Tales of Xalthia

by xXGhostStalker

*DISCLAIMER: This holds no relation to Tales of VS. This is an original story* A mysterious lineage. An unimaginative power. Oblivious to Tsuki Himura, he defends his kingdom from evil and learns of a sinister plot. Forced to seek help, he travels the globe for much needed allies. Join him as he learns more about the world and about himself as something awakens inside him

40. Spirit of Ice

Tales of Xalthia

Chapter 39: Spirit of Ice

Time reverts back about two hours as the scene shifts over to Tsuki and the Glacier team, which consists of Cheria, Allie, Elle, Lynette and Phi. They rode north from Imil to the Glacier far to the north. The ride was fairly smooth with a few monster encounters along the way. It took them about an hour to reach the Glacier. They were concerned that the further north they traveled, the more likely they were to run into the Elder Behemoth. Thankfully, they didn't nor did they find any tracks that belonged to the hulking beast. The area around them was pretty flat as there was nothing but white as far as the eye could see.

When they arrived at the Glacier, they were met with a massive ice wall that stretched high into the sky. At the bottom of the ice wall, they could see a equally giant hole that punched through the solid sheet of ice. Judging by the size of the ice wall in front of them, they could only expect that the inner workings of the Glacier would complex. As the Skiffs pulled up to the ice wall, they could start to feel the turbulence in the Aer caused by the Wellspring. It wasn't anything major but it was definitely noticeable.

Tsuki and the others parked their Skiffs just outside of the entrance leading into the Glacier. Having an up close look at the hulking shard of ice helped put into perspective of the task that lies ahead of them. As they pulled up, the feeling that Allie had about being called to the Glacier grew stronger. "Come to the depths. Beware of danger…" the voice said.

Tsuki climbed off the Skiff as he felt a slight fluctuation in Allie's Mana. "Allie? Everything alright?" he asked.

Soon after, the Caliburn emitted a faint glow before Allie materialized in front of them, holding her hand up to her head. "Yeah…it's that voice again. It's getting stronger" she said.

Cheria looked down towards the entrance to the Glacier as a bitter, subzero chill blew right past her, causing her to shiver, even when she was wearing her coat. "Well, we must be in the right place then if the feeling is getting stronger. The wind chills are definitely colder" she said. She can't even imagine how much colder inside of the Glacier could be.

Phi wasn't a fan of the bitter cold. There was a reason why she stuck to the tropics. She was shivering like crazy despite having several layers of clothes on. "H-h-hopefully, th-th-this will be q-q-quick. I'd rather not f-f-freeze to death here" she said.

Elle wasn't bothered by the cold temperatures one bit. In fact, she found it almost refreshing to her. "Makes you wish we had Ramza's fire, doesn't it?" she asked.

Lynette liked cool weather but when it came to temperature that were in the single digits, or even below zero, that's where she drew the line. She couldn't believe that Elle was practically unfazed by this. "Must be nice have Ice as your element. To think that people would spend extended time out here in these conditions…" she said.

Allie looked around the area before pointing towards the inner parts of the Glacier entrance. "Master, I see people over there" she said.

They looked into the direction she was pointing towards and saw a few people stumble out from the inner parts of the Glacier. Some of them looked hurt so they hurried on over towards them. At first, they were alarmed when they approached them. One of them backed away in fear. "W-who are you people!? Don't tell me there's more of you!" they shouted.

Tsuki waved his hands in the air. "Whoa, easy! We aren't the enemy. Flynn sent us to help when he heard about the trouble that's happening here" he said.

A few members of the survey team looked at each other like they didn't know what he was talking about. In the confusion, a woman stepped out from the bunch. "Ah, you must be reinforcements the Commander had mentioned. I apologize for this; communication around here is pretty touch-and-go due to the effects of the Wellspring. I think I'm the only one that got the message" she said. She put her hand on her hip and adjusted the glasses over her eyes. "My name's Luna Setsuno. I work alongside the chief of the survey team" she said. The woman that approached them had long, silver hair wrapped in a ponytail, red eyes with glasses and looked to be close to Flynn's age. She had a scholarly appeal to her.

Tsuki looked at the other researchers and some of them looked to be injured a bit. Before they got into what has happened, he had Lynette go around and tend to their injuries. None of them were badly hurt, which was odd considering that they were potentially dealing with someone in league with Caius. Either they got extremely lucky or whoever is waiting for them in the Glacier was planning something. While Lynette handled the other researchers, Tsuki took the time to introduce themselves and explain what led up to them being here.

After explaining things to Luna, she nodded to herself. Hearing about the situation in Melte was concerning and Imil didn't have a whole lot of personnel to spare after that big snowstorm. It made sense to her on why he would call upon outside assistance with this matter. Personally, she didn't really mind either way since her team was in danger. "…Alright, I get the situation now. Thank you for explaining it to me" she said.

Tsuki glanced over towards the Glacier entrance. "What's it like inside of there? What happened?" he asked. There were four people, not including Luna, standing around the entrance and by the sound of it, there were still more inside the Glacier.

Luna folded her arms and shook her head. "We were in the middle of an experiment to try and rouse the Spirit from it's slumber when a man wielding a katana suddenly appeared out of a portal" she said. It was quite shocking to see that such a transportation method even existed. "He demanded that we halt our experiments. Of course, we couldn't do that, but that's when he decided to resort to intimidation. The power and level of technique he displayed were something else. He incapacitated our guards easily" she said.

Cheria tilted her head a bit. If this person was in league with Caius, then it didn't make sense to simply incapacitate people. "Incapacitate? Not kill?" she asked.

Luna nodded. "That's the weird thing we can't understand. He was fully capable enough to cut us all down, but he didn't. Those that he took down were only hit by the back of his sword" she said. The whole encounter seemed really bizarre and off. Something didn't add up with her. "More than that, he tried to pass himself off as a threatening individual, but he didn't exactly do a good job at hiding his kind and honorable nature" she said. She recalled when she got a good look at his eyes. What she saw weren't the eyes of a madman or of a killer out for blood. "There was a strong hint of sadness and pain to his eyes. Almost as if he was being forced to commit these acts" she said.

Phi remembered something that Georg had once told her relating to the culture of samurai and how their way of life had been upheaved due to the not-so recent changes happening around Menorion. "From what I remember, the samurai were dealt a terrible hand of fate. They were once a proud people, but were betrayed by Honegroth and eventually assimilated them into their military. Any that refused to comply were suspected of insurrection and arrested, or even killed on the spot" she said. It was news that Georg didn't take too kindly. That was the first time she saw him genuinely furious. She knew that Georg admired the samurai and their culture, so to see it tarnished and stepped on was of great offense.

Lynette didn't know much about the samurai culture. All she knew was what she heard from Phi. "Weren't the samurai nearly wiped out too?" she asked.

Phi nodded. "Yes. Obviously, the samurai strongly refused to comply with Honegroth and put on a strong offensive in response, but they were easily overwhelmed. Those that remain have either sold themselves to their enemy or went into hiding and never came back out" she said. Samurai were quite skilled when it came to the art of battle, which is why they were given a big target by Honegroth. Under the new changes that were implemented by Caius, he wanted their fighting prowess.

Elle shook her head a bit. The situation with the samurai was almost reminiscent to that of the Faeries. "Samurai are nothing tools to be used in the eyes of their oppressors. If they can't be used, they're thrown away like yesterday's trash. It's almost the same as the slavery of Faeries, in some cases" she said. It was a grim outlook and it only revealed at how chaotic the world truly was. So much was happening outside of Cayhill and most of them were none the wiser.

Allie retained as much information as she could. However, some topics were difficult for her to understand. "If they're unhappy about their circumstances, why don't they do something to change it?" she asked. Unfortunately, when it comes to things like these, she was pretty naïve.

Cheria shook her head. If only things could be as simple as that. The world would be in a better place, if that were the case. "You're preaching to the choir, sadly. Faced with such oppressive odds, there's not much one can do to change things. When you add what's been happening with Caius and his involvement in Arcanum on top of all these issues, it's better to just bite your tongue and swallow your pride. At that point, it's about a matter of survival" she said. The samurai that are left that have been integrated into their military are most likely unhappy about things, but have to endure the shame in order to see the next day. They're in as much of a rough shape as Faeries are.

Tsuki pondered what they could do to change things. He could probably think of a few exploits they could take advantage of. "Maybe we can use that in our favor. If we can get the samurai on our side, then that just might leave a hole in their military we can use" he said.

