Tiny woke up with her head banging like the drums in a rock band concert. She sat up from the bunk bed to find that a glass of water and pills had been set aside for her. Courtesy of the shop keeper. She took them and headed downstairs. Derek had called for an early morning meeting. She sat at the round table, only to notice that there was an old man at the table. She at first thought that her banging her was playing tricks on her. But then the old man waved at her .Everyone joined the table one after the other. The shopkeeper wore an apron as she went about serving breakfast at the table. The old man kept looking at the shop keeper like he was seeing a ghost in flesh. Derek saw this and could not help but chuckle a bit. He remembered when he had brought the old man to the market last night and the priceless expression plastered on his face as he saw the different specie of people on the street. The old man was so scared that he held Derek by the arm all the way to the shop.

Shortly after, a zodiac gate appeared and Derek, Madeline, Lydia, Tiny and even old man Kofi popped out from it. Aesir came out of his hiding spot to welcome them."Incredible! I can't believe how well that worked." Madeline said. Derek smiled feeling quite proud of himself, "Okay now, that would not hold them for long. I extimate ten miutes at most. The fort should be empty enough for us to explore it. Don't forget! we are not here to fight. We go in, grab Mr Walter and Aunt Maria and we are out."Everybody nodded. "Wait!""Yes, Aesir!" Derek turned to him. "I was not there. Please tell me. How did you drag the attention and manpower of the fort?"Derek smiled "Well, it was a combination of both of three of us." He pointed at himself Madeline and old man Kofi. "In truth, Madeline came up with the idea." Madeline smiled shyly, Derek was complimenting her and it made her feel good.The plan went like this. A few days ago, While pondering on how to deal wi

"Oh! was that a little too much? I'll try to make it a little lighter, but then again, I did say 'bruises'." Ivory gave a charming smile. But to Derek, that smile was anything but charming. That hit just now was practically out of sight. He felt like he had been hit by a moving bus. The only good thing was that the battles he had been through so far had helped to shape his battle sense. His hands had instinctively weaved runes that covered his chest."Not too bad! Not Bad!!" Ivory nodded in satisfaction. "If you could not have defended against that much, I would have doubted the claim that you beat my brother." As Derek got out of the debris of stones and dust, He was hit again before he could get his footing. This time around, he was able to slightly dodge to the side, but the attack still made contact. He was sent flying again, however, as he was about to hit the wall, he was able to twist in time. Using the momentum of the last attack, he shot like an arrow at her. Bring h

In the fight Derek had with the Bishop, he had learnt a very important lesson. He did not have any technique and this was disadvantageous in that fight. Just raw power was not enough. As it always implied, "the skill will always beat force". Every creature had aura, but not everyone could make it technique. Technique from aura was likened to moulding an artwork from clay. Clay on its own was just a heap of sand. But its value shoots up the moment it is made into a vase or pot.Since that day, the issue of technique had been a focus on Derek's mind. Unfortunately, he was too far from Bastet and his teacher had become someone else's hostage. Even the moulding of clay needed technique before it could become a plate or something. Derek ended up making attempts on his own. However, he was fortunate to still have one person he could always meet. He became like a child begging for candy, always disturbing her for a technique. But the techniques Hayaa had were by far too advanced. A simpler v

A hundred kilometres away, Erugard, Vera and Aaron had tried to open Zodiac gates but it was to no fruitition. The bombardment had caused them two airships and the shield on the last one was already reaching the point of being unable to hold on much longer. " Vera! order a swift retreat. We will have to retreat the traditional method."The three Writers flew up to the airship, but as the airship was retreating, Amaraa the shop keeper had just activated the last contingency plan. A transparent dome that blanketed the entire place appeared. obstructing the path of the Airship. The moment it went up, the ship crashed into it. Unfortunately, it was unable to break through it.The air ship had already received too much damage from the earlier attacks. Its shields crumbled and the airship started a sharp descent for the ground. As soon as Amaraa saw the airship hit the ground exploding like a smashed watermelon, she took her leave. She had done her part as instructed. She only hoped that th