Enchark: New Malfunctions

Thunderstruck by the true nature of the myth, Karlyle had no response to Xavam and stood there in silence. Xavam's face expressed deep sorrow and worry for his dear companion but they soon faded away.

"I don't hate Kyanar for this curse, I understand that he wished to protect me. Though I do wish I could just see her one more time."

"One day her family might meet you."

Xavam stood back up, raising his head far from the ground, and sighed.

"I hope not, that'll just bring back the same sadness that first came when she disappeared. Finish what you came to do traveller."

"I only have to capture you, the requirements for that are beyond me though."

The wyvern bowed his head to Karlyle.

"I surrender."

Karlyle placed his palm onto Xavam's nose and received a notification.

[-

Quest complete!

You have successfully (captured) the wyvern.

Participants: Karlyle Montgomery, Mimi Rivera, Gillian Foster

You will receive your reward soon.

-]

The mist of the forest broke into Xavam's cavern and surrounded the three humans.

"I assume this is goodbye once more. I wish you luck."

"My name is Karlyle Montgomery and I'm happy to have met you Xavam."

Xavam's body faded away into the mist before everything in front of them disappeared and only the plains of unclaimed land surrounded them. Foster's condition improved now that the quest had finished so he managed to stand up with some help from Mimi.

"So... what now?"

Karlyle remained taken aback by the tale nevertheless having to face a wyvern for the past hour or so.

"We have to return to Enchark, the next tourney round begins soon and we can use your money to upgrade your outfit for it."

"Why?"

"We need to get you a gas mask."

"For what?"

"So you don't suffer as much from your opponent's kinetic, I'll explain later."

The group had no choice but to use Mimi's teleporting to get back to Enchark before the night came. She wasn't able to teleport them there instantly so it took a few jumps until they were close enough to walk. The moon was already clearly visible in the sky by the time they got to the main entrance of the city, however they were stopped by a transparent barrier that came to view when they got close to it.

"What's this?"

Mimi rested her hand on the barrier and it reacted with cyan and navy waves of energy that spread out across the entire thing.

"Weird, that looks like Councilman Afin's barriers."

"The barrier shouldn't be up unless a round is going on, Arkana open the barrier."

[-

Access granted.

Enchark Status: Elite Corps

-]

The barrier dispersed into petals of the same colours and withered away, allowing them to safely pass through the gate. By the time Karlyle looked back, the barrier was already standing once more.

An influx of security memos came into view for Foster; these included one that detailed a 'Nightfall Security & Protection Procedure,' explaining the meaning behind Councilman Afin's barrier. From now on until Councilman Kyanar's powers are fully restored, the city will be on lockdown starting from after sunset until sunrise. There, however, was no explanation as to why this procedure was put in place.

"Guess the situation is worse than we thought."

"Well, go home Karlyle. Foster and I will also head home and I'll meet you tomorrow for training."

As commanded by his trainer, Karlyle entered the eternal housing system. The room hasn't reset to its clean state to his surprise. He headed to the bathroom and took a relaxing - and well-deserved - shower to rid himself of the sweat and dirt that gathered on his body during the quest. Not only was the bedroom not reset but the bathroom wasn't either. All of the toiletries that are normally refilled each day weren't today.

Karlyle ignored these changes as he realised it was probably to restore some of Councilman Kyanar's power. The eternal housing spell itself probably drained him a significant amount so adding these benefits on top of it probably made it harder to upkeep. He couldn't imagine exerting as much fire as Councilman Kyanar was exerting energy for these spells.

Nevertheless, the obvious elephant in the room was that he created an entire life form which, additionally, was capable of elemental manipulation. People never mess with the forces of life and death mostly as a result of laws passed by Councilwoman Antaria; but also because even those with kinetics that relate to one of those can't maintain a life form for a day and Councilman Kyanar did it for over half a century.

Now that his shower was finished, he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked to his bed on which he sat down. Thankfully, it was still as soft as it was before. Karlyle leaned over his bed and searched through his bag of clothes for something to wear to bed.

He picked out a simple black t-shirt alongside some red and black plaid trousers. The fluffy material that was used to make the latter made it much more comfortable to sleep in with tired muscles. He slipped into the outfit and got under the beige duvet. Due to his tiredness, Karlyle fell asleep in no longer than a minute.

Like most other nights, he had no dreams during his sleep. It was just a quick flash of darkness before waking up in the new day. With his tired eyes, he noticed the chair that stood opposite the bed continuously disappearing and reappearing until it decided to remain in the room. He didn't have an idea of where it could've appeared if not inside this room so he just went about his day.

He got to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and washed his face. Thankfully this morning his hair wasn't as messy as it would be any other day so he didn't have to work on it too hard; he just had to brush it. The third round was tomorrow and, although he had just fought a wyvern, Mimi would be even tougher on him today.

Since he was going out shopping with Mimi, he decided to dress casually and abandon the slightly burnt battle outfit he was gifted. He would still wear it in the tourney to show appreciation but he had also planned to get it fixed right after, even if he lost.

"Housing exit."

Karlyle blinked, expecting to teleport out of the housing instantly. That however did not happen. When his eyes re-opened he could still see the room he's been living in covered by a loading circle. He blinked a few more times until he'd finally been transported.

Like every other time, he had appeared in the training grounds and Mimi told him to meet her at the main entrance to the central tower. Once he finally got there, Mimi was already waiting for him so he jogged up to her.

"Did I make you wait?"

"Not really, let's go."

The two started to walk down the street, Mimi obviously knew their destination but that information was unbeknown to Karlyle.

"Where are we going?"

"Like I told you yesterday, we need to get you a gas mask for your next fight."

"A gas mask? Can my opponent spew toxic gas?"

"Kinda, her kinetic allows her to release a black, sort of sparkly, gas and once you inhale it she can make you see stuff. Like Hallusotripea but worse."

"Are you sure the gas mask will work...?"

Karlyle was a bit worried about having to deal with that type of kinetic, especially if his opponent had control over what he would see.

"I hope so, either way, you'll have to keep your distance or try and use your fire to protect yourself."

"I don't think fire can push back smoke."

"Well you'll have to try."

"And what if the smoke gets to me?"

"Then fight back. Throw some fire, try and break out, whatever you do, do not fall for its illusions."

"Do you think I'll win?"

"Well you managed to keep your ranks, wish they'd gone up though."

"So even if I lose it won't affect me too much?"

"If you keep up in the fight your ranks will be fine."

"Great.."

The two continued to walk in silence until they reached a sort of boutique. The sign that was positioned in the centre of the building and above the door read 'Erik's Equipment and Gina's Gadgets.'

Karlyle snickered, "that's the name?"

"Yeah."

They headed inside, Mimi first. She held the door open for Karlyle who took forever to walk through. He was dazzled by how large the shop was inside compared to what it looked like outside. The walls were lined with all sorts of different equipment including gauntlets, tomes, armour, swords, cleaves, and staffs. There were no physical shelves positioned around the floor as everything was hovering in the air.

"Hey there!"

"Welcome to Erik's Equipment and Gina's Gadgets!"

"I'm Erik."

"I'm Gina."

The two apparent owners introduced themselves from behind the counter. Karlyle and Mimi were the only people currently here as most people already bought the items they required. Due to the quest, Mimi's planned shopping was delayed.

"We'd like an SS-grade gas mask."

"Right away ma'am."

The two replied to Mimi in perfect sync and unison before walking into the storage room. Instead of a door, a hole in the wall with swirling water appeared and they freely dived in, leaving Mim iand Karlyle.