Luna glanced over towards Tsuki, curious to know how he would go about conducting such a plan. "As it stands, the samurai have no strong ally to dependably rely on and I doubt that they're willing to cooperate with just anyone that doesn't show that they can be trusted. Given how they were betrayed. It most likely won't be easy to win their favor" she said. It was a good idea though. Getting them to switch sides would not only open a vulnerability in their ranks to exploit, but the intel they could provide about Honegroth's military structure would be a game-changer.

Tsuki was only just theorizing at this point. He didn't know what steps he could take to help the samurai. It was true that they would need someone they could depend on and there wasn't a doubt in his mind that they wouldn't simply go along with their group. Sure, they had a few accomplishments and gained some renown around Ersheath, but nothing really substantial that would rally the samurai to their cause and fight against a powerful foe. As unfortunate as it is, this was yet another problem that they would have to sort out later on down the line.

Elle looked over towards the Glacier and walked up to it's entrance. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you not to concern yourself with what can't be dealt with right now. We have one job to do right now and that is to remove the person impeding the survey team's investigation of the Wellspring" she said. She gave Luna a quick glance. "How many people are left down in the ice?" she asked.

Luna looked around the area and counted heads. "Three people, one of them being the Chief. Unfortunately, I can't tell you where they are at" she said. Even though the intruder hasn't killed anyone yet, that doesn't mean the monsters inside the Glacier won't either. "But…are you all really going to go like that? You're putting yourselves at great risk, going into a Wellspring-contaminated zone with no protection" she said. She took another look at her fellow team members. Unfortunately, she couldn't loan them the gear that they had. "I would offer you some of our suits, but it seems some of them were damaged during our escape" she said.

Tsuki was a bit worried about being exposed to the effects of the Wellspring, but people's lives were in danger. If not by the intruder or monsters, then from the Wellspring itself if their protective equipment was damaged. "We'll find a way to manage. With it being on the small side, we should be able to endure it for a little while" he said. That said, he wasn't all that sure himself. He remembered when he, Ramza and Lynette entered the Cavern of Solace and felt the immediate effects of the Wellspring in there despite being somewhat far away from it. He's putting all his hopes on the fact that this one wasn't as strong as that one was.

Luna wasn't comfortable sending them into the Glacier, but they had no other choice. All she could do was believe in them. "Alright then. Be careful in there. If you need anything, we do have a few supplies you can use" she said.

Tsuki nodded at her. "Thanks. We appreciate it" he said. With that said, he watched her soon turn around and leave the group to their own devices. Once she was gone, he turned and faced the others. "We better inform Reis about this before going in. If communications are sketchy, there's a good chance that we will lose contact with them once we enter the Glacier" he said. He reached his hand up and placed his finger over the ComLink in his ear and activated it. "Reis, you there?" he asked.

There was some garbled static, but eventually, he heard Reis speak through the ComLink. "I am. What's wrong?"he asked.

Tsuki was a bit surprised that he replied back. Even though he practiced with it a bit before leaving Imil, it still baffles him that communication like this exists. "We've arrived at the Glacier. Most of Flynn's survey team was standing by the front entrance to the ice caverns, but they tell us a few more are still inside. No sign of that samurai yet either" he said. He looked back towards the Glacier for a moment. "It seems that whoever is inside is planning something. Aside a few minor scraps, no one has been killed" he said.

Cheria folded her arms and pondered on their situation. "Maybe there's something about samurai honor that they still cling to? Not to bring harm to civilians or something?" she asked.

Phi shrugged her shoulders a bit. "Some honor that is. They've already harmed the researchers, albeit very little" she said. It didn't matter who gave the order, there are just some things that an honorable people such as samurai shouldn't do.

Allie scratched her head a bit. "Maybe they were just defending themselves? I mean, if samurai are really as honorable as you said, it could have been a case of self-defense…" she said. Luna never did say who attacked first. They could be misunderstanding the situation a little bit for all they knew.

Tsuki shook his head. These were questions that they would have to find out themselves. If they asked Luna who attacked first, that might cause some problems for them."How are things going on your end?"he asked through the ComLink.

A bit more static occurred. It would appear that Luna was right about how communication via ComLink was sketchy. Soon, Reis responded to his question. "I scouted around the village and saw no signs of life. We think they may have rounded them all up by now"he said.

Tsuki was concerned for the villagers. Considering what Draxus is known for, it sounded like they were definitely preparing something. "Any sign of Draxus anywhere?"he asked.

He heard Reis speak through the ComLink, but some of what he said was unintelligible because of the static. "Not yet. Going…check out the scouting team's…operations…"he said. Eventually, the static between the two ComLink's stabilized. "Better to do that than wander around in the dark and a potential trap" he said.

Just as the static seemed to come to a stop, it started up again. Tsuki knew at this point that if they were to proceed further, they will lose contact between ComLink's indefinitely. "Be careful over there. Also, if you see anyone holding a crystal of some kind containing Arcanum, make sure you destroy it. If Draxus is dabbling into that as well, then there's potential that some of them could be Lesser Daemons. No crystal means no sustainability"he said. Considering the last encounter with Draxus that he had, he wouldn't rule out that possibility.

Once again, more static played in his ear. Eventually, Reis responded among the buzzing in his ear."Like what happened in Haven Village, right? Got it. I'll keep that in mind"he said.

Elle soon took a few steps over towards the Glacier entrance, looking back towards Tsuki. "You know, the longer we stand here, the more the researchers will be in danger" she said.

Phi was doing her best to keep herself as warm as possible as she felt the bitter chills coming out from within the Glacier. "M-m-maybe we'll f-f-fight some monsters or s-s-something. Anything t-t-to warm up…" she said. The faster they can resolve the situation here, the better. There was nothing more she wanted right now than a nice cup of hot chocolate, a fuzzy blanket and a nice place by the fire.

Allie tugged on Tsuki's sleeve as she was eager to explore. "Come on, Master! Hurry up!" she said.

Tsuki looked at the others and saw that they were all waiting on him to get off the ComLink. "We'll be heading into the Glacier now. As we get closer to the Wellspring, I imagine the signal will become sketchy, at best. Once matters here are settled, I'll contact you again" he said.

Even more static played in his ear. Thankfully, he could make out what Reis said. "You be careful in there yourselves. You'll be heading into some dangerous conditions without any proper protection. If you feel weak at all, leave right away" he said.

Almost as soon as he said that, all Tsuki could hear beyond that was just static. He couldn't pick up his voice anymore, so he deactivated the ComLink. Once he did that, he rejoined the others as they made their way towards the Glacier entrance. He felt an ice cold breeze blow across his face as he looked into the depths of the Glacier. There was a single tunnel that went deeper into the Glacier before rounding a corner. Beyond that, they had no idea what to expect inside.

Tsuki looked at everyone else. "Remember, we don't know what to expect down here and with the Wellspring, we have to be extra careful" he said.

Lynette nodded and put her hand to her chest. "I'll keep an eye on everyone's Mana flow and make sure there aren't any sudden fluctuations or abnormalities" she said. This was a situation where Cesela's Aetherflow trait would come in handy, but the risks were too great to bring her along.

Elle looked down at her right hand and clenched her fist. She could already feel the slight effects from prolonged exposure, but not enough to cause significant concern. "Let's try and conserve as much strength as we can. I have a feeling we might need it to deal with that samurai" she said.

Phi nodded in agreement. The closer they get to the Wellspring, the worse the effects will become. "I a-a-agree" she said. Of course, she wasn't going to hold herself back. She wanted to warm herself up and that's what she was going to do.

The group started to walk down the tunnel leading into the Glacier. After a bit of a straightforward walk, the tunnel eventually opened up to a big chamber that contained different pathways that went off into different directions. Considering that they had no idea where the other three researchers were, they had to check every path they came across. Due to the bitter cold environment, only specific breeds of monsters could thrive within the Glacier. Elemental Sprites, a unique breed of bear called Frost Claws, slimes called Ice Jelly, Arctic Bats and a few others. As expected, they had their fair share of monster encounters as they made their way through the many different pathways and tunnels.

They were surrounded by walls of ice and frozen stone. The ice looked like giant mirrors as everyone could almost see their reflections. The more they traveled through the Glacier, the stronger the Aer was becoming. All they could hear were the echoes of their footsteps and their voices as they talked amongst themselves. Being surrounded by ice, it was also expected that the temperature would continue to plummet the deeper they go. Roughly 30 minutes had passed since they entered the Glacier and they felt that the temperature had to have at least dropped 10 degrees. They were, quite literally, exploring a freezer box.

