn't hep but groan with the effort. His entire body felt like it was begging him not to move, lest it fall apart. After several vain attempts to get up, Endyr gave up and lay back down, wincing all the while. He craned his neck to try and see what was happening.

He saw familiar wooden walls and a window that let the sunshine through. He seemed to be laying on one of the seats, and a blanket was cast over him. To the side, he saw Sia in a similar position, curled up in a ball and drooling slightly. Seeing her safe caused a knot Endyr didn't know he had to dissolve in his stomach. His next course of action was to look across from himself, where he saw Jace sitting with his arms crossed and head slumped. Endyr couldn't tell if he was sleeping or not, and stared at him.

Sure enough, Jace twitched and raised his head. He looked at Endyr with tired eyes and sighed. He stretched and cracked his joints before reaching over to Sia and feeling her forehead. "I expected her to wake up before you, but here we are. Your constitution is really strange kid, you sure you're a human?" Jace asked casually.

"You would have to ask Mother or Father to answer that" Endyr yawned as he copied Jace and stretched. His head still hurt, but the pain was gradually receding as time passed. Endyr looked out the window and failed to recognise the buildings or any landmarks. "Are we in a different city?" he inquired. Jace nodded "After last night...it was no longer safe for us in Fellise. I found the two of you collapsed in the hotel rubble and carried you to the teleport point. I managed to get the three of us out of Fellise and teleported here, to Wyndin. I bought a new carriage, put you in and started driving. We should be close enough to the next teleportation point, and we aren't stopping this time."

Endyr took this all in before asking a question that had been on his mind since he regained consciousness "What happened in Fellise? I saw giant fires and heard lots of screaming. A couple assassins surely couldn't do that much damage right?" Jace scowled and scratched his chin before answering "I'm not sure myself, but Fellise seemed to be under attack from Heretics worshipping Navruavati, the God of Carnage and Blood. The timing was too suspicious, so I guess the assassins and the Heretics had some sort of alliance or partnership. No idea what they worked together on though."

Endyr frowned and narrowed his eyes at Jace "You didn't stick around to help? Pretty cruel of you to abandon helpless civilians to insane cultists." Jace simply harrumphed in response "I'm only one person, while there was close to a hundred Heretics present. That's 100 Ascenders with no fear of death or pain. It would have been suicide to even attempt to stop them. Fellise was doomed the moment they appeared" Jace excused his actions nonchalantly.

"Well, those town defenders begged to differ" Endyr sniffed before wrapping himself up in his blanket. He was feeling cold and quite weak, and he could tell his body still needed more rest to recover from the beating he took. His body froze however, and his mind began to scrambling in thought. 'That's right...what happened to those three assassins?! The System gave me some type of prompt before I blacked out. I clearly remember Shorty's fire sword about to cleave my neck though! Jace didn't saw anything about saving us either...'

He looked to Jace and tried to keep his voice flippant "What happened to those other three assassins anyway?" Jace tilted his head and bit his fingernail, seriously pondering over the answer. In the end, he shrugged and spoke up "I don't know. When I found you and Sia, ye were on the ground and not your room. The three assassins were nowhere to be found. Did you get separated during the hotel's collapse? If so, maybe the defeat of that lady scared them off"

Jace was optimistic, but Endyr felt something was off. His gut was telling him something had changed, and that his future had just become a lot rougher. His unease originated from an unknown source, but Endyr it trusted nonetheless. After talking to Jace and asking how close to the Academy they were (a bit more than a day away), Endyr settled down on the seat and covered himself with the blanket. He had decided to continue sleeping, and hoped the headache would be gone by the time he awakes. Just before drifting off however, he felt an urge to check his Status.

====================<<♉︎♉︎>>==========================

Name: Endyr/Altair Atrazark

Species: Denizen of Infinity (former), Human

Age: 4.5 years

Level: 40 (Mortal Tier)

Rank: D- (EX Sealed)

Titles: Former Denizen of Infinity, Creator of the Infinite Universe, First of his Kind, Endless Spring of Potential, Vessel of Mana, Irregular, Outlier of Regulation

Skills: Language Comprehension (E), Mana Manipulation (EX), Archaic Dialect (EX), Split Double (???), Shared Senses (C), (Mind Link (C), Physical Boost (D), Silent Steps (D)

Authority: 0 pts

Remarks: Your destiny is in motion....

