Mission Report

"It's good to see you all again."

A calm, gentle voice spoke within the meeting room that every single member of the Zenith occupied. The words emerged from the seat of honor, spoken by none other than the Guildmaster of the Ak'ashi Guild himself—Shen Ak'ashi.

The meeting room within the grand palace of the Ak'ashi Guild was a masterpiece; vast and regal. It was illuminated by an enormous chandelier suspended from the domed ceiling, its countless crystal facets cascaded shimmering light across the polished marble floor. Intricate murals of ancient illustrations and celestial constellations adorned the walls, glowing faintly with a subtle energy.

At the heart of the room stood a long, elegant table of dark mahogany, its surface polished to a mirror sheen. Gold filigree traced elaborate patterns along its edges, culminating in the sigil of the Ak'ashi Guild at its center—an eclipsed radiant sun entwined with gears and surrounded by stars. Along each side of the table were three meticulously crafted chairs, their high backs adorned with unique engravings that denoted the individuals who sat upon them. 

These were the seats reserved for members of the Zenith.

Yet, the most imposing presence in the room was the grand chair positioned at the head of the table. Unlike the others, this seat of honor was a throne in its own right—ornate, towering, and adorned with deep blue and gold gemstones that pulsed faintly. 

All eyes were on the handsome man who sat on the chair, as he intertwined his fingers and rested casually on his seat while looking at the six with a pleasant smile. Just like all of them, he was dressed in a rather unique way: black baggy hoodie with gray baggy jogger pants that matched the shirt he had under his jacket.

His signature face cap also remained still atop his head, obscuring the top half of his face. Only his bright golden eyes shone from within the darkness, matching the cascading golden hair that filtered out of the cap's hold.

"Everyone is in one piece… that's a relief." He continued. "We've never been so bold—attacking an entire Nation like this, but it seems you were all up to the task."

"Shen…"

The first person to break the silence among the members of the Zenith was none other than Fae. She had a mild expression of annoyance as she narrowed her gaze on him. Everyone knew to watch quietly whenever she got this worked up.

Only Shen seemed perfectly calm.

"… Theo told me he personally met up with you. That means you went inside the fortress to see him… and before the commencement of the mission for that matter." 

"Yeah, I did."

"Why?" She asked, growling at this point. "The plan was for you not to get involved until the last minute. You could have made all the observations from afar, and you could have also sent one of us to investigate anything specific that caught your eye. Engaging in prolonged conversation with a stranger like that, and suddenly changing our plans at the last second to involve the kid was too risky."

"But you handled it."

"…."

Shen maintained his flawless smile while Fae glared at him, a bead of sweat falling down her face. As always, he had become unreasonable when it came to something so precarious.

"I was going to stick to the plan of taking down the fortress, per our client's request, but the boy really caught my eye. I could have sent one of you to investigate, but you were still far behind, and I admit, I got a little overwhelmed by curiosity that I acted rashly. Changing the plan at the last minute also risked the completion of the mission and also your lives… but I believe it was worth the risk."

"Really?" At this point, Damon spoke up. "Is the kid really that special?"

Shen glanced at Damon, then noticed most of the Zenith members had similar expressions of inquiry on their faces. He slowly shook his head, chuckling under his breath for a few seconds before choosing to respond.

"Do you know the chances of an Arcane Vessel appearing among Mortals? It's one in a hundred thousand, which means there are only a little over ten thousand Arcane Vessels that should exist on the Mainland. Sarvos only had a few dozen in that fortress, and they were enough to maintain the Armaments they were utilizing in their battle against the Revolutionary Army. Does that make any sense to you?"

"Well… no." 

Everyone in the room understood that at least a hundred Arcane Vessels were required to properly refill Ne'sh at such a scale. And those hundred would be worked to the point of exhaustion and even death in order to keep up with the demands.

"Yet the fortress was able to meet up with their quota. The reason lies with that boy; not only does he complete his tasks early, but he secretly helps the other inmates with their quotas to reduce the burden placed on them."

"He's a good kid…" Dinah smiled, remembering the face of the sweet little boy that traveled with them.

"He is." Shen agreed. "But most importantly, he's special… and I couldn't let someone like him rot in prison. He deserves so much more… to explore the limits of his power and live a life that will allow his true potential to blossom."

"I won't argue with you regarding that." Fae sighed. "I still feel like you should have informed us beforehand, and not so close to the mission's start. In the first place, you running off on your own was not part of our expectations…"

"It's not my fault you guys were so slow." 

"You…"

"Haha! Okay, fine… I'm sorry." Shen laughed, before finally turning sullen as he gave Fae a sincere apology.

"That's all I needed to hear."

She folded her hands and pouted a little, but it was evident from her response that she was satisfied with the reparations he made. As for the rest of the Zenith, they didn't seem to have any problems with Shen or his behavior, so the matter quickly died down.

