The Build-Up

A sailor has extremely keen senses to detect danger. Or at least they need to if they want to survive the rough waters. Especially in the unknown oceans where aquatic beasts roamed freely, spreading disaster in their wake. And just like sailors, everyone starts to develop these senses after a certain threshold in their growth. It was just in the nature of the strong to sense something amiss.

Right now that feeling hung around Morin Esten, almost clinging to his skin and refusing to let go. He could be seen sitting at his desk, staring into a glowing orb of universal energy. It was his command center, which he had programmed with universal energy encoding to observe the entirety of Aster City. It could monitor the entry and exit of all the people and even the unauthorized usage of gifts inside the city.

'But...something is wrong,' Morin mused while looking at his handiwork. From the day that Seril had almost died, he had felt the disturbance in the park, but not where Seril was. If he hadn't found the location manually by traversing through the spatial layers, Seril would most likely have perished then and there.

'Why...no. That's not the question to ask with the Depraved,' Morin stopped his useless train of thought.

"How," he muttered out loud, his soft gray eyes reflecting the lamplight in his office. For a while now, Morin felt that something was about to happen, and that feeling kept building up reaching its peak that night.

'Tomorrow...something is going to happen tomorrow,' Morin mused, taking out the classified files of the numbers that he had in his drawer.

"Heracles: Suspected gift: Gravity Control."

"Belial: Gift: Hellfire."

Morin paused at Belial's file, bending the corner of it with his thumb with an expressionless face. Closing his eyes, Morin flipped over to the next page.

"Doctor: Suspected gift: Parasitic control."

"Typhon: Suspected gift: Atmospheric control."

"Pathfinder: Suspected gift: Tracker."

'And, then...'

"All-Seer: Suspected gift: Omniscience."

Morin paused, his eyes narrowing. Glancing up into the empty space, Morin's eyes glowed with power, "It's rude to peek like this." He flicked his finger causing the universal energy to reflux backward violently through the pathway that was created. But the universal energy harmlessly washed past the empty space, the connection having been cut off.

Morin Esten just sat there and stared at the air for a while trying to think of what he was missing.

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No 2 opened his eyes having finished his reconnaisance.

"I was almost caught, but everything is on track," he reported to the rest of the group.

"Haaah, can I let loose tomorrow?" No 3 asked impatiently.

"Yes yes, I think it's time I go find that kid," No 5 grinned, a dangerous aura hovering around him.

No 2 didn't say anything in response to the two idiots in front of him.

"What about No 6 and 7?" No 1's voice rumbled through the room.

"No 7 is recovering having completed their mission-," No 2 started.

"Why aren't they here~?" No 4 asked playfully.

No 2 glanced to the side, and continued speaking coldly, "No 6 is almost completed with their mission."

No 4 didn't mind and just scooted closer to No 2 as he continued to ignore her.

"Excellent," No 1 nodded. Clenching his fist, the pressure inside the room suddenly became suffocating before it turned normal.

"Remember the plan," No 1 reminded the rest of the people, his previous display of power serving as a warning. Everyone nodded, understanding that they were not to stray from their mission this time.

"Dismissed." With a single word, No 1 got up and went back into his room. No 2 followed suit and retreated to his room, much to the dismay of No 4.

"Well~ I still have a lot of time~" No 4 got up and left for her room, not wanting to be alone in the room with the most battle-starved people.

No 2 closed the door to his room and made sure to lock the door right before doubling over in pain. His cold and indifferent demeanor was nowhere to be seen as he lay on the ground digging his hands into his own eyes almost gouging them out.

His eyes felt like hot rocks, heat searing through his skull. But No 2 did not scream. He could not show any signs of weakness in the hideout. Finally, the pain diminished enough so that No 2 could make conscious thoughts. Using his control over universal energy, he willed it into his eyes. A cooling sensation spread through his eyes and to the rest of his head, calming him down in the process.

No 2 breathed out heavily as a sudden barrage of thoughts struck his head.

'I need to find it.'

'So close.'

'I need it.'

'I want to search for it.'

'I can feel it close.'

