Heightened Tension

Skyler collapsed onto the ground of the dojo while pressing her palms against her temple. Widening her jaw, she released a pent up and long overdue screech of agony.

Her husband disappeared. Her friends and family hate her. Now she can't even die properly!

'WHY CAN'T ANYTHING JUST GO RIGHT!' She screamed internally.

And with all that pent up rage and anger, her hate for the world that abandoned her, she clutched her head and screamed bloody murder.

Unbeknownst to her, however, her scream immediately activated her new Ability, |Sonic Boom|.

Traveling far faster than anything the Awakened could sense, a physical wall of sound exploded from Skyler's lips and spiraled out into the dojo around her. The wall of sound slammed into the various women around Skyler, pushing and launching them across the room and into the walls!

More screams resonated through the air. Bones broke and blood splattered in the halls, but Skyler kept screaming. Her voice continued to rise in strength!

Very soon, many of the women of the twelfth summoning found themselves incapacitated and smushed against the dojo's walls. The Awakened too, Church, Olive, and Isaac couldn't resist the overwhelming strength behind Skyler's roar.

Pushed up against the walls, an unbearable pressure assaulted their bodies and the pressure only worsened.

The walls cracked. Splinters began to tear off the floor and soar across the air, impaling the dojo's walls like bullets.

The pressure within the dojo finally reached its peak and within a split second, everything shattered! The walls exploded into the air! The floorboards turned to near dust!

Olive tore through the dojo's walls and crashed onto the muddy jungle floor beyond. Unable to stop herself, Olive rolled across the jungle floor and painfully slammed into the trunk of one of the behemoth trees.

Spitting up a mouthful of blood, Olive raised her head and looked towards what remained of the dojo. The walls were obliterated. The floors chipped apart and turned to playground wood chips.

Nothing was left standing —

Beside a young woman kneeling on the ground, wailing into her arms and choking on her own spit – everything around her was devastated. Destroyed beyond recognition.

In the distance, Olive noticed the squirming of a man's body and quickly recognized Isaac pushing himself to his feet. Wiping the blood from his chin, he continued to lean on his knees while panting for air.

Despite his currently exhausted demeanor, he pulled one sword from its sheath and pointed it towards the crying woman. Fury in his eyes, Isaac confronted her, "Look at what you've done!" He roared.

But Skyler merely continued to cry into her arms.

Isaac limped towards her while on guard and with his blade near her neck, Isaac grabbed Skyler's wrist and pulled her off of the floor. Now in his grasp, Isaac pulled her hair and forced her eyelids open.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you where you lay!" Isaac threatened.

Choking back tears, Skyler finally gazed upon her surroundings. Almost instantly, her brows shot up and her eyes widened. This didn't look like New York!

But after looking past the huge trees that spired above the clouds and the copious amounts of vibrant foliage that hung from them, Skyler noticed the blood and gore at her feet.

Countless women lay battered with cuts and bruises. Skyler recoiled at the sight of their appendages, many of which were distorted and twisted in unnerving ways. Bones erupted through the women's flesh and dilapidated breaths filled the wide open space.

"W-where am I?!" Skyler yelled through tears and struggled within Isaac's grasp.

Isaac moved the edge of his blade closer to Skyler's neck, placing it directly against her artery and slightly nicking her in the process. Trying his hardest to overpower his anger, Isaac replied through grit teeth,

"If you had bothered to listen earlier –" the pressure exerted under Isaac's blade increased, "you have been teleported off of Earth! Now. . ."

But the sound of charging men quickly interrupted Isaac's interrogation.

"Isaac don't you dare kill her!" The Admiral roared above the sound of his marching militia.

"And why's that Admiral? I don't mean to be rude, but you're encroaching on a bit of a personal matter!" Isaac glared at the Admiral, disbelief polluting his mind at the timing of his idiot rival!

"Look around you Isaac!" The Admiral outstretched his arms and gestured towards the destruction that laid waste around them, "What other Awakened have you seen with such destructive force?! She is everything we've been hoping for!"

"You know, I always knew you were out of your mind Admiral!" Isaac spat, "But I refuse to allow you to garner the power needed to make your twisted world a reality!"

The Admirals expression darkened. He snapped his fingers and immediately the shield-men of his militia rushed in front of him. His archers docked their arrows and aimed between Isaac's brows.

"Are you sure about that?" The Admiral goated.

Isaac's grip around his sword tightened, "You would dare throw everything we've worked for away at the mere prospect of utilizing this woman?!"

It was at this time that Leon finally caught up to the rest of the militia, the Magic Crystal still hovering above him, but now a sight to behold for the people present that weren't part of the militia. Isaac included.

And when Isaac saw the giant Magic Crystal appear from the depths of a declining ridge, gold light radiating off its surface, Isaac's jaw nearly dropped.

"You actually found it?" Isaac muttered at a volume barely above a whisper.

"So you finally realize!" The Admiral's yellow teeth spread, arrogance dripping from his visage, "The girl will be helpful in the upcoming raid and considering the damage she's already done, she'd be better utilized as an asset than as a corpse."

Clicking his tongue, Isaac sheathed his sword and stepped away from the now motionless Skyler. Still limping, Isaac retreated from the center of the dojo and began inspecting the unconscious women strewn across the jungle like forgotten dolls.