Eventually, while exploring one of the many tunnels that snaked their way through the Glacier, they finally came across the first researcher. He was sitting up against a frozen boulder with his clothing and protective equipment torn to bits. He was bleeding from his arm and leg and looked like he was on the verge of frostbite. Lynette was quick to treat his injuries so that he could move around. Based on the injuries he had, it looked like he got caught up in a brawl with a Frost Claw at some point, which was indicated by the claw marks on his arm and leg. Thankfully, they weren't deep cuts so they didn't take long to heal. The next thing she had to worry about was frostbite and hyperthermia. These were things Healing Artes can't treat and they didn't have medicine on hand to treat them.

Lynette finished patching up the researcher and helped them stand up. "You're all healed up now. How do you feel?" she asked.

The researcher was a young man in his 20s with blonde hair and yellow eyes. He looked like he didn't have much battle experience, but knew enough to fend for himself. "Th-thank you. The pain is mostly gone now. I appreciate this" he said.

Tsuki was relieved to see that he was going to be okay. For a few moments there, he thought that the guy wouldn't make it. "Have you seen the other two researchers that were with you?" he asked.

The researcher shook his head a bit. "Me and another got separated when she slipped off one of the pathways. She should be somewhere further down. As for the Chief, he stayed back at the Wellspring so we could escape" he said. He was concerned for their safety. His female friend was most likely injured somewhere below and scared meanwhile, the Chief was still putting himself at risk.

Elle shrugged her shoulders a bit. "Well, at least we know where to look" she said. With a rough idea on where to look, they don't have to look down each tunnel and path they come across. "Are you able to leave on your own? We cleared out the monsters leading towards the entrance, so you should have no problems" she said.

The research nodded. "Y-yeah, I think so. The pain from the injuries is gone and some walking and light stretches will help keep my body temperature up" he said. He then pointed down the path that led further down into the Glacier behind them. "This will take you down to the lower levels. Please, help the others" he said.

Phi put her hands on her hips. "We'll do what we can. You just focus on taking care of yourself" she said.

The researcher finished giving his thanks and appreciation to them before heading down the tunnel where Tsuki and the others came from. They watched him until he eventually rounded a corner and disappeared. With the researcher making his way back towards the entrance, Tsuki and the others continued down the tunnel that led further down into the giant ice box. The deeper they got, the stronger the effects from the Wellspring became apparent. If they weren't feeling them before, they definitely were now. There were at the point where they needed to be careful and be mindful of themselves. Lynette needed to be more vigilant on everyone's condition. She could already see the Mana inside of everyone start to show signs of abnormal fluctuations. They would need to pick up the pace before they get worse.

As they walked along the tunnel, it soon opened up into a different section of the Glacier. It was a wide open space that contained a singular path that ran along ice cold water. In this section, there was what appeared to be where their main research site was. There were tables, bookshelves and other things scattered around. There were numerous stacks of papers piled up on the various tables with a writing board that had research notes written on it.

Elle walked up to one of the tables and looked through the stacks of papers that were piled on top of it. They all had some fairly difficult research topics written on them and numerous types of incantation circles. There were also reports of what seemed to be their failed attempts to rouse the Spirit. "Well, I'll admit one thing. They sure are passionate in their work" she said. Half of the things that were written were too hard for her to understand.

Ruko walked up to one of the bookshelves and ran his finger across the spines of the books. He pulled out a few and quickly flipped through the pages before moving on to another book. Unfortunately, he didn't have the mind and intelligence of a researcher, so everything looked like a garbled mess. "Whatever they've jotted down, it must be pretty important. Just looking at this stuff is enough to give me a migraine" he said.

Cheria browsed through some of the files that were scattered around a different table. It would seem that they were trying to unlock the secrets of Wellsprings and used what was already public knowledge as a base. By the looks of things, they were using the information that was compiled about the Wellspring on the Isle of Nula. While it was the most dangerous one, it was the easiest to reach without having to worry about challenges with the surrounding terrain. No mountains to cross, no caves to traverse. All they had to do was make port and head straight across the flat plains now known as the Nula Deadlands. "I suppose it's no surprise that they'd use the findings of the Nula Wellspring. It looks like they were trying to compare notes" she said. She flipped through some more papers and files, pulling out a few charts and data sheets and setting them side-by-side. "Obviously, the results may vary, but there are some things that seem to match up" she said. Unfortunately, the data that they gathered from the Glacier Wellspring was essentially already public knowledge. Nothing really stood out as eye-popping.

Lynette walked over to the edge of the water and got down onto her knees to scoop some water up in her hands and looked into it. The water was crystal clear and pure. "The water is so clear. No contaminants or chemicals that you'd find elsewhere. I almost want to drink it" she said. She was curious to see how the water would taste like. With it not being polluted by Human waste, the taste had to be impeccable.

Elle looked over towards Lynette as she drank the water. "Being so far away from Human settlements and located in a harsh environment, it's no wonder that the water around here is practically untouched" she said. Despite that though, drinking the water straight from the source wasn't a good idea for many reasons. "I'd be careful drinking the water around here, however. Not only can centuries old ice still carry various forms of bacteria, but who knows what kind of effects the Wellspring has on the water's properties" she said. The water could look pure on the surface but be poisonous once consumed if it wasn't filtered properly. Considering that the surrounding environments around the Nula Wellspring became rotted and toxic, it was best they didn't take their chances. Even a small Wellspring like this one could cause some negative effects.

Allie stepped into the water and walked over until she reached a drop-off. She only got to about waist deep before she saw how deep the water ran. With how clear the water was, she could see it go down pretty far until the eventual black abyss. "I wonder what could be living way down there…" she said.

Tsuki sighed heavily and walked into the water and approached her from behind. Unlike her, the water went up just above his knees. He didn't hesitate to put his arms under hers and lift her up out of the water to carry her back onto solid ground. "Please, try to be more careful. The last thing I want to do is dive into frigid, subzero water in order to save you" he said.

Allie squirmed a bit as Tsuki picked her up. Unfortunately, she couldn't break free of his hold. "H-hey Master! You're no fun! This is not how you treat a lady!" she said. Eventually, she was set down on the ground and he looked up at him with her cheeks puffed out.

Tsuki shrugged his shoulders a bit. The fact that she called herself a lady was almost comical. She was only 11 years old who still resembled a child and even acted like one occasionally. Even Cheria didn't fully become what one would call a lady until she was 16. "You still have some growing up to do before you can become a lady" he said.

Allie puffed her cheeks out a bit more before kicking the ground as if to pout. She then turned and faced away from him. "Master's a meanie" she said.

Cheria giggled a bit and walked over to Allie, kneeling down in front of her to pat her on the head and giving her a gentle smile. "Oh, stop it. Tsuki is just looking out for you because he cares about you" she said. The more the grow closer together, the deeper their bond becomes. Sometimes, she gets the impression that Tsuki was just an overprotective father who was looking out for his carefree and mischievous daughter. Meanwhile, while being unaware of it herself, she often tends to put on a motherly persona around Allie.

Allie sighed a bit, hanging her head. "I'm sorry…" she said. She knew that she couldn't win against her. One look at Cheria's face and the warm, gentle smile she gives was enough to defeat her.

Tsuki walked up towards Elle as she rummaged through the stacks of papers. "How close do you think they are to cracking the mystery?" he asked.

Elle continued to search through the different stacks but ended up giving up in the end. She may be a High Elf who knows a thing or two more than the rest, but what the survey has documented went way over her head. "Not a clue. All I see is a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Too many long equations to work through and an excessive use of big, complicated words" she said. She ended up hearing Tsuki chuckle a bit at her remark. "What's so funny?" she asked.

Tsuki shook his head a bit. "It's nothing important. You just reminded me of Elize for little bit" he said.

Elle tilted her head with a curious look on her face. "You mean, your little sister? How so?" she asked.

Tsuki took a look at some of the papers she was rummaging through. "Before she was officially adopted, all she would speak in was Elven language. Since she had no knowledge of Human language, communicating with her was a challenge. My parents used their best connections in order to find her the right teacher" he said. He leaned forward against the table, running his hand across the various sheets of papers in front of him as he recalled his childhood. "She picked it up pretty easily, but there were some words and letters that still tripped her up a whole year later. She couldn't even pronounce my name right" he said. He chuckled a bit at the thought of her saying his name. "Instead of Tsuki, she would always call me Zuchi" he said.

Memories played through his head that brought the setting back 13 years into the past. These memories were of Tsuki when he was around 5 years old. Back then, he was an average kid looking for some excitement and fun. Life in Tomoha was peaceful and quiet, which meant not a whole lot happened. The only person he had back then that he could call a friend was Nagi, who was a year younger than him. Life with Nagi was fun as the two of them would often spend their time around the flower fields that overlooked the ocean from the high cliffs. They would do things that your average kid would do. Play tag, hide-and-seek, go out on treasure hunts and play pretend.

