Enough Distractions

Endyr naturally spared the Chalice no second glances, making her way over to the pedestal holding the journal instead. Much the same as with the painting's, she disabled the Mana barrier with fluent ease and picked up the old leatherback notebook. It was nothing special up close either, and Endyr was aware enough to just flip through the pages before tucking it away inside her robe. She knew someone would arrive in a matter of minutes, not because of her instincts or heightened senses, but because of the System notification flashing in the corner of her eye.

[Objective: {Kill all present Cultists}-has been completed!]

With the Devils dead, security would be rushing here and so Endyr took that as her cue to leave. In the name of sparing time, she didn't bother disabling the third pedestal and just struck it fiercely with a Mana-imbued fist. The barrier shattered with a shrill alarm, but she paid it no mind and just scooped up the Artefact. Once she held all three items on her body, the System once again chimed up.

[Objective: Obtain Items {4},{17} and {22}-has been completed!]

[Ding! The Quest has successfully been accomplished. Please escape to a non-hostile area for rewards to be distributed.]

No sooner had Endyr finished reading the System's notice did she detect over a dozen glaring Mana Signatures converging on her location. She looked down to realize the Chalice, journal and painting were missing, but she didn't panic. The System usually stored them away so she wouldn't lose them on the way out. Pulling up her hood and masking her face with a haze of Mana, Endyr watched as the white-robed guards burst through the broken door and became aware of her presence. The man in front had golden striped on the shoulder area of his robe, no doubt an officer amongst them. The woman with grey hair from the audience was also amongst them, her body stained with blood. The stench of sulfur lingered on them and not one person seemed unscathed, a testament to how fierce the fighting was.

Upon seeing Endyr standing alone with empty casings behind her, and surrounded by brutally mutilated Devils, they all stopped and scrutinized her warily. She blocked both a Mana Scan and an Appraisal, causing the two casters to shuffle and tensions to rise as Endyr showcased her minimum power level. It was the man with golden stripes who spoke first.

"Whoever you are, step away from the merchandise and put your hands above your head. Walk slowly towards us, and I swear to every Archon if you so much as twitch a finger we will open fire."

As he spoke, his subordinates gathered their Mana and concentrated all of it in Endyr's direction. Facing so many Grandmasters, Endyr showed not an ounce of fear. Instead, she looked over at the woman from the audience who was accompanying the auction employees. Sensing her gaze, the woman revealed a flirtatious smile but made no other moves. Endyr locked eyes with her for several seconds, before the leading guard brought back her attention. "This is your last warning, comply or face the consequences!"

He was met with a laugh for a response though as Endyr merely smiled at him cheekily before rousing her Mana. A second later, ten different attacks struck her barrier, but all failed to penetrate it. The guard leader also tried to join in, but Endyr gave him no chance and blasted out twenty Water Blades, forcing the leader to switch to defense and cover his subordinates. The woman dodged by conjuring a wall of flowing mercury, which rippled and absorbed the Water Blade. Endyr looked over at her again upon sensing her connection to the Mana being severed, but made no further moves. While everyone was distracted, she turned and faced a corner in the ceiling. According to the System, this was the weakest spot in the spatial distortion cast on the storage room, so Endyr shot a gigantic water bullet at it. 

The guard leader rushed her as soon as he realized what she was doing, a slender and ornate longsword in his hand, but Endyr sidestepped his attack and retaliated with a kick to the knee. His body was incredibly sturdy however, and Endyr actually winced as a throbbing pain shot through her foot. 'Is he also a Metal Ascender? Is his body made of fucking steel?!'

Their exchange took only two or three seconds, and the water bullet then struck the ceiling corner. With a cacophony of grinding concrete and collapsing steel, the roof shattered and fell down, revealing a black void that seemed to twist in on itself. Once the spatial void was revealed, it began to break down, as the fragile balance required to keep operating was broken. Endyr blasted the guard leader back with an outburst of Mana, but had to defend from a second volley from the others. The woman also shot several thin spikes of mercury, one of which grazed Endyr's arm while she was distracted. Not stopping, Endyr ducked and weaved between the volley before propelling herself off the ground with Air Mana.

"Stop her!" shouted the head guard, the woman being the fastest to react. This time, she manipulated the mercury into forming a giant pillar and shot it at Endyr as she flew towards the exit. Sensing the massive mass following her, Endyr scoffed and shot a very fine beam of water, which upon meeting the pillar, split it directly down the middle and sending both halves crashing to the ground. The woman's eyes widened in shock, but was unable to do anything else as Endyr had already approached the torn space in the ceiling. Feeling the pull of Space Mana, she let her body be taken by it. Sparing once last glance down below, Endyr used Appraisal on the woman just before she went through

[Casscasia Melvix]

.............................

After what felt like several minutes but was only a few seconds, Endyr tumbled out a split in space and steadied herself against a wall. Looking around, she was in a different market, and Carrogan's couldn't be seen from where she was. After making sure nobody saw her come through the portal, Endyr walked into the nearest alleyway and waited for the System to come online. Once she was out of sight from the main street, she heard the familiar alert in her ears. 

[Quest completed, calculating rewards...Rewards calculated: 10,500 EXP, Items {4,17,22} and deeper access to he System.]

[You have Levelled Up!]

[You have Levelled Up!]

[You have Levelled Up!]

[You have Levelled Up!]

[You can summon the items taken from the auction at any time Host, please just touch the connection between the System and Host's soul. The System functions have also been unlocked for Host.]

Two of the Levels came from the Quest reward, while the other two came from killing those Devils. While only two Levels for killing four Grandmasters and an Epic may seem too low, it actually wasn't surprising. In the last Tier of a Bracket, the amount of EXP needed increased exponentially compared to the previous two Tiers. Even for Endyr's EX Rank Core, it wouldn't be too easy reaching Epic. She was confidant she could do it within a year if she went on a slaughter though.

Leaning against the alley wall, Endyr release a tired breath and massaged her shoulder. While the Quest was fairly easy, it still took more effort than she would have liked to complete. 'I wonder who'll buy those two Demihumans in the end' she thought. 'Not that it concerns me. Now I just need to get those damn papers so I can get out of this place.'