Madame Charlotte crashed into the ground near us, her magical barrier absorbing most of the force. However, she remained on the ground, not moving. Kisai, leaping down from the tower top, bent down and examined her. Small orbs of magical energy ascended from her body before converging in the air above her stomach. It formed into a glowing metallic sphere that spun around in a counterclockwise direction. Kisai cupped the globe between his hands and then a burst of light engulfed the entire rooftop. When it was safe to open my eyes again, an intricate magical circle containing intersecting lines of different colors and unknown symbols hovered above the rooftop surface. Kisai snapped his fingers and the entire circle shattered into fragments that shot towards him. The fragments sliced through the translucent gold chains wrapped around his body and then a broken lock dropped near his shoes. It faded in and out of existence for five seconds before vanishing.
“Thanks for keeping my powers safe. Pretty clever of you to design the entire fortress around it,” Kisai said, stretching his arms.
“An apt choice but also dangerous,” Tess said, appearing next to the magic user.
“We gotta get out here before this thing starts collapsing,” Kisai revealed.
“Say that again,” I requested, staring at Kisai in confusion.
“Oh, forgot to tell you. Without the seal as the major energy source of this place, makes sense that it’ll fall apart. Tess, you want to make a path or should I?” Kisai walked over to the rooftop edge.
“I will handle it,” Tess replied, multiple chains shooting down from the rooftop and into the ground. “Rest assured that it is safe to descend.”
No hesitation from me, Tess’ track record spoke for itself. I leaped onto the chains and slid down, an overall smooth ride. When everyone arrived back at the entrance, Inoticed Shan carrying an unconscious Zhuyu over his shoulder.
“Is Zhuyu okay?” I pointed at the zero vector user.
“The mental fatigue of partitioning areas with his powers even with Jin’s assistance proved too much. He will be fine after some rest,” Tess explained.
“Long’s just weak,” Kisai joked. “But seriously though, thanks for the help out there.”
The entire fortress crumbled, collapsing in front of our eyes. A large amount of magical energy was released into the air as light particles filled the entire sky. It was a beautiful sight and reminded of a night out in the mountains where I could see all the stars in their entirety.
“Kuan, your turn to carry Long,” Shan said, tossing his friend over to the gun user.
“Just leave him on the ground, no danger around here,” Kuan refused, allowing the math major to fall.
“You guys suck. At least put him up against something,” Ichaival pointed out, dragging the man over to a nearby tree.
“Tess, you sure Long is okay?” Shui helped the false archer.
“His vitals are stable. As a precaution, I will inspect him once we return,” Tess answered.
“Champ, how are you holding up?” Lilith checked in on her teammate.
“Alright, it’s really tiring to use my powers so much. Guess I’m still just a rookie but I’ve learned a lot about my powers. I want to try applying what I’ve learned in a practice match against someone. Can you set that up for me, Lilith?” Champ sat down on the ground.
“You really love making a scene, Jin,” Kei said, arriving with Michael behind her.
“Everyone’s already been safely evacuated?” Kisai motioned at the fortress remains.
“Got a report from the bosses, they said everyone’s accounted for on our side. Don’t know about One-Eye Hei’s people though,” Michael answered.
“My people are fine. Liliana, care to discuss our next steps?” One-Eye Hei emerged from the fortress rubble with no signs of any external injuries.
“Damn, already onto me,” the prophet said, appearing next to Kisai.
“You did a pretty bad job at hiding,” Kisai pointed out.
“Jin, be quiet. I’ll negotiate with the leaders and see if we can come to a temporary truce. Of course, you need to be there, Jin,” Liliana decided, pointing at the magic user.
“Already planned to be there,” Kisai stated.
“I will accompany you to ensure things remain civil,” Tess said, glancing over at the prophet.
“Fine by me. Might actually help if you’re there, Tess,” Liliana agreed.
“Just like old times, huh? Time to help out an old friend,” One-Eye Hei said, extending his left hand out towards Kisai.
“Cool,” Kisai said, shaking the leader’s hand.
“Everyone else is free to leave. Who will look after Long?” Tess pointed at him.
Shan, Kuan, and Kisai looked over at Ichaival. The false archer sighed, ready to lift his friend up but Shui stopped him.
“I’ll take Long home after he’s awake,” Shui said.
“You sure? I can do it if you’re busy,” Ichaival questioned.
“It’s okay. His place is on my way home anyways,” Shui confirmed.
I returned home and encountered Yukie in the garage. She was inspecting an electrical outlet and held a clipboard in her left hand. My cousin walked over to me after noticing me arrive.
“Welcome home, Yuki. It’s a little early for dinner but would you like me to prepare a snack for you?” she placed her clipboard down on the nearby worktable.
“Don’t worry about making anything for me, Yukie. What are you doing in here?” I glanced over at her clipboard and saw an electrical blueprint.
“I was preparing to switch the voltage output to better suit the tools I use. Are you interested in learning more about it, Yuki?” she explained, excitement in her eyes.
“I’m sure that the stuff you’re doing is way over my head. I’ll have you explain to to me another time. I’m going to head up to my room and take a nap. Let me know when dinner’s ready,” I answered, heading into the house.
“Of course. If there’s any issues with the power, please let me know right away,” she requested.
“Got it. Be careful, Yukie,” I said.
After waking up two hours later, I checked my phone and saw a message from Tess. She wanted me to write a post battle report about my battle with One-Eye Hei and the due date was one week from now. I placed my phone down and sighed. Great, more stuff to do on top of my normal school homework. Actually, there was one way to make things a little easier for me.
“Hey Zhuyu, you feeling better yet?” I turned on my speakerphone before opening up my laptop.
“Yeah. I doubt this is a courtesy call just to check up on me, Yuki. What do you need?” he answered.
“Way to make me sound like a horrible person. You got a template for the reports that you guys submit to Tess?” I opened up a new word document.
“Oh, guess you do need one since you’ve been doing informal reports. I’ll send you the file when I’m on my computer. How are you feeling, Yuki?” Zhuyu replied, sounds of knife chopping in the background.
“Are you cooking right now? I’ll leave you alone then,” I decided and hung up.
Fifteen minutes later, the math major sent over the template. Perfect, this would save me some time. I typed out a rough draft and was editing it before Yukie called me down for dinner. Mom and Dad were both working late today so it was just the two of us. As my cousin handed me a bowl of rice, I noticed a bandage on her right hand.
“You should have let me cook if you injured your hand,” I said.
“It’s a little hard to explain but when you returned home earlier, my hand cramped up and it’s been hurting ever since. I thought a relief patch might help,” she explained.
It had to be a coincidence, right? Still, the timing for it was a little too perfect. For now, I would see how she felt tomorrow and if it persisted let Tess know. No, I should tell the Gatekeeper about this even if it seemed insignificant.
“If it keeps hurting, I can take you to the hospital if it gets too bad,” I said.
“Thank you for your concern, Yuki. It feels slightly better than before so I hope it’s just a minor issue,” she responded.
After dinner, I texted Tess about my cousin’s situation before starting on my school homework. Oh, almost forgot about the report for the Gatekeeper. I confirmed the document was saved before closing it. For now, my lab report took priority over it.