'I want it now-'

No 2 dug his fingers into his arms, scraping them across his forearms, the pain cutting through his greedy thoughts. 'No...not now...I will wait.'

No 2 had his own goal to accomplish in this city. That was the only reason he was taking orders from the current No 1. But after he accomplished his goal, No 2 could finally take his rightful place.

'Soon...soon,' No 2 repeated in his head the same words he had been telling himself for over 20 years.

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Seril leaned against the doorway to Emmia's room. Emmia had been worried all day about tomorrow which caused Seril some worry on how the girl was going to sleep.

'But I guess it's all for nothing,' Seril's lips curled into a small smile seeing her sister sleep peacefully.

But soon, Seril's smile wavered and disappeared. The weight of her own memories had affected her more than she would have liked to admit.

'It's like I'm moving through water,' Seril noted to herself while moving her hand. Remembering her memories had caused a disconnected feeling between her mind and body.

'I need to take care of this,' Seril retreated to the living room, giving one last glance at Emmia's sleeping figure.

Sitting cross-legged, Seril started circulating universal energy through her body. Sluggish at first, the process became faster and faster until Seril was comfortable doing it at a moment's notice.

'Alright, time for my gift,' Seril started to draw symbols using her gift "Symbolism" all over her body, erasing them and drawing them over and over again until she was satisfied with their effects. Ignoring the pain, Seril continued to use her gift until her hands started spasming from the pain caused by the drawback of her gift.

Seril stared at her hands, her brows twitching in disappointment. If it were before, Seril wouldn't have minded, but now? 'I am still so weak,' Seril thought to herself while trying to curl her hands into fists.

'If I just merge with more memories... no,' Seril stopped her own thoughts. Every time she regained her memories, she got stronger, vastly stronger. But every time, she could feel herself becoming someone else. Something else. Her feelings, thoughts, and will all seemed insignificant compared to the being in her memories, and Seril was afraid she would be...overwritten.

Thus, she had just absorbed enough memories to learn 'Disruption' which she was sure that she would need.

Pausing for a moment, Seril cast her mind back to the conversation with Emmia.

"E-*cough*," Seril coughed lightly. "Mia, I need to tell you something."

"Yeah? What's up Seril?" Emmia looked up while trying to guide a spoonful of food into her mouth carefully. Looking at her trembling arms and face scrunched up in concentration Seril could feel....nothing. No thoughts of 'cute', 'adorable', or even any thoughts of 'worry' crossed Seril's head and that truly disturbed her.

"Seril?" Emmia called out after seeing that her sister was just sitting there blankly.

"Oh, yea," Seril snapped out of it and shook her head slightly. 'Focus,' She told herself and gave Emmia a small smile. "Mia, I'll be out tomorrow morning, most probably before you wake up."

Emmia fell silent before smiling, "Okay Seril! But wish me luck first!"

"Okay," Seril chuckled softly, feeling lighter after seeing Emmia's smiling face. "Do well tomorrow."

"Hey! That's not good luck! I want you to say good luck!" Emmia pouted.

"*pfttt*" Seril barely held back a laugh that still threatened to escape. "Alright, good luck Mia."

Seril's mind finally returned to the present, the pain in her hands having subsided enough to continue training.

'There's still some disassociation,' Seril thought to herself and gripped her hands into fists. Taking a deep breath, she continued to train late into the night, motivated not to repeat her previous mistakes.

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Nighttime had long fallen on the Great Boan Forest. In the thick of the night, a lone figure trekked through the silent forest. His cloak was filled with holes, leaves, and branches stuck to its fraying fabric.

The man grunted, trying not to limp as he tracked the signal that he was receiving.

'Fuck,' The man groaned internally. The signal that he was tracking suddenly disappeared and reappeared elsewhere in a completely different direction.

This was No 6, and he was still on the same mission that he had taken over 2 weeks ago. Changing directions once again, No 6 made his way towards where the target was.

His gift 'Hunter' had been giving him extremely mixed signals about the location of the girl, causing No 6 to get more and more frustrated as time passed.

