End of Volume 2 Volume 3: The Cost of Love
Volume 3: The Cost of Love As it turned out, Zeke’s indirect expulsion was more beneficial than it was detrimental. He returned to living in the old apartment provided by Edward and spent most of his time either helping Sulong completing requests or training. One month passed in the blink of an eye and there had been no unexpected and life-threatening problems. The mercenary work wasn’t difficult and often involved protected shipments, guarding an individual from the shadows, or retrieving an item from the client’s opposing party. There were no Special or Urgent missions from the System, which was a fortunate thing for Zeke as he felt wary and hesitant about those generous missions, especially after he had been forced to kill the Earthling Ambassador. The Vyrsan Family has been oddly quiet and no more assassins were hired. The Ivory Oak Order remained in hiding and waited for orders from their superior, and the Earthlings had definitively left the Aether Planet. Overall, things we
Frederic, Bibi, Xiao, Maxwell Lepard, Veronica Serpents, and Azmer Lorson, all wore the formal robes of the Ivory Oak Order and orderly stood next to each other. They faced a man with a threatening stature and a busy black beard; The Black Templar. He was a high-ranking member of their organisation and someone in charge of many teams, including theirs. The Black Templar, Lex Eques, swept his cold eyes across his six members, specifically focusing on the blond-haired young man at the right. “Do you know what our organisation’s motto is?” Lex asked with an authoritative tone as he narrowed his eyes. It was clear that he only wanted Azmer to answer. Caught off-guard, the youth momentarily hesitated before responding, “Self-discipline, Wisdom, and Empowerment.” “And what is our purpose?” “That’s…” Azmer couldn’t respond as he fidgeted around, eventually lowering his head. “The Ivory Oak Order is the union of many like-minded parties, however, we do answer to one strong entity. M
Azmer looked at the other team under the Black Templar: There were four of them, all dressed in the standard grey and white cloaks of the Ivory Oak Order.He found it strange that they were ‘forced’ to wear those outfits during an operation as that would reveal their identities, but Veronica argued that they wanted the people to know.“What’s the plan? We cut his slimy limbs?”A man with a donkey-like face, a disturbing smile, and a particularly long tongue that dangled outside like a dog’s, turned to look at the ‘leader’ of this operation.The young girl, Veronica Serpents, motioned for him to remain in hiding as she quietly responded,“We’ll talk to him first. Don’t do anything stupid.”The man with an ugly mug clicked his tongue and spat on the ground, which was a clear sign of mockery.“Can’t believe I’m taking orders from a woman.”“...”Veronica’s eyes turned cold, but she refrained from verbally disputing at such a crucial time and place.All ten of them were stationed around t
“I don’t understand, Zeke. Why are you protecting him?” Veronica stopped a distance from the scythe-wielding youth and motioned to Gastin, who was busy opening the container. “It isn’t a personal vendetta or anything like that.” Responded Zeke as he shrugged, “He hired us to protect him. I didn’t expect you people to appear.” “Yet here we are. So… what now?” A black snake slid from within Veronica’s cloak and wrapped around her neck, its eyes concentrated on Zeke, hissing at him menacingly. “You know, you could just walk away.” Upon hearing him, it wasn’t the cool-headed Veronica who lashed back but the distressed Maxwell, who wasn’t pleased with Frederic’s death. “Do you think we’re afraid of you?” He looked at his teammates, seemingly a bit riled up. “We can take him down.” “There’s not just him.” Muttered the fearful Bibi as he looked over to the side, focusing on Sulong and the Zyth. Gastin was already a strong individual, and they had just seen Sulong incinerate Hanza wit
Pyromancy was the most wide-spread ability amongst the genetically gifted humans. It was also the easiest to defend against, either with the use of a counter ability, proper artifacts, or the right tactic. After all, Pyromancy was just casting fireballs of different sizes or causing fiery explosions.Only when Pyromancy was turned into a special type of fire would it become extremely dangerous. A perfect example was William Lorson’s Ink Fire, which charred the entirety of Zeke’s arm and couldn’t be healed using conventional means.Sulong’s ‘Pyromancy’ was special from the get-go, but his crimson fire was ‘savage’, in contrast to Azmer’s ‘serene’ Origin Fire.Precisely for that reason, Special Agent Elizabeth and the tenacious Zeke jumped out of the way. The former was already wary of the blond youth’s fire and the latter felt a dangerous heat and instinctively dodged, though that could be attributed to the fear born from being subjected to William’s fire.A tall cloaked figure descend
Deep within Black Rock Mountain, in the an outrageously massive cavern riddled with volcanic holes and infested with ferocious lizards, Special Agent Katrina and Jonathan Stellar Link were reaching the end of their arduous ‘journey’.They had killed hundreds of Magma Lizards, and both were finally reaching their physical limits. Even with the help of a System, Jonathan wasn’t an all-powerful, unstoppable human.The System in his possession derived power from misery and anguish. It heavily relied on the user’s mental state, and the worse it was, the stronger he would become.For a man like him, who had been through hell and suffered again and again, it was a suitable System, but that didn’t make it diverse.It was considered a ‘Minor’ System, significantly inferior to the Paths of Extinction System, which was one of the three Divine Scriptures.“It’s there!”Jonathan smashed his hands together and let out an uncontrollable black mist that protected him and blew all the incoming lizards
“Don’t you have any money?”Zeke unlocked the door to his apartment and hesitantly looked back as he asked the Witch. However, once he saw her piercing glare, he quickened his steps and went inside.Basically, Jennifer Savbra appeared in front of her and demanded to accompany him home. Apparently, she was sent here to monitor him, but she didn’t elaborate on the details. For example, why would the Witch Queen be interested in him? What did the Witch Association want from him?He only understood the need for secrecy, after all, Jennifer was the commander of her nation’s armies. A very important figure and an incredibly strong witch. Her presence here would alarm the three Departments and they wouldn’t let her roam around so freely. Even if they were generous enough to let her stay at Zeke’s side, they would closely monitor her to avoid any problems.“This is much better.”As if it was her own apartment, Jennifer sat on the sofa and spread her legs and arms. Noticing the fidgety youth s
The Sunken Metropolis was the Southernmost city of the Nezulian Republic as well as the most bustling civilised settlement. There was also Poudel City and The capital, both of which were similar in size, located North-West and North-East of the Sunken Metropolis. Poudel City was a proud and relatively ‘new’ city that housed the companies and public organisations. It had breath-taking sights for tourists, but the downside was that its inhabitants were mainly wealthy businessmen, government officials, and rich merchants. It was one of the pillars of the Nezulian Republic, a fortified settlement ruled by Madam Jevani, the head of the Department of Finance. It was a day like any other; The sky was clear, the wind was mixed with the heat of the summer, the streets were crowded with people heading to work. Poudel City was similar to the large cities found on Earth. In terms of the technology integrated into communication, transportation, and construction, it was superior to the Capital