When his parents took in a young Elven girl under their care, Tsuki was elated at the fact that he had a little sister. Unfortunately, he couldn't communicate with her directly since she didn't speak Human tongue and he was far too young to understand Elven language. However, when she finally managed to get a grasp on the Human language, the two of them were able to bond with one another better. Tsuki would even help her with her language skills from time to time. Teaching her how to speak their language may not have been the kind of excitement he was looking for, but he still found much enjoyment in it. This made them grow close to one another.

A year had gone by since she was officially adopted into the family and she was still doing her best to better learn and understand the Human language. By this point, she was able to speak and communicate clearly, but there were some things that gave her a hard time. Nagi eventually got into helping her out as well with things that Tsuki wasn't able to. One day, the three of them were sitting in the flower fields just outside of the village with the ocean serving as a backdrop.

Elize, with her dark violet eyes, had her long pink hair tied back in a ponytail and wore a pure white one-piece dress that went down to her knees. She looked like she was a year younger than Tsuki but considering she was a High Elf, no one knew her real age. Elves can look young, but they could be tens, if not hundreds of years old. For example, most Elves that turn 18 years old in Human years could potentially not look like they are until they're somewhere around 50 years old in Elven years. Elves have a totally different biological make-up than Humans do.

Back in the flower field, Tsuki had short, light brown hair and wore simple villager clothes while Nagi, who had short dark brown hair that went down a little past her shoulders, wore a sundress. The two of them were giving Elize a test to see where she was at with her pronunciation skills. She may be able to speak clearly, but her pronunciation of certain words and syllables needed more work..

Elize reading through a series of sentences and prompts that had been written on a sheet of paper. "…And when the moon fadez into the next morning, the…zun ri…zes high up into the sh-shie…huh?" she said, tilting her head a bit. She tried to pronounce the next word in the sentence, which would have been sky but wasn't able to.

Tsuki let out a soft sigh as he shook his head. When it came to pronouncing her letters, she had a hard time trying to enunciate the letters S, K, Y and a few others. This causes her to say things like "zun" instead of "sun" and "shie" instead of "sky". Any letters that sound the same, she was unable to differentiate between them. He pointed his finger where she tried to read the words "sun" and "sky" and tried to help her out. "No no no. You're not suppose to enunciate the letter Z, but the letter S. The same thing for sky. You need to lift the back of your tongue and use the air in your vocal tract of the letter 'K'. As for the letter 'Y', it's like trying to say our 'E's" he said.

Elize looked like she was confused and tried to better enunciate her letters. "S-s-sh…un?" she said. The letter 'S' sounded too similar to the letter 'Z', so she didn't know the difference. As for the letter 'K', however, she didn't know what he meant by lifting the back of her tongue. After trying to enunciate the letter a few times, she started to grow frustrated. "Agh! It's too hard, Zuchi!" she said. When she first tried to speak Tsuki's name, not only was she unable to pronounce the S and K in his name, but she was also getting hung up on the silent T at the beginning. She would pronounce his name as "Teh-zuchi" by mistake. After she was told that she was pronouncing it wrong, she eventually settled with calling him "Zuchi".

Nagi sighed a bit with her hands on her hips and shaking her head. "Practice makes perfect! You just have to keep trying" she said.

Elize puffed her cheeks a bit as if to pout. "But practice getz boring…" she said. After spending a couple hours of trying to get her pronunciation down and failing at it most of the time, it starts to get stale.

Tsuki scratched the back of his head a bit. "El…your speech won't improve if you don't do it" she said.

Elize shook her head, folding her arms and looking away. "Don't wanna! My shpeech ish fine!" she said, still messing up her S's.

Nagi pointed her finger at her. "Clearly, it isn't! Tsuki, you're the older brother. Tell her!" she said, looking over at him.

Tsuki mumbled to himself as he scratched his head more. "I mean…so long as I can understand her, the speech deficiencies don't bother me…" he said. He didn't want to make her do something she didn't enjoy doing. The fact that they can talk to each other was good enough for him.

Elize almost jumped for joy. "You hear that!? Big brother is the bezt becauze he getz it!" she said. She was quick to cling onto his arm.

Nagi let out a heavy sigh, putting her hand up to her forehead. "See, this is why she's like this. You're too soft on her" she said.She walked up to Elize with her arms folded, giving her a scolding look. "One way or another, we'll get you to practice more" she said. She may be a little harsh on Elize, but she does it because she cares for her. She truly wanted to fix her speech impediments. If she had to play the role of a strict teacher, then that's what she was going to do. "Now, let's try it again, okay?" she asked.

Elize knew what kind of look she was giving her. It was the same one her actual teacher gives her when she becomes stubborn. When she's given that look by her, she's able to avert her gaze. However, she was unable to do the same thing with Nagi. She couldn't overcome her gaze. "Okay…" she said.

Nagi would continue to drill the lessons into Elize as she took over the teaching session. Tsuki simply sat on the sidelines and watched the two of them do their thing. Despite her unwillingness to dedicate time to practice, she doesn't fight back. Whenever she starts to show signs of slacking off or losing focus, Nagi was right there to put her right back on track. If Draxus hadn't attacked the village, then there was a good chance that Nagi could have potentially became a school teacher when she was older.

The scene soon shifted back to reality as Tsuki finished telling Elle about her sister. Hearing him talk about his sister gave her a nostalgic feeling. She put her hand up to her chest with a slight smile on her face. "If only life could have stayed so simple…" she mumbled to herself. She spoke in a low tone so that no one would hear her.

As they were reminiscing about the past, Allie had that same strange feeling from before come over her again. She didn't hear the voice speak to her this time, but she definitely felt as if her energy was being "pulled" further into the Glacier. As she stared down the pathway, she started to have a few images flash in her mind. At first, they were distorted beyond recognition, but as more flashed through her mind, they became more clear. These images were that of a far distant time.

Lynette soon stood up and took a few steps back from the water before looking over towards Allie. "Allie? Are you okay?" she asked. She was standing there as if she were in a daze. She got no response from her, so she walked up to her to see what she was doing. She was looking at something with great intent, but whatever it was she was looking at, she couldn't see. This wasn't the first time this has happened. "Guys, I think Allie's having another one of her daydream episodes" she said.

As everyone gathered around Allie and tried to call out to her, their voices became silent as other voices started to sound off in her head as the images flashed. It was hard to make out, but all of her images showed that she was floating inside of a glass pod of water. She had what appeared to be a breathing mask strapped to her face along with other wires and tubes attached to her body. She couldn't move her body and was completely naked. There was barely any life to her eyes at all. She almost looked like a child-sized doll. From inside of the pod of water, she could see a handful of people dressed in long, white lab coats. They appeared to be researchers or scientists of some kind. Some of them had clipboards and were jotting down notes on them as they kept looking up at her and back down at their clipboards. She could hear them talking from outside the pod of water, but a lot of what they were saying was muffled. There were only a few things that she could make out that they were saying.

One of them was an older gentleman in his 50 and had the look of someone in charge. He was giving out orders to people and others were coming to him for advice. "…Vital signs are still within optimal levels…subject has regained consciousness…no signs of degradation" the man said as he wrote on a sheet of paper. He walked up to the pod of water and leaned into it to give her a good look. "Looks like the experiment was finally a success" he said.

Another person, a younger woman in her 30s, walked up beside the man. She looked like she had a wicked personality with an equally cold demeanor. "To think we had to resort to using the power of Spirits" she said, clicking her tongue.

The older gentleman shook his head. "I understand how you feel, but don't you think it'd be poetic to destroy the Spirits with their own power?" he asked. He stared up at Allie for a few moments. "For that, we must use every tool at our disposal" he said.

The woman folded her arms as she followed his gaze up towards Allie. She simply gave her an ice cold stare. "And you think this thing you made will really fulfill that purpose?" she asked.

The older gentleman nodded as he handed her the clipboard he was holding. "I do. The subject has bonded with the powers of one of the Great Spirits. While they are on the weak side, it's progress towards our grand goal. Now that we have a suitable test subject at our disposal, we can proceed with the next phase of our plan" he said. He soon turned to face a whiteboard that that writing on it. There were notes of interest on the board, diagrams of some sort and even the Table of Elements. "The assimilation of the Great Spirits can finally begin" he said as he rolled his hands into fists.