'That little....' No 6 stopped to calm himself. In fact, he knew that he was being played with. From the excessive beasts that kept attacking him especially when he stopped to rest, to the signal leading him in circles for more times than he could count.

On top of all that the beasts that attacked him had the same scent and blue key stuck to their neck. But if No 6 tried to track the scent, he was led into a trap that was hand-laid out for him.

Thinking back to the last trap which involved various poisons, No 6 felt his anger returning. They were applied on the surfaces of trees and plants all around an area and worse was the fact that the poisons could be absorbed on contact, causing No 6 immense pains in trying to detoxify himself. And not to mention the time when the poison was applied to the antlers of the dear beasts...

'No, this ends now,' No 6 licked his cracked lips. His gift had finally finished the analysis of all the past events. His universal energy spiked as his brain finally determined the exact area where the girl was hiding. 'Taking into consideration the direction in which the beasts come from, the tracks in the ground, the types of leaves and branches stuck to the beasts, the way I've been led around a large circle but which is a decoy for the actual location on the periphery of the circle... which leaves..'

No 6 rushed forward, dodging trees, branches, bushes, and the occasional beast. His gift started to resonate even more strongly causing No 6 to get increasingly excited as he approached the location. Stopped right before a small cave, No 6 gazed into the cave, his eyes burning.

Suddenly his instincts screamed causing him to jump as a snake lunged at where his leg had just been. Lurching mid-air, No 6 made sure to land on the snake, crushing its neck with his body weight reinforced with universal energy.

'Here...' No 6's eyes flickered with a dangerous light. He had finally found the blasted girl. Two weeks of being made a fool would be paid back here and now.

'No 2 told me to talk to her first and then use force if she doesn't cooperate...but, I'm not in the mood to 'talk'', No 6 readied his hunting knives and other weapons on his body. He would make sure just not to kill the girl, injuries could be healed after all.

No 6 entered the cave to teach the target a lesson not to mess with someone like this.

Deep in the cave, a slew of hushed whimpers resonated in the cave as a figure crouched in front of a beast. Fiddling with a blue key, it was as if the person was figuring out what to do with the key and the beast.

"Where should I insert the key?..... Hmmmm...." the figure wondered to herself while tapping the key on the ground in front of the injured fox beast causing it to flinch.

"Oh I know, it should be- hmm?" The girl stopped her actions, her senses picking up that a foreign entity had entered the cave.

"Awww, looks like the old man caught up," The girl pouted, standing up, causing her blue hair to cascade down her back. "No fun...I wanted a little more time....oh well, this should be enough, right guys?"

The girl gave a small smile as she looked around her, the chamber of the cave being filled to the brim with hundreds upon hundreds of beasts of all varieties.

"I should give him a welcoming gift shouldn't I?" The girl surpessed a giggle, activated her gift causing a spike of universal energy, and released all the beasts at once. Without any warning, a beast tide rushed out the only opening in the cave right at the unsuspecting No 2.

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"Hmm, hmmm, mmmm," A layered series of sounds that resembled humming warbled in the pitch-black space.

"Hmmm, such a good tune," the voice came from an empty point in the space, a good distance in front of a floating mask.

A pristine white mask bobbed up and down gently as the voice continued to hum an odd tune.

"Finally, things are getting interesting," this time, the voice came from somewhere behind the mask.

In response to the voice, the mask started to vibrate, a loud cracking noise filling the void, overlapping with the humming.

"I better get ready," An exaggerated smile etched itself onto the face of the mask, peeking through the cracks in it. Where the eye holes were supposed to be, the mask dipped inwards and endlessly extended inwards without an end.

"Hmmm, hmm, ooooh, those kids are finally at this point huh?" the same voice that was humming finally spoke.

"The story is reaching the first predesignated ~singularity~ plot point., heuheuheuheuhue" The voice behind the mask started to laugh, its laughter replacing the humming in the void.

"I wonder what sort of emotions they show me, I hope they do their best.....After all, isn't it the best when characters go through struggles in their own stories?" The voice in front of the mask spoke.

Right dear reader?