Meanwhile, the tension between the area slowly diminished and more people began to rush over to help the wounded women. Doc Tyler too was thankfully able to push himself off the ground and began healing various women's injuries – starting from the worst down.

Olive, always wary of the Admiral, finally relinquished her grip around her rapier and started searching for her girlfriend, Summer. Unfortunately, throughout the entire debacle, Olive failed to catch even a glimpse of her girlfriend's face.

After surviving a sonic blast and exploding through the dojo walls, Olive lost her. By the time Olive caught her bearings and was able to support herself, the tension within the surroundings ignited as Isaac berated the sobbing woman!

Olive hadn't even had a chance to search for Summer yet!

***

Hours later, after carrying the unconscious women through the jungle and back to camp, the militia and summoning groups mutually dispersed. Also, immediately upon return, a meeting was called between the various self-appointed spokespersons of the camp.

So although exhausted and bruised, Isaac along with Church and Doc Tyler arrived ready for vigorous discussion. After all, two months have passed since the Admiral and his men left.

In that time, over fifty people have been summoned. Needless to say, a lot of things have changed on the camp's end, but after seeing the huge crystal hover above the militia's heads, everyone knew the Admiral possessed a lot to discuss as well.

Perhaps most important of all, the unvoiced and yet mutually agreed upon main topic of the night, they needed to determine when to raid the black pyramid.

Alas, the main event is always reserved for last.

First, the Admiral passed around his makeshift clipboard that held together the expedition's report. Reading through the report, gasps and murmurs spread around the hollowed pyramid.

The discovery of another Gate, the now official term they've all agreed upon to refer to doors that lead to other worlds, is a big deal to all of them!

Not only is the mere discovery of a Gate valuable, but this one appears exceptionally habitable! In the report itself, the Admiral provided the entirety of Leon's exploration of the floating island. The air was clean, the temperature was comfortable, and above all, the islands themselves served as the perfect protection.

It's the open sky after all! Beyond the Land of Sky, another official means to refer to the various realms (Land of Trees, Land of Frost, Land of Sky) the discovery of the plains biome intrigued the various spokespersons.

Not only can the plains environment serve as suitable grounds for settling due to its wide-open terrain and easy to monitor lands, but the discovery of human-sized and sturdy grasses could lead to a drastic improvement of the domestic life within the Land of Trees.

More so, what if the plains' grass can be cultivated like wheat? What if it's edible? The undisputed one thing the members of the camp missed the most was bread because how could it not be?

Too quickly, the agenda of projects that needed to be completed expanded. They needed to explore the Land of Skys, explore the plains, research the grass, probably create some sort of road between the two biomes. . . .

Then, while Isaac and the rest were discussing the various options, the Admiral pulled a much smaller note-book from his inner-chest pocket and ripped a few pages from the book. Tossing the pages onto the table, the Admiral further explained.

"In the colosseum-cage where we discovered the giant Magic Crystal, the beast was already detained. The chains with which it was bound possessed these symbols, Runes perhaps, and I thought it helpful to copy some of them."

Like ravagers, Church, Fey, and Isaac alike threw their arms towards the center of the table. Cradling the sheets of parchment like gold, they studied the intricate Runes that the Admiral depicted.

"Interesting. . ." Fey muttered.

"I tested it myself and the Runes work, although I was unable to determine any meaning behind the shapes." The Admiral continued.

At hearing this, the eyes of everyone present lit up in fascination and wonder!

Fey the Painter always carried a sketchbook with her which she immediately pulled out and slammed against the table. Uncorking her container of ink, Fey dipped her quill into the black liquid and expertly copied one of the many Runes found within the Admiral's notebook.

Upon completion, the Rune ignited with a dark, almost black light. The black light suddenly shifted off the Rune and soared above the table where it exploded into a cloud of dark mist!

"Hmm?" The Admiral muttered, "I wonder what yours will do?"

The dark blue/purple mist covered the center of the pyramid and coated the people present within it. Appearing as though a wild octopus caused mayhem, ink painted the interior of the pyramid and dripped off the walls and armor of those gathered.

The Admiral rubbed the ink between his fingers, inspecting the substance.

"It's just ink?" He asked.

"It appears that way." Fey confirmed as the black substance covering the hall slowly started to pool towards her as if it were a symbiote.

"This is unsettling." Church commented as he felt the ink slowly crawl across his skin towards Fey.

"Hahahaha!" Fey's laughter echoed, "Sorry! It's my Trait, I can't turn it off!"

"Your Trait?" The Admiral interrupted, suddenly intrigued.

Wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, Fey responded.

"Yeah. It's called |Ink Sack| and well, as you can see, it pulls the ink around me to me."

"We've discovered that the Rune you just demonstrated responds to the Affinity, or nature, of the caster's mana. We're not sure how this helped cage the Argent, perhaps a string of multiple Runes alters its effect, but nevertheless it's proved valuable in discovering the latent potential of the members of my militia." The Admiral explained.

"Does it awaken them?" Isaac was quick to ask.

But the Admiral shook his head, "Unfortunately not –" he looked Isaac in the eyes, "nobody awakened during the expedition."