The woman looked at the man for a moment before returning her eyes to Allie. "So, we use this as our weapon, huh?" she asked. She examined her from top to down. All she could see was a 11 year old girl, but considering her recreation process was a success, there must have been more to her than she could see. "If I still had a heart, I'd almost feel a little sorry for it" she said.

The older gentleman nodded as he looked up at the whiteboard. "Yes…it's all starting to come together. Soon, not even that pesky Sigil Bearer would be able to stand against us" he said. His quiet laughter soon turned evil and maniacal.

The woman reached out and tapped on the glass pod of water. "You hear that? You better serve your purpose as our tool" she said. If they were going to use the man's creation, they had a lot of improvements to make first. She stood there and waited for a response from her, but she offered none. In fact, there wasn't even a single reaction at all, not even the slightest twitch. It was like she was looking at a genuine doll. "No response, huh?" she asked.

The older gentleman looked back over towards the pod of water. "That's not surprising. She's not a Human anymore. She's a weapon to serve our needs and a weapon doesn't need things like emotion or free will. All it needs is a sharpened edge, nothing more" he said. He reached for the clipboard in the woman's hands and flipped through a few pages before pointing at something. "The suppression from the recreation process holds it all in check" he said.

The woman looked at where the man was pointing to and skimmed through the page. Soon after, she shrugged her shoulders and handed the clipboard back to him. "So long as it obeys, that's all that matters" she said.

As the two of them were scheming something, Allie's dull gaze shifted up to the top of the whiteboard. There, she read two words that appeared to be the name of whatever it was they were researching, the Artifice Project. As she saw those words, she was quickly brought back to reality with Tsuki shaking her to snap her out of her senses. The images and events that played out in her mind, along with the voices, came to a stop and in there place, she could hear the voices of her friends calling out to her.

Tsuki was kneeling down in front of her, his hands on her shoulders as he was gently shaking her. "Hey, Allie. Reality calls for you!" he said.

Allie was soon brought back to her senses, blinking several times before shaking her head. "H-huh…? What's going on?" she asked.

Cheria was standing next to her with a look of concern. "You spaced out again. We've been calling you for a few minutes now" she said.

Lynette recalls something like this had happened back in Haven Village. She was able to recall at least a few things from her past. "Did you remember anything new?" she asked.

This time around, she recalled everything that flashed through her mind. However, she didn't know what to make of it. It made her both uneasy and afraid and what it could have meant. "I was surrounded by researchers as they talked about something relating to the Great Spirits and how I've "bonded" with their powers…" she said. She obviously omitted a few details such as them referring to her as a weapon. She didn't want to cause them any concern when there was so little to understand.

Elle tilted her head, folding her arms in front of her. That was a curious choice of words she used. "How you 'bonded' with the powers of the Great Spirits…? What does that even mean?" she asked.

Phi looked down the pathway they still have yet to traverse. "Maybe it's because of that 'bond' or whatever that you've been hearing a voice and are being summoned deeper within" she said. If one of the Great Spirits truly lie at their destination and if her own energies are resonating with it, it wouldn't be too far out of the realm of possibility.

Tsuki stood up and followed Phi's gaze. He wasn't sure why, but he was starting to feel a bit anxious. "Only one way to find out, I suppose" he said.

Everyone gathered themselves up and continued along the tunnels leading deeper into the Glacier. Their exploration eventually brought them to a three-way intersection with each tunnel leading in different directions. Unsure which one to go through, they picked the leftmost tunnel and started to walk down it. They were soon met with a dead end with evidence of a cave-in happening at some point. It looked like it had occurred some time ago, so they were able to rule out any recent cave-ins. They returned back to the intersection and this time, the went down the middle tunnel.

The tunnel stretched on for a short distance and soon opened up into a small chamber. It wasn't very big, but there were signs of recent activity in there. They found old, torn scraps of cloth and various other material and trash that had been gathered in several spots around the room. They were all bunched together and almost looked to be a makeshift bed of sorts. It was obvious that they had stumbled upon a monster nest.

As they walked into the chamber, they heard a female's voice scream out. "Get back! Get away from me!" the voice shouted.

Tsuki and the others took off into a sprint as they darted around a corner in the chamber when they found one of the two missing researchers. It was the woman that the man had mentioned before that had gotten separated from. She was holding onto her left arm as she was bleeding from her shoulder. She looked like she couldn't move it, which wouldn't be a surprise. It was possible that she fell on her arm and broke it when she slipped off one of the ice pathways.

More than that, however, she had her back up against the ice wall as five Frost Claws had her surrounded. They snarled and growled at her with malicious intent, ready to rip her to shreds. Tsuki and the others were quick to respond, drawing their weapons and charged at the monsters from behind. Caught off-guard, the monsters were dispatched in short work. When the monster nest was cleared out of monsters, Lynette started to apply Healing Artes on the woman researcher. However, she was unable to mend her broken arm, so she helped her wrap it up and put it in a sling around her neck. She did all she could to help ease her pain.

When Lynette had finished tending to her, the woman could already feel a great relief in her pain. "Thank you so much for coming to the rescue. That would have been the end of me, for sure" she said, bowing to them.

Tsuki shook his head at her. "Don't worry about it. Can you tell us what happened?" he asked.

The woman nodded, looking towards the pathway leading out of the monster nest that they came from. If they came this far in, then she safely assumed that they were sent out from Imil. "After we were attacked, we all fled to the surface for safety while the Chief stayed behind. However, the icy ground gave out as I made m way across one of the pathways and I ended up slipping off the edge and falling to a lower one" she said. She glanced down at her broken arm. "I was looking for another path to take when those monsters came up to me and started to chase me down. With my arm broken from the fall and nothing to defend myself, all I could do was run" she said. She was a researcher, not a fighter. She had no combat skills whatsoever. "I eventually found my way, but the monsters were still on my tail and I wound up taking a wrong turn into here…" she said. She knew the layout of the Glacier but made a split-second, panicked decision that almost cost her life.

Given the circumstances, it was nothing short of a miracle that they showed up in time. Elle let out a sigh as she shook her head. "You need to be more careful next time" she said. With her injury and not having any means to defend herself, she was a bit concerned for her safety going forward. "We should bring you back to the surface. You're easy prey in this state" she said.

The woman shook her head. They were already this far deep into the Glacier with the end not too far from here. It'd be pointless for them to turn back now. "Don't worry about me. I'll just seek shelter at our research site. We have a special barrier up around it that prevents monsters from getting into it. I'll just wait there for you guys to come back with the Chief" she said.

Lynette had wondered why the research site was left untouched. Being located deep in monster territory, it made her curious. "I wondered why there were no signs of monsters anywhere near it. I suppose if you're going to do heavy research in hostile territory, securing your surroundings is important" she said.

Phi looked over towards Lynette, shrugging her shoulders. "It sounds like they use a similar method of repelling monsters that is found in most Camping Sets you can buy from the shops" she said. It's a handy trick, but those are usually one-time things.

The woman glanced over at Phi. "You're on the right track. Repellant that you find in Camping Sets are a one-and-done deal. They are temporary and don't last. We that idea and modified it for a general use barrier for us to use whenever" she said. They've been able to save on a lot of time and effort because of these barriers. "Commander Flynn pitched the idea to one of his colleagues and got to working on it right away" she said.

Suddenly, they could hear distant monster growls coming from somewhere. By the sounds of them, there must be another pathway somewhere that the monsters use. Elle soon started to head back to the tunnel they came from. "We should head back before more monsters show up. The least we can do is take you back to the intersection" she said. It wasn't a wise idea to casually hang around a monster nest and shoot the breeze. Everyone was in agreement and soon followed behind Elle back through the tunnel.

Along the way, the woman researcher was telling them about what they have been up to around the Wellspring. What their objective was, some of their failed attempts at waking the Great Spirit up and what they were trying to do when the samurai disrupted everything. For Tsuki and everyone else, they had already heard this from Luna. What interested Tsuki and them most was that the samurai was very keen on not allowing anything happen to the Wellspring. The fact that he got so worked up over it points to their running theories.

Tsuki stroked his chin as he thought about the samurai's behavior as they walked. "Maybe the Great Spirits are the key, after all. Why else would Caius send one of his underlings to such a place?" he asked. It was still a coincidence that this was all happening right as they were planning on visiting the Wellspring themselves.

Allie shook her head a bit. Considering that they were going to need to fight power with power, it would make sense for him to cut off any loose ends. "Maybe it's because he knew we were seeking aid from the Great Spirits?" she asked.

Lynette thought that might be the case. However, there was a big question that needed to be addressed. "If that's the case, then how did he know of our plans? We haven't had a run-in with anyone associated with Caius since our encounter with Draven" she said.

