Section 21: Don't Stand Still

Foster father was always working, and since their last meeting in May, the blink of an eye signified half a year without being able to return home.

Malin searched the map for a while before he found the place called Pitzport, at the very northern tip of the Union, also the westernmost point of the northern defense line.

Further north was the region contaminated by Chaos, the former Engma Empire, now the land of Chaos. The Sydney Union, Karam Kingdom, and the free territories of Engma were respectively to the south, southeast, and east, maintaining the defensive line against the Chaos.

Don't think that these three realms were struggling to survive; that was the case in the Middle Ages. In today's age of scientific development, the Sydney Union had even reclaimed the once northernmost province, and they were now pushing toward the core area of the Chaos nation in collaboration with the other two countries—there was no scheming for victory in sight because after millennia facing the Chaos, all humans understood that now was not the time for negotiations or profiteering.

The free territories of Engma were the last remnants of the once Engma Empire. It was said they had reached an agreement with Sydney and Karam regarding the division of territories—the three southern provinces of the Engma Empire and tax-free trade rights among the three nations would be allocated to the two kingdoms as a reward for recapturing lost territories, uniting against the Chaos, and for everlasting peace.

Under the covenant witnessed by the True God, the granary of the southern Engma Empire just needed purification to be usable for the rear, and with no more wars among the three nations, that was enough motivation for the Sydney Union and Karam Kingdom to give their all.

But in Malin's view, he did not know how long this war would last.

Likewise, Malin did not know what his adoptive father was exactly doing. Maya often missed him, but on the whole, under Malin's care, there were no issues.

After Malin had prepared a delicious sauce for Maya, the meat grilled by this Leopard Girl became more popular among the Church members, and having her live at the Church gave Malin some peace of mind—although Carfa Avenue No. 418 had become safer after the Church's renovations, the experience of being invaded by unseen spirits still unnerved Malin.

So, until Maya learned self-defense from the instructor, Malin had no intention of sending her back to that home.

Aside from the spirits, what Malin worried about most was the unfathomable human heart.

Maya did not throw any tantrums, which pleased Malin greatly. Although at her age, she had every right to be temperamental, this girl was very obedient to her adoptive father, and ever since that old man entrusted her to Malin, the little Leopard Girl listened to Malin's commands.

A well-behaved little Leopard Girl.

As the whispers in his ears grew clearer, Malin, leaning on the carriage window, pulled his attention from his memories and also noticed that the carriage had already entered the Western District.

"I hear the whispers," Malin turned to look at Colin.

The latter, who was putting on a Tranquility Headband, glanced at Malin and said, "You really have a knack for dealing with this kind of opponent."

"I have more restraint against these spirits," Malin replied with a smile—the current mission was taken by a team of rookies who reported paranormal activities at No. 399 West Carmen Avenue. As no one had been harmed, the guild issued the mission, preparing the rookies for a comprehensive investigation to determine the type of spirit.

This kind of mission was very simple, even for Malin. The problem was… an accident happened.

Nearly half of the blocks in the Western District near the city's south were hearing whispers. The fate of the Demon Hunter who accepted the mission was unknown, the nearby residents suffered seventeen deaths and fifty-nine injuries, and at the most dangerous moment, spirits even appeared on the streets.

Fortunately, when it was most perilous, the weather cleared up, and the spirits quickly retreated back into that building.

Therefore, the Church could only deploy individuals, and considering Malin's unique advantages in combating spirit-controlled spirits, Colin decided to bring Malin along.

Although their teacher was somewhat concerned, he ultimately decided to let Malin go to the site.

This time, Malin's participation would earn him a base attendance fee of 200 gold for the four-star mission, with additional rewards depending on the difficulty of the incident.

Church personnel were already waiting at the roadside, having prepared all the supplies and equipment. Malin hopped off the carriage and followed Colin to the changing area.

"Malfoy, what's the latest update?" Colin asked the person in charge as he took off his robe.

"It doesn't look good. The array that immunizes against whispers is constantly at work, with a measured value of three—a level that's dangerous, but not enough to warrant deploying High-order Demon Hunters. It's probably not a bait-and-switch intensity, as just two minutes ago, a rookie ran out from there," said the person in charge, turning and blowing a whistle towards the group of members gathered there.

Then those team members carried a young man sitting on a chair towards them.

Malin was putting on his Earth Dragon hide soft stab-proof breastplate—a very soft garment that wouldn't hinder any movement while offering protection against the claws and stabs of many spirits, making it a very reliable piece of equipment.

He glanced at the rookie and noticed his eyes were completely vacant, then took his helmet and placed it on his head, affixing his flashlight to the left mount of the helmet. "This guy's been scared out of his wits!" As he spoke, Malin picked up the revolver from the table and pointed it at the rookie. While everyone else was still puzzled, they saw the rookie suddenly clasp his head and scream.

