First Mission (1)

We are currently on the roof of a building adjacent to the warehouse. Kane had led us nearby before he and the rest of his team suddenly vanished, but I have no doubts that they are currently watching us. I focus on Noah.

He had hidden us from the moment we left the bookshop up until we got here. However, we had to stay within his domain to remain under the effects of his spell. After we got to the roof we are currently on, we had begun our watch on the warehouse, and that's when Noah decided to show off his skills in manipulating light. Either he only showed a fraction of his true skills when we were fighting in the Rankings, or he has improved a lot since then.

Somehow he had isolated all the light coming from the warehouse before projecting and enlarging the image they formed in the air. With that, all we needed was to watch the screen. If we wanted he could manipulate the image in any way we wanted. Zoom in or out, isolate a person or thing, anything we wanted.

Noah zoomed in on two people getting into a delivery truck, then he zoomed back out and focused on the warehouse entrance, which was being closed. He refocused on the truck. "That's the only truck going out. You think it's in there?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think so. Let's get ready to follow them."

We get up, each of us using one movement technique or another, and begin to follow the truck as it zooms off. For about ten minutes we follow the trucks in silence, then Adelia speaks up. "Ian, I think we should attack soon, or I might end up wasting most of my Uua just chasing after the trucks."

"Yeah, the invisibility spell I'm using is pretty draining." Noah agrees. "Besides, we've been chasing them for some time now, if they wanted to stop they should have? Right?"

I consider their suggestions. "Alright. Let's start phase two." Currently, we are on a mostly deserted road so attacking now won't draw too any attention to us for some time.

Phase two is simple, I move ahead alone to stop the Truck, drawing attention to myself in the process. While they are still surprised by my appearance, Tobi would stealthily teleports Adelia to the Truck where she would separate the front from the rear. With that Noah would get the chance he needs to get close to and search for the artifact. At the same time, Han and Bella would spread out to be able to keep a better eye on us and our surroundings.

I turn to Tobi who nods and points a finger. A portal forms and I run through it. In less than a second I cover the dozens of meters between me and the speeding Truck. Putting an extra burst of speed, I overtake the Truck and turn around to face it. This is going to hurt, I think as I notice the shocked look on the faces of the drivers. With second sight I can see that they are Erhaz so it seems that they are our targets. I take comfort in that thought as the Truck slams into me.

With the help of the enhancement and strengthening noer, I manage to stay conscious as I am almost knocked senseless. I quickly get myself together. Focusing Uua on my fingers, I am able to dig them into the body of the Truck to get a better grip, then I plant my feet on the ground and use Burst, pouring out more Uua than I ever have while using it.

With the help of Burst, the force I exert on the Truck slows it down drastically as it emits a loud screeching sound. Then another portal appears and out comes Adelia, her arms already covered by her Avatar. Normally Avatars are supposed to be full-body, but Adelia has yet to finish constructing hers so it currently only covers her arms.

She swings her hand, releasing a large arc of energy that slices and separates the front of the Truck from the rear. With the rear now free, the front becomes way lighter and I am able to bring it to a stop while the rear careens freely ahead for some distance before crashing to a stop. With that the first part of the plan is complete. Noah now has the freedom to search for the Eyes.

I look up at the people in the Truck as Tobi appears beside Adelia. Now, it's time to do my part. Prevent these people from interfering with Noah's search.

The men inside have already recovered from the shock of our ambush, and one of them begins to reach under his seat. Whatever it is he wants to take out, there is no way I'll let him do so. I move to the door of the Truck and Focus Uua around my arm, then I punch through the door. The Uua weakened the metal around the door enough for me to punch through it. With half my arm inside the car, I create a Roe.

The moment they see the Roe, they abandon whatever it is they wanted to bring out, choosing instead to escape out the other door. Intimidation successful. There is no way I would unleash a Roe inside a vehicle, it'd explode, and with how close I am I would probably be skewered by the shrapnel. But, they didn't need to know that.

I pull out my arm as Tobi and Adelia make their moves on the two men. On our way here, when we knew we were just dealing with two men, I, Tobi, and Adelia had settled on a simple way to take on the men. First we would get them out of the truck, which I had now done. Next, Tobi would attempt to separate them, him being able to teleport would make it easy. Then Adelia and I would focus on one each, with Tobi acting as support.

As they run out of the truck, Tobi teleports between them before immediately releasing two bursts of telekinesis, pushing one toward me and the other toward Adelia.

Using Glide, I quickly close the distance between me and my target. Unfortunately, after our series of attacks, the men are now alert. My target puts his hands in his pockets before bringing out a bunch of small silver beads and putting them in his mouth. Then he spits them out. I have no idea what those are, but I follow my instincts and summon a barrier between us.

My choice proves to be the right one when a moment later the beads shoot out of his mouth, blowing up the moment they touch my barrier. I release a heat absorbing noer to prevent myself from being affected by the heat produced by the explosions, as for the shock waves produced, my barrier prevents most of it from reaching me.

My opponent reaches into his pocket once more, but I have no plans of letting him get whatever he has out this time. I direct the heat absorbing noer to him before triggering it to release its contents. It explodes, stunning the man. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I close in on him and use the binding noer to restrain him before dragging him to my side. Then I create a barrier around him, unlike Keldin, he won't be able to escape. One down, one more to go.

A loud sound to my left causes me to almost jump in alarm. I turn to see the second man on his knees, his trembling arms raised up in a sign of surrender. A quick glance at his messed-up surroundings is enough to make me understand his actions. He is scared. In front of him, Adelia stands with a savage smile on her face, and behind her is Tobi, who is staring warily at the man in front of them.

"You done?" I ask.

Adelia nods. "Yeah. It was easier than I expected actually."

I feel something hit my barrier and turn to face the man trapped in front of me. His face is red as he screams something but I can't hear a single thing. It takes me a second to realize that I probably can't hear anything because of the barrier around him. After thinking for a moment, I create a small hole in the barrier, allowing sound to come out. Immediately I am met with cussing.

"...the fuck is wrong with you kids? Uh! So this is what the Laen does now right? Attack fucking innocent people just to show they're so strong. Man, they-"

I interrupt him. "Innocent? I doubt it. We wouldn't be here if you did nothing wrong."

He pauses his tirade, breathing heavily. "Which is? What the hell did we do wrong?"

"Something was stolen from us. We're just here to retrieve it."

He stares at me in shock, almost as if he couldn't believe what I just said. "What fucking bullshit! You think I'm dumb enough to-"

"Aussie, the package!" The man who Adelia and Tobi had subdued shouts.

Aussie quiets down with a look of realization. After a few seconds of silence, he speaks again, rage evident in his voice. "That fucking bastard. Listen, I know what you're looking for, and I can give it to you, just leave us the fuck alone."