……..
“Supreme Scripture…..that’s probably what I need to get.”
As serious as Zilan was, the others around him were the complete opposite, rejoicing at the prospect of having such an amazing opportunity just land on their laps like that. Some attributed it to fate while others sincerely thanked and praised the First Elder as well as the Chairman for it.
A few amongst them were sceptical of the announcement. People like Yasen and Mr. Rock, kept their wits about them as they decided to proceed with caution. Nothing in the beast world comes easy, especially things that could be considered life-changingly great.
“You may proceed. Best of luck.” Said the First Elder before he and his fellow Elders departed to a separate viewing area where they could witness the proceedings in their entirety.
“Erten, what do you think about the Chairman’s arrangement?” asked the Second Elder.
“The Chairman knows what he’s doing, I only fear that the challenge might be too great for our rookie Alchemists.”
Just like that, the rookies rushed into the mountain, following a path they thought would be filled with uncountable riches and power. Watching them was unexpectedly entertaining for Zilan, he alone knew that the mountain was much more than it appeared and that its purpose was definitely not for their benefit.
In his mind, all these ‘legendary’ scriptures were temptations for him as well a test of his observation skills. Heck, the entire mountain could be described as a test for him, whether or not he could get to the Supreme scripture depended on his ability to overcome the obstacles it presented.
“It’s about time I headed out.”
Zilan was one of the last to depart but he was in no particular hurry despite this being the case. Who were the other individuals who were yet to depart? Well they were none other than his beloved disciples.
“Master, what is this place?” asked Andrete. He and his fellow disciples had kept their silence all this while because they could sense an unusual air around their Master.
“Look around you, what do you see?” asked Zilan as he looked through the information within the sector badge.
“A huge metal mountain populated by metallic structures.”
“First of all, the ‘metal’ you’re thinking about can’t be compared to the material of this mountain. If I’m not wrong this should be Harthrong steel. A type of material that is highly coveted by Spirit Masters. For Alchemists though, it serves as a bonding agent when refining materials of opposite elements/forces.”
“Ah, I see.”
The crew steadily moved along the mountain path, continuously pressing forward and upward. It didn’t take long though for an incident to occur.
“Master, I feel something calling to me over there.” Hendrek’s sudden remark interrupted Zilan’s train of thought.
“Tell me exactly how you feel.” Commanded Zilan.
“Over there, by that metallic rock formation, I can feel a gentle force calling to me.”
Zilan’s brows furrowed. From what he’d read from the badge, the only way for one to take away a scripture would be to resonate with it. To do so, meant using your energy to suppress the scripture in order to bond with it. What made Hendrek’s words so puzzling for Zilan was the fact that usually scriptures of any worth would be completely against others resonating them. Plus, even for those scriptures that weren’t of a high level, how could the Association just give them away like that. How could they put in mechanisms that would allow the scriptures to attract the participants in an event that was called the Concealed Scripture Display. It simply did not make any sense.
“Let’s go take a look.” Said Zilan.
Hendrek nodded and the other six followed.
By the time they got to the place though, a group of rookie Alchemists had already gathered there. As soon as Zilan saw them, his eyes lit up and he now knew what was going on.
“Let’s watch from here.”
His words were un-understandable for his disciples. Weren’t they going to get a scripture for Hendrek? He couldn’t just watch and let those guys take it, could he? The answer to that question was yes. Yes, he absolutely could as well as would watch them take the so called ‘scripture’ away.
Only Lorn and Misty saw that there was something more afoot. Which is why they decided to pay more attention to what was about to happen.
The group of Alchemists that had arrived earlier than Zilan and his disciples were currently excited by what lay before them, unknown to them were the eyes that were attentively observing their every move. On a patch of metallic rock, simple inscription that gave off a blinding blue light could be seen. The scene was mesmerizing for the group of rookie Alchemists.
“Oiley go ahead, you’re the one it called out to. It should be easy for you to resonate with it.” Said the leader of the group of four Beasts. From the way he was willing to allow Oiley to take the scripture it could be seen that he was rather close with his group members or that he just had high standards.
Oiley looked like a chipmunk. He was very short, a tad chubby and had an unusual amount of fluffy fur covering his body. He reminded Zilan of the toys merchants used to try to sell off to little girls in the market place. Needless to say, Oiley would be extremely offended should he hear Zilan’s thoughts, not that Zilan cared anyway.
Touched by the leader’s kindness Oiley obediently and happily placed his palm against the blue inscriptions. The blinding light started to dim immediately upon contact and the inscriptions travelled from the metallic rock and onto Oiley’s arm.
‘Not good. Just like I thought.’
Those inscriptions to most Beasts like these rookies was gibberish however, Zilan could tell their purpose with one look and he was absolutely confident in his judgement. “That isn’t a scripture.”
His words shocked Hendrek and the others but before they could question him a compact yet destructive explosion happened, distracting them.
Oiley and his group were naturally caught in its radius and the result was hard to look at. Oiley who was closest to the inscription had lost his arm as well as eye. His flesh and blood could be seen splattered across the metallic ground dying it crimson.
His partners fared much better than him but unfortunately no one walked away injury free. The only reason any of them could walk away at all was because of their cultivation and their innately strong bodies otherwise only corpses would be left behind.
That being said, Oiley would not be able to continue on with the display. He would have to withdraw immediately or risk dying of blood loss.
Some of Zilan’s disciples excluding Hendrek, Lorn and surprisingly the Harnah sisters were dumbstruck, speechless towards the sudden turn of events.
“How fast one can fall from the heights of happiness to the depths of despair.” Is a saying that would best describe Oiley’s groups fortunes.