Phi couldn't help but have flashbacks play through her head of when Mike and Stahler betrayed them. "You think someone is a spy?" she asked.

Tsuki shook his head. They may have been betrayed once, but there have only been two people that knew of their whereabouts and what their plans were. Those people were Raiku and Ryoka. "No. The only people that would possibly fit that bill are Raiku and Ryoka. However, considering that Raiku is an old companion of Taichi and Emma and Ryoka doesn't have a good opinion on Honegroth, I doubt they would sell us out" he said.

Lynette pondered to herself for a few moments. It was then that she came to remember something. "You know, now that I think about it, I do recall having a feeling like we're being watched ever since the whole slave auction thing went down. I thought it was just my imagination getting to me but if that's what's going on here…" she said. She didn't like that someone may be out there keeping tabs on them. If that were the case, then they may find themselves in trouble down the road.

Elle hasn't picked up on anything of the sort. She keeps a good grasp of their surroundings, but not once has she felt like there were eyes on them. "Whoever they are, they have to be quite skilled to evade my senses. I'll have to ask Melphi when we regroup to see if she's felt anything off" she said.

Allie tilted her head a bit, holding her arms behind her as she stepped forward, turning around and walking backwards as she faced the group, looking towards the woman researcher. "Did you guys find any cool treasures hidden in the ice?" she asked.

The woman chuckled a bit at her question. Whether she phrased it that way to make a pun or if it was unintentional, she got a good laugh out of it which helped lift the mood. "We did, as a matter of fact. We found this strange crystal-like objects with bizarre properties to it in another section of the Glacier" she said.

Tsuki gave her a look of curiosity. "Bizarre properties? Like what?" he asked.

The woman stroked her chin a bit. They had only found the object only recently and haven't had a whole lot of time to study it thoroughly. "Based off an initial investigation, we discovered that the object contained incredibly high levels of pure, untainted Aer. We've never seen such a thing before and it fascinated the Chief" she said. She remembered the look on his face when he did his initial findings. He had only gotten more obsessed with it the more he investigated it. "I don't know what's more difficult. Trying to pry the Chief away from the Wellspring or getting him to take his eyes off that crystal" she said.

Tsuki's thoughts were caught on the crystal-like object she mentioned. It sounded very similar to an object that they were already familiar with. "Hey, is it just me, or does that sound awfully close to the Raven's Claw?" he asked.

Elle almost forgot about the Falcon's Claw. Cesela still had it on her and was taking care of it until they return it back to Raiku. "It does. Which means, the Falcon's Claw isn't the only one of it's kind if the properties are the same" she said. If the samurai were to learn of it, then that might drastically change the situation they were in. With an object that houses as much pure, untainted Aer as the Falcon's Claw, who knows what kind of havoc Caius would invoke. "Your Chief might be putting himself in more danger than he realizes. What he holds might become a target of interest for our interloper" she said.

The woman didn't know what they were talking about, but it seemed like they knew something about what they found. "Oh no. We have to hurry then! Chief had it on him before that guy showed up!" she said.

Cheria knew that the gravity of the situation could change instantly. After Kaito's attempt to steal the Falcon's Claw in his drive to obtain more power fresh in their minds, if someone like Caius were to get their hands on it, the results would be devastating. "We better pick up the pace then and hope that he hasn't learned of it yet" she said.

With that said, the group took off into a sprint through the remainder of the tunnel. When they returned to the intersection, they parted ways with the woman researcher who went back towards the research site while Tsuki and the others went down the only tunnel they haven't gone through yet. The remaining exploration through the Glacier was pretty much straightforward. There were a few winding turns, but all of them pointed to dead ends or wound up making a big loop. At this point, they've been inside the Glacier for almost an hour. Being as deep into the Glacier as they were, they were really starting to feel the effects of the Wellspring. Lynette noticed that everyone's Mana was fluctuating more and more. They weren't in significant danger yet, but their grace period was starting to run short. Another 30 minutes and they would be forced to leave the Glacier entirely.

Thankfully, their exploration through the tunnels soon took them to a massive chamber. The amount of Aer swirling around the chamber was staggering considering that the Spirit that is supposed to dwell in the Wellspring was supposedly on the weaker side. The fact that they can see visible Uncondensed Aer around the whole chamber was enough evidence to show just how powerful the Great Spirits were, even if one was weaker than the rest. This was different compared to how someone channels their Mana into a certain point of their body. The Aer around the chamber almost felt like it had life of it's own somehow.

On the far side of the chamber, they were able to lay their eyes on the Wellspring that they were looking for. It was a massive pillar of ice that shot out from the ground, surrounded by jagged cones of icicles and a visible pool of Aer on the ground that seemed to swirl around the base and up the length of the ice pillar. In the center of the ice pillar, you could see the dark silhouette of something embedded inside of it, but the ice was so thick that you couldn't make it out very well. On close inspection, it looked like a small, human shape curled up into a ball. That wasn't the only thing that they saw, however. Standing in front of the crystal, just in front of the pool of Aer, was a man with spikey black hair and grey eyes. He wore attire fit for samurai and wielded a long katana in his hand. In front of that man was another person in a researcher's coat, kneeling down on the ground on one knee who looked like he was about to collapse from exhaustion. He was bleeding a bit from a few minor cuts and injuries, but nothing too severe. The man had a pair of iron gauntlets similarly to what Ruko uses.

The samurai stared down at the researcher, shaking his head with a calm and composed attitude. "You're very skilled, I'll admit. There aren't too many that could keep up with me for so long" he said. The samurai found himself a bit injured himself, but he didn't look fazed by it at all.

The researcher was breathing heavily as a mix of sweat and blood dripped down onto the icy floor. His gauntlets were in rough shape with some of the plating being completely sliced off that protected his arms. "You're…not too bad…yourself. I heard you samurai folk were skilled…but the stories don't seem to compare to…the genuine article" he said. Despite being a researcher, the man was quite skilled in close quarters combat. Even if he was up against someone who used a weapon that puts him at a disadvantage, he knew ways to get around that. While he might excel at mid-range combat with his katana, his defenses are wipe open beyond that range.

The samurai looked like he didn't want to fight him anymore. As formidable as he was, the man before him was too injured and tired to fight. "If you understand that, then I ask you to stand down. You can't keep fighting in your condition" he said.

The researcher chuckled a bit, spitting out a bit of blood as he slowly stood back up, slightly hunched over. "Still spouting that samurai moral code nonsense, huh? How it's dishonorable and it brings shame to oppress the weak?" he asked. He knew a bit about the code the samurai used to follow. It was an honorable way of life back then. However, the samurai culture has changed with the times.

The samurai was silent for a few moments before answering him. "I still hold onto the old beliefs. The samurai are meant to protect the weak and fight against the oppressors" he said.

The researcher couldn't help but scoff at his remark. "Ha! That's rich, coming from someone who serves one of the world's greatest oppressors! Do you not hear the hypocrisy in your words, boy!?" he shouted. He clenched his fists and grinded his teeth together. "You serve a madman who has uprooted his own kingdom for the sake of power and dominance! Based off unofficial reports from some of my colleagues, I wouldn't doubt that he was also responsible for the Sirione takeover all those years ago" he said. It aggravated him to hear the samurai talk about the old code and belief system while actively turning a blind eye to them and claiming that he was upholding them.

The samurai shook his head as he glanced down at his katana. "That 'madman' saved my life when I lost my home. He gave me a new purpose and a new life. I owe that man my life and swore my blade to him. Anyone that opposes him will meet the full brunt of my katana" he said. He glanced up towards the researcher, pointing his blade towards him. He was starting to get a little angry and annoyed at the man.

The researcher couldn't believe what he was hearing. The man was all over the place, going in a thousand different directions. "Do you even hear yourself!? You say you fight for the weak and against those that oppress them yet you seem to turn a blind eye to the fact that you serve one of those people just to fulfill a life debt? Those two ideals are polar opposites to each other! You can't have both, only one! You're a walking contradiction!" he shouted. He wasn't sure if the samurai had his brain too warped and distorted by his master's ideals or if he was too blinded to see what was in front of him. The man was starting to prove himself to be a major disappointment. "But maybe that's just how far a once proud people have fallen. I guess I shouldn't expect much from a disgraced samurai and a man with a twisted vision for the future" he said.

The samurai was starting to grow impatient with the man's comments as he assumed an offensive stance. "I may not fully understand the vision His Majesty carries, but as his blade, I will not allow anyone to interfere or undermine his name" he said. His calm and composed look soon changed into anger as he glared at the researcher. "I grow tired of this conversation. This time, I won't be holding back" he said.