It was a non-human scream, piercingly loud, and this time there was no need for further explanation; Malin pulled the trigger, and the bullet penetrated the newcomer's head.

"How did you sense something was off with him?" At that moment, Colin released his grip, having nearly burst his eardrums just now, he looked at Malin.

Malin pursed his lips: "When he approached, the murmuring sound became louder. At first, I thought it was an external problem, until I noticed his eyes turning blood red."

"I didn't notice his eyes," said the guy named Malfoy.

"My personal suggestion is that all surviving citizens need a full examination." Malin fastened his weapon belt around his waist, then loaded his revolver with bullets, slid it into the holster, "Colin, we need reinforcements; our adversary is a big trouble."

"Hmm, I'll release the carrier pigeons now." Colin nodded. Although Malin was young, he had a significant advantage in identifying spirits—because he could always accurately confirm the enemy's identity in previous tests and trials.

Colin even said that Malin's talent in this area was even more formidable than some professionals 'investigators'.

As for that, Malin could only offer a shy smile—this world was still quite backward in investigating spirits, and the notebook Malin carried, filled with information on spirits he knew, was in some ways simpler than the Demon Hunters memorizing by rote.

A good memory is less reliable than faded ink.

After getting equipped, Colin decided to scout outside the scene.

Since they weren't planning to breach first, Malin also followed to take a look.

And just one look made Malin regret it—the entire building at 399 Carfa Avenue was now surrounded by police tape. But the real problem wasn't the cordon itself; it was that all the windows of the three-story structure at 399 were dark with a greenish tint.

Under these circumstances, Malin was powerless, and so would be ten Colins.

"The situation is more troublesome than we thought; we must abort the mission and summon higher-order Demon Hunters," Colin was no fool; the level of the spirits was beyond what they could handle; rather, it was a problem that resolved them.

So, they called for reinforcements; Malin and Colin led everyone to retreat a distance. Some Demon Hunters who had come as reinforcements were already starting to build street forts, and thus the group retreated into the street forts.

"I've never seen such a scene before," Malfoy glanced at the small building: "Colin, is this the precursor to a spirit tide?"

"How would I know, but it probably isn't. Time-wise, it's not due yet." Colin shook his head and replied seriously: "I'd rather consider this incident an isolated outbreak because, besides the spirit tide, small-scale explosive outbreaks of spirits due to dimensional rifts are quite common."

Then Colin began to impart knowledge to Malin: "Such dark green light, if it appears in any district, signifies an isolated outbreak of the spirit tide. The spirits emerging from dimensional rifts, both in terms of species and quality, will far exceed your imagination. The only good news is that since the rifts are very unstable, the more dangerous a spirit that passes through, the greater the disturbance it causes, leading to only a few needed to overload and close the rift."

This was new information Malin had never received from his mentor.

So, he listened with great interest, and Colin described it so vividly that Malin learned about the characteristics of an isolated outbreak of the spirit tide—extremely dangerous, with very few early signs to detect the creation of a rift. Without a profession adept at dealing with planes, it is even harder to notice the anomalies, thus making it a truly terrifying event.

The entire district could end up slaughtered because of it, though not to say there aren't exceptions or surprises—like thirty years ago in Sydney, Union of The Capital, when a dimensional rift sent over thousands of little fairies from the southern islands.

Reportedly, that rift was large and opened frequently, so all the Transcendent Professionals in The Capital were prepared for a desperate battle, but then thousands of little fairies tumbled out, allowing those ready for a fierce fight to experience what's known as going overboard with force—for the first time. That day, a ninety-year-old Transcendent died of excitement due to the rift opening, the only casualty of that incident.

Speaking of which, besides humans, there are many different races in this world, including interesting civilized races like elves, dwarves, and little fairies, with their own culture and enlightened thought, different from humans.

The fairies are about 20 centimeters tall, naturally born mages; their overflowing magic gathers on the wings in the human world to become Fairy Dust, an extremely important alchemy material.

It is said that the King of Union spent quite a fortune to round up those little fairies and send them back to the southern islands. Out of gratitude, the fairies granted exclusive interdimensional trade rights of the Fairy Dust to the royal merchant guild of His Majesty Mowish. Moreover, those little fairies also set up a guild in Sydney, where they not only sold healing potions produced by the fairies but also dealt in rare materials collected by amicable elvish creatures from other planes.

So, a rift is like a six-chambered revolver loaded with five bullets—you never know what's going to fly out when you pull the trigger.

"If possible, I'd suggest you stay as far away from such events as you can until you reach Stage Five," Colin made the final statement.

It also informed Malin that he should only deal with facts at Stage Six.