"Any other questions or concerns?"

"Erm, Shen… is it possible for me to perhaps study him for a little—"

"No."

"But I—"

"NO." Everyone in the room resounded, instantly shutting down Drake's request. The old man's face paled instantly, his expression forlorn as he took one look at Shen's smiling face and decided to stop his fruitless attempts.

"Anyone else?"

Terra raised her hand and quickly spoke. "Damon got a hard-on for one of our enemies, just because she was pretty."

"…."

For a second, there was perfect silence.

Terra glanced at Damon, whose eyes were open—stunned by her petty betrayal—but this only made her smile even more. 'That's what you get for beating me in a race, jerk!' Her eyes seemed to say as her thoughts echoed with cathartic laughter.

"Pfft! Are you for real?" Shen chuckled, almost giggling at the news. "Yo, is she for real, Damon?"

"Yes…" He responded, deflated.

"How cute was she, though? Brunette or blonde?"

At this point, Damon regained his energy and he was prepared to describe the experience in vivid detail.

"Pitch-black short hair that matched her eyes!"

"Oh? Interesting… interesting…! Was she strong too?"

"Yeah! She tried to kill me upon first encounter! It was so passionate, for real!"

"I can only imagine! Was she…"

The two went on for a little longer, causing the girls to shake their heads and stare at the men in disgust. Damon didn't seem to mind this negative attention, since he was already used to it, but Shen quickly defended himself.

"No, don't misunderstand me…" He coughed. "I was only asking all of this to see if she'd be a worthy candidate for our Ak'ashi Guild."

Glares of disbelief instantly greeted those words.

"A-ah… but I killed her." Damon confessed, itching his head apologetically as Shen swiftly glanced at him with a deep glare.

"Lead with that next time."

"Y-yessir!"

The mood within the room took a strange turn, and all parties suddenly fell into an awkward quietness. There were consistent stares thrown at one another, creating an intense atmosphere of utter silence.

After a few seconds, Shen finally broke the silence by clearing his throat.

"Alright… that's enough of that. It's time we discuss the important matters… for example, our profit from this endeavor."

Everyone nodded instantly, their faces turning serious.

"Talk to me, Dinah. What were our gains?"

"We were able to pillage all the Armaments from the fortress before you blew it up, and our loot totaled in one-hundred and thirty nine Arcane Instruments: ninety-three Standard Grade, forty-one Regal Grade, and five Imperial Grade." Dinah said, tilting her glasses as she continued. "Our other plunders are worth five Platinum Arcas, seventy Gold Arcas, four Silver Arcas and one Green Arca both in items and currency."

"This is going off which value? Standard or black market?"

"The Ak'ashi Guild is a legitimate organization, so we have no affiliation with the Black Market. All of these are standard market prices, but in a hypothetical scenario… we should get about a thirty percent increase if we sell those items at the Black Market."

"Great… I mean, it's good to know." Shen smiled knowingly, and nearly every other member of the table shared his mischievous grin.

Fae and Drake were the only exceptions.

"Damon and Drake fought off our pursuers—"

"I fought them alone." Damon interrupted. "Drake just sat there doing nothing."

"…." Drake offered no defense. He was still sulking about the rejection of his heartfelt proposal to study the boy of interest.

"Well… the fight yielded some more gains. Four Imperial Grade Armaments, two dozen Regal Grade Armaments, and eighty more standard Grade Armaments."

"Wow! Well done, Damon." Shen gasped.

"Hehe… it was nothing, actually." Damon lied, suppressing his pride. "No big deal at all…"

"All in all, the Armaments we gained number 247. As for currency—potential and actual combined—it's 570,450 Arcas in total. Adding that to the one million Arca deposit that was paid to us by our client, we have gained 1,570,450 Arcas and 247 Armaments."

Everyone was silent as Dinah completed her report, with Damon even whistling at the numbers.

This was no normal haul—even by Zenith standards.

It was exceptional!

"Thanks for the report, Dinah. Looks like you're all getting bonuses." Shen beamed. "You deserve that much after all the stress I put you through with Theo and the rest of this mission."

Everyone's eyes widened with shock, staring at Shen with bewilderment.

It wasn't because of their bonus—a rare, but predictable outcome. Instead, it was something else he said that caught their attention.

'He remembers Theo's name?!'

"Don't look at me like that… let's stick to the important matters." Shen sighed, a noticeable smile planted on his face as he shook his head. 

"There's one other major issue we are yet to discuss. The Evaluation Exams take place in a few months, and I would like us to start making preparations."

"Understood." Everyone responded.

"This should be the biggest one yet. A wave of change is coming, and our Ak'ashi Guild is finally getting its chance to expand." Shen's smile widened, his voice rising and resonating with every member of the Zenith as they each nodded.

"Things are about to get very interesting."