The samurai soon darted towards the researcher with incredible speed. Being as injured and worn out as he was, the researcher couldn't keep up with his fast movements. He was an easy target for the samurai and this time, it appeared that he was going in for the kill. As the samurai rushed in front of him, he swung his katana downwards over his head to deliver a quick and fatal slash to his torso. However, before his attack could connect, the sound of clashing blades rang through the chamber, accompanied by sparks of electricity. The samurai's attack was stopped in it's tracks and standing between him and the researcher was Phi who had used one of her wakizashi to block the attack.

The samurai was caught completely by surprise. He didn't sense her presence or hear any sort of movement prior to the clash. "What the-!? A Shinobi!?" he said. One look at her was all he needed to know that she wasn't just an average Shinobi. He had his fair share of dealings with Shinobi in the past, so he was familiar with their infamous Shadow Step which helps conceal their presence to enable surprise attacks and blindsides. Her Shadow Step, however, felt and looked completely different. Shadow Step simply conceals one's presence, nothing more. It doesn't offer any boost in power, speed or anything else. Not only did he not feel her presence at all, but they were clear across a very large and open chamber. Even with Shadow Step, he would have seen her coming from where they stood. She literally came out of nowhere with lightning speed.

Phi looked at the samurai, giving him a few glances as she sized him up. "Well, I suppose this is the first time that I've crossed blades with a real samurai. However, I can't help but feel a little disappointed" she said. Not only did she find what he just said appalling, but it also tarnishes the samurai name. She may not be one, but Georg has taught her all of their ideals. The moral codes they follow. All she can see in the man's eyes was a broken soul.

The samurai shook his head in order to regain his composure. He chalked it up to just a lucky opportunity and that he was consumed by his own anger which prevented him from picking up her presence. "Shinobi have no business being out this far, which could only mean one thing…" he said.

The samurai glanced over towards the single tunnel that leads into the chamber as several energized arrows came flying towards him. He used his katana to slice through them before jumping back away from Phi and the researcher as the last one crashed into the ground where his feet had stood. As he landed back on the ice, the ground beneath him lit up when chains of light shot out from it. They attempted to wrap around him, but the samurai used his speed to quickly slice through the chains before they could. The blade of his katana started to emit a green glow as he charged his Mana into it. He was about to retaliate by swinging his katana in the direction the arrows came from, but as he swung, Tsuki suddenly appeared in front of him in a burst of speed, clashing blades with him and causing a small shockwave that shot through the chamber.

Cheria and the others joined up with Phi as Lynette started to apply Healing Artes to the researcher. Since his injuries were only minor, they didn't take much effort to heal. Elle and Cheria huddled around the researcher with their weapons drawn and the clash between the samurai and Tsuki came to an end when Allie launched an energized sword made out of Light at the samurai. He quickly dodged it as he jumped further back, but not without getting cut on the side of his face from her attack. When he was pushed back, she joined up with Tsuki and stood at his side, holding an energized form of the Caliburn in her hand.

The samurai's previous thought was correct. He was ordered to prevent any tampering with the Wellspring and, more specifically, he was ordered to put a stop to Tsuki's plans to awaken the Spirit within ice. "So, you finally showed up, huh? I've been waiting for you" he said.

Tsuki glared at the man. "So, you were sent by Caius, after all" he said. There was something about the samurai that looked a little familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

The samurai nodded a bit, resting his arms at his side as he examined each of them. "That's correct. I've been sent to stop your pointless endeavors to awaken this Spirit" he said. It was obvious to him that they, aside from Phi, Cheria and Elle who were new faces, have gotten stronger since their very brief first encounter. "You're all looking to be much stronger than when we last met. Especially you two…" he said, locking his eyes on Tsuki and Allie.

Lynette took a closer look at the samurai and came to a shocking realization. They've seen this person before though they never really talked. "Wait, you were part of that fake nomadic group that showed up during the Festival of Blossoms! The individual with a refined and elegant look!" she shouted. Flashbacks of their encounter with this "nomadic group" flashed in her head when they first met the three people that were in charge of it. They were the ones that first initiated the attack on Eresseas.

Cheria wasn't expecting to run into someone who was directly responsible for that attack. "What!?" she shouted. She was at the orphanage at the time when the nomadic group that called themselves Green Whistle arrived in Eresseas. The only person she encountered was Delvin, the man that lead the group, when she, Tsuki and Nagi reunited with everyone at the central plaza.

When she mentioned the nomadic group, Tsuki remembered the three people that led the group. "Now, I remember. There was another man and woman that was with that Delvin character" he said. They never encountered the two of them again after their initial meeting in the plaza, but according to what Melphi had said a while back, Delvin was killed by Shana and the woman was incinerated to ashes by herself. No one knew what became of the other man.

The samurai watched them as they talked. "I should be honored that you remembered me. My name is Utaru Yomi and I have pledged my blade to His Majesty, King Caius" he said. He pointed his katana towards Tsuki. "So long as I stand here, you will go no further" he said.

Tsuki shook his head. He didn't want to fight him, if he could avoid it. After all, he wanted to try to get him to flip over to his side. "You don't have to do this, you know. Don't you see you're fighting on the wrong side? Caius isn't the man you think he is" he said. Thinking about it, he didn't know much about him either. He didn't learn much about him from the two encounters he had with him and everything else he knew about him came from the someone else's mouth.

Utaru let out a deep sigh as he hung his head low. "This again? I told your researcher over there this already. You don't know a thing about His Majesty. When I had everything taken from me by Draxus, His Majesty was there to lift me up. Gave me a new purpose in life. Helped me become stronger. Guided me with his wisdom" he said. He gripped the hilt of his katana tightly and swung it to the side. "I owe him more than what I could possibly give and so, I'll stand by his side for as long as I am able" he said. He knew that Caius has changed over the years. He wasn't the same person that saved him all those years ago and he wants to help bring him back. Until he can do that, he vows to never leave his side. Even if that meant becoming a hypocrite to his own ideals.

Tsuki was surprised to hear that he had circumstances that were very familiar. They were practically identical to his own. Perhaps he can use that to sway him. "Look, we're the same, you and I. I lost everything I had to Draxus too. My home, my family, my childhood, everything. By some miracle, I wound up surviving through it and for years, I kept asking myself why. Why did I survive? Why couldn't I have been killed like everyone else? These questions haunted me with each passing day. I had nothing to live for but to simply survive" he said. His childhood was pretty bleak. He could of just did himself in, but something didn't allow him to go through with the deed.

Cheria put her hand up to her heard as she felt an aching pain in her heart that she hasn't felt in a long time. She had flashbacks roll through her head that originated from some time not too long after Tsuki had been brought under her family's care. At the time, Tsuki still kept a high wall around his heart despite having a close bond with Cheria. However, after a relentless barrage of emotions and kind acts that came from Cheria's parents and some of the maids and butlers around the castle, those walls were torn down and emotions that he had once locked away under tight lock and key came spilling out. She had only known him for a little over eight months at the time, but it was the first time she saw Tsuki have a full-on emotional breakdown. His cries seemed to go on forever which caused her own heart to ache badly. All she and everyone else could do was hold and comfort him as he released all of his bottled up emotions. Over the following years, there were a few times where Tsuki had his moment of weakness, but they were minor in comparison. It's been about three years since Tsuki had last shed a tear.

Hearing Tsuki talk about how he had once felt was an uncomfortable topic for Cheria. She didn't like it, even if he was talking in past tense. "Tsu…" she mumbled. She knew that he didn't have those feelings and thoughts anymore, but the fact that he even had them at all in the first place was a painful thing to think about.

Tsuki put his hand up to his chest. He was probably the only person that could understand his pain and where is ideals come from. "I know what it's like. To feel indebted to the one that saved you. I was there too. I was stuck in a never-ending spiral of pain and suffering just as you were. And, like you, I was saved too and I owe her much more than I could probably provide" he said. He glanced over towards Cheria for a few moments and shared a look with her. He was being serious when he said that she had saved him. He had tried to push her away back when they first met, but she kept coming back. If she had stopped, who knows where he would be now. He soon locked his eyes back onto Utaru. "Despite that though, I still possess free will and thought. I may be indebted to her, but I know when to stand up and speak out" he said. He recalled on several occasions that he had gotten into small, minor arguments with not only Cheria, but her parents as well over the years since they took him in. Whether those arguments were about something that didn't feel right or were pointless debates, they did occur a few times. He's even corrected a few mistakes that the royal family made themselves from time to time. "I understand the feeling of wanting to do right by Caius, the man that saved you. However, all you're doing right now is enabling this harmful behavior and even playing a part in it!" he said.