============<<♉︎♉︎>>===========

Endyr had 17 AP left, after spending 3 to answer a question the previous day. However, all those Points are gone and he had several new Skills. Seeing this reminded Endyr the last message he had received from the System. It had requested access to his soul, allowing it to make purchases for his regard. Endyr had agreed since it was the only way to survive at the time, and what the System had done was clear to behold. 'So it bought the Split Double Skill, and those other Skills that compliment it. But why did it buy Silent Steps too?'

Endyr was relatively fine with what the System had purchases, aside from the last Skill. He saw no real use for Silent Steps at this time, but the 5 AP it cost could have definitely been used elsewhere. In the end though Endyr had to swallow his discontent. The System had saved his life and saw a reason for buying Silent Steps. He would just have to trust it. The sense of unease suddenly spiked with that thought, making Endyr clench his teeth. 'What the hell was that?!'

"Hey System, what happened when I collapsed?"

[The System purchased {Double Split (D)} and other Skills. Your Double then killed the three assassins, plus the entity called {Selena Syndrine}.]

Endyr was confused at the mention of a random woman his clone killed, before connecting her to the lady Jace was fighting. 'So, she also met her end huh? My clone must be quite strong then.' Endyr knew killing all 4 assassins couldn't have been easy, since his clone was stuck in the Mortal Tier just like him. 'How did it kill them anyway?' he asked.

[Host's Double was given the {Mana Manipulation (EX) and {Archaic Dialect (EX)} Skills. Unlike Host, the Double receives no backlash from using those Skills, though they're weakened accordingly. {Selene Syndrine} was killed separately after she fled from the entity {Jace Abernathy} and was found by the Double seriously wounded.]

The System's explanation filled in the blanks for Endyr and gave him some peace of mind. The feeling of unease had subsided some what as well, allowing him to relax and get comfortable. Before long, he was dozing off in the carriage. While sleeping, he missed Sia stirring at the other end of the seat She raised her body up and rubbed her eyes, looking around in a daze. She settled on Endyr and Jace before giving the latter an angry glare. "Where were you" she asked coldly.

Her anger was understandable: her guardian was absent when she and her brother were nearly killed by assassins. Jace knew this, and a rare flash of discomfort appeared on his face. He adjusted his posture a little straighter before answering. "I was dealing with a fourth assassin. She was a mid Grandmaster Tier, likely around Level 40. I got caught up fighting her and couldn't make it back until the very end" he explained.

Sia didn't cease her look of disapproval however. "I thought you are meant to be strong? Mother said you are Level 90, how could a sole assassin around Level 40 hold you back?" she sneered. The discomfort on Jace's face grew before being replaced by anger. "You don't know shit about fights between Ascenders. Levels aren't absolute and neither are Ranks. Skills, Techniques and Stats are what decide a fight. That assassin was strong in all three factors, allowing her to drastically close the gap."

"So what if she has good Skills? You are employed by Mother personally, your gear should be just as good if not better!" Sia raised a good point, one Jace did not want to talk about. But seeing the scathing look his young charge was giving him, his pride felt damaged. "Alright fine! To tell the truth, that assassin was from the same organization as myself and your father. She belonged to an organization equal to great Houses, A.K.A my own backer. Plus...I have been suffering from an injury to my Core for several years at this point. I am no longer at my peak."

The last bit was nearly whispered, as it brought Jace great shame. Yet he felt he needed to give some response to Sia, out of both pride at being insulted and shame for failing to protect her. His words seemed to do the trick, as Sia's gaze softened slightly. She had been educated on how damage to an Ascender's Core was incredibly dangerous, akin to soul damage. It was a brutal and effective way to cripple someone's power, or grant them a slow and painful death. The fact Jace still lived and retained most of his abilities as a Grandmaster Tier existence with such an injury showed how lucky (and powerful) he truly was. If he was in his prime, Selene and her three cronies would have all been killed in a matter of minutes.

Sia averted her gaze and moved on to a different topic. "You mentioned the assassins belonged to your ex organization. Will they keep sending people after us?" she asked softly. Jace scowled and bit his thumb in frustration. "Until we reach the Academy, we wont be completely safe. The first assassin was either peak Mortal Tier or had just advanced to Master Tier. That woman was mid Grandmaster, while her cronies were Masters. The next attack may feature multiple Grandmaster Tier existences. But that will be the limit, that organization won't dare move Epic Tier existences or the Royal Family will intervene."

The possibility of several Grandmaster existences aiming for her life filled Sia with unimaginable terror. As a Magi, she could put up a fight against unprepared Masters, but a Grandmaster could kill her in a single slap. She then shifted towards Endyr, who was sleeping soundly. Her eyes hardened as she reminded herself of her duty: to protect her younger brother. "We best get to Sky Cross Academy as soon as possible then" she said grimly.