Utaru shook his head as he began to lecture him. Even though the two of them shared a similar past, they both wound up in completely different places. It almost makes him a bit jealous, but he was determined to deal what life has dealt him, consequences be damned. "Say what you want. It won't change my mind" he said. The blade of his katana started to emit a green glow again as he held it back. "I will do what I must in order to carve a path for His Majesty" he said.

Utaru soon swung his katana sideways from right to left, releasing a green wave of energy towards them. Tsuki and Allie attempted to block the attack, but it came at them with such speed and power that the force of the attack knocked them back off their feet. The wave of energy continued it's way towards the others as Lynette retaliated by doing a brief incantation. Her staff started to emit white, warm glow before she swung it, releasing her own wave of energy. The two opposing energies soon collided into each other and exploded, causing the chamber to shake.

The vibrations in the chamber caused frozen stalagmites on the ceiling to fall around the whole space. Phi was quick to react as she used some of the frozen rocks to jump up into the air in order to slice through all of the falling stalagmites. In the process, Cheria noticed one falling right above her and the researcher, so she grabbed onto him and quickly pulled them both away just as the giant frozen stalagmite crashed into the ground where they stood. The added vibrations caused them both to slip and fall forward.

When the researcher fell, something fell out of his coat pocket and slid across the icy floor. Elle was using her sword, which was coated in a blade of ice, to slice through the debris falling around her. That's when she felt something hit up against her foot. She looked down and saw a crystal-like object in the shape of a teardrop. It looked nothing like their surroundings did. She picked up and stared into it as her face was reflected back at her. The object almost had diamond-like qualities to it and It was beyond ice cold to the touch. However, it didn't seem to both her at all. She could definitely feel the energy coming from within it.

Elle was almost mesmerized by the object in her hand. It was hard for her to take her eyes off it for some reason. She didn't know how to explain it, but she felt like she had found something that seemed to belong to her though she's never seen the object in her life. "What is this thing…?" she asked. As she looked at it, the teardrop crystal started to shine light blue in her hands. At the same time, she could feel her Mana resonating with the Aer inside of the crystal in perfect harmony.

Utaru took notice of what was happening and immediately shifted his attention to Elle, who was distracted by the object in her hand. "I don't think so…!" he said. He sheathed his katana and hunched forward a bit, holding his hand slightly over the hilt of his katana.

Phi noticed what Utaru was about to do and quickly ran over towards Elle, putting herself between him and her. She did the same thing as he did, sheathing her twin wakizashi with herself hunched over and her hands over the hilts of her twin swords. In an instant, both Utaru and Phi shot forward in an incredible burst of speed that they lost sight of them for a few seconds. Moments later, a loud metallic clash echoed through the chamber. Both Utaru and Phi were clashing blades together. Utaru had drawn his katana in an upwards slash while Phi had her wakizashi drawn out in the shape of a cross, both held backhanded as his blade was wedged between the two of hers.

The clash caught Utaru completely by surprise. Out of all the people he's fought, not a single one was able to counter this technique. "What!? My Battōjutsu was parried!?" he shouted out in surprise. He thought back to just before their clash. She took a similar stance as he did just before they charged at each other. He then recalled her movements up to when their blades clashed and the resemblance was striking. There were small, obscure differences, but they matched his almost to a tee. "Impossible…! A double backhanded Battōjutsu!? No…such a variation shouldn't even exist!" he said.

Phi looked up at Utaru with an amused look on her face. It looked like she was enjoying his reaction to her attack. "The Battōjutsu is a powerful attack and one that is favored amongst the samurai quite highly. The art of drawing one's sword with speed and precision. It's an attack that is designed to strike down the opponent in one strike" she said. She remembered back when she was taught by Georg that he would use the Battōjutsu against her often. It was a signature move of the samurai. The faster attacker is, the more deadly the attack becomes. "As powerful as the Battōjutsu is, however, there's one fatal flaw to it. The attacker is left wide open for several seconds after using it. If one were to evade it, that would present an opportunity to counter them. Thus, the samurai created the Double Battōjutsu. In the event that the initial attack is blocked or evaded, the attacker would then use their sheath to strike at their opponent when they least expect it" she said. She recalled Utaru's movements just before he drew his sword. He did something not many samurai are capable of doing, which was impressive. "Your variation, however, is different. Battōjutsu are typically single horizontal slashes as the samurai unsheathes their blade and swings to the side. What you did was tilt your sword down just before your drew and angled your hand so you were able to draw and swing upwards in a vertical motion. It's a variation that requires pin-point precision and timing down to the millisecond in order to catch your opponent unaware of the slight change in movement. Because it requires to be done in a single smooth motion, not many samurai were able to master this variation of Battōjutsu" she said. This was one attack that Georg had drilled her extensively with in the event she ever encountered someone who could use it. "It's unfortunate for you that my master taught me how to predict it and how to counter it with my personal variation of the Battōjutsu, the Raijutsu" she said.

Utaru couldn't come to grips with what he has seen and what she was saying. She had sufficient knowledge about one of the samurai's signature attacks and knew the proper movements and technique needed to execute the Battōjutsu. By looking at her eyes, he could see the soul of a samurai, but her skillset and body language were undoubtedly a Shinobi. He had no choice but to come to a certain realization. "No…A Shinobi with traits and talents of a samurai? What has your master done…?" he asked. What he was seeing was the embodiment of what both Shinobi and samurai have sought to prevent. "It's been a taboo in Shinobi and samurai culture to never blend the two together" he said.

Phi shook her head. While she was informed about the samurai way of life, she was ignorant when it came to the intricacies and laws that they had to abide by. "It's a shame that I was never part of any village or tribe" she said. She started to exert more pressure against their clashed blades. "The Raijutsu isn't just meant to counter the Battōjutsu either. It's also designed to repel it" she said.

Suddenly, Phi pulled her left arm away, and exerted more force into her right arm. It didn't take long for her to break the clash which caused forced Utaru's right arm off to his right side and breaking his defenses. As Utaru stumbled back a bit, Phi swung her left arm back forward with an upwards slash of her wakizashi, slashing him up his torso and tearing through his armor and chainmail underneath. Blood splattered out as Utaru screamed out in pain and stumbled back a bit. If it weren't for the armor and chainmail protecting him, the injury would have been much worse. Before Utaru could regain his balance, Phi followed up her counter by charging Mana into her twin blades, causing them to generate sparks of electricity. She twirled her twin blades above her head before plunging them into the ice and channeled the electricity towards Utaru, who ended up being hit with volts of electricity.

Utaru was feeling the pain of her attacks, but still stood his ground. He took a moment to collect himself before his blade started to emit the same green glow from before. The only difference though was that he wasn't going to fire a blast of energy at her. Instead, he swung his katana in front of him and looked like he had cut a literal hole in the fabric of reality. Phi had no idea what he was doing and unbeknownst to her, she was struck out of nowhere across her back. She let out a pained cry as a blast of energy seemed to come out of nowhere. Utaru did this several more times and Phi continued to take hits from random directions with no way to predict them.

Tsuki was on one knee, helping Allie up as he watched the two of them fight. He was impressed by Phi, but his attention was locked on Utaru and whatever it was he was doing. Phi isn't able to see them, but when Utaru swings his katana, a rift opens up somewhere close by. The blasts of energy that Phi was being hit by were coming from those rifts that suddenly appear. "What…is he doing…?" he asked.

Just then, a woman's voice he hasn't heard in a while spoke through his mind. It was the voice of Fumiko, one of the souls within the Sigil. "A technique called Void Slash. It's a terrifying attack that can happen at practically any angle" she said.

Tsuki tilted his head a bit when Fumiko suddenly spoke out of nowhere. He hasn't heard from her, or any of the souls, since Nobuo Shrine, so he was surprised. "Void Slash?" he asked.

Fumiko let out a soft groan as if she were nodding to him. "It's another technique given by the effects of Arcanum, similar to Shadow Traversal. By cutting open a rift, the user is able to channel their energy through one end and out another in order to catch their opponent unawares" she said. She was surprised that someone has been able to tap that far into the Arcanum's influence while still keeping their sanity. He was treading some dangerous waters if he's gone that deep into Arcanum."It's a deadly attack that takes the field of surprise, but it requires a lot of energy and a high level of control in order to properly execute it. Not many people who are unfortunate enough to see it don't live to tell the tale" she said.

As Tsuki communicated with Fumiko, Phi was still struggling against Utaru and taking some pretty serious injuries in the process. He was almost toying with her at that point as she tried to predict where the attacks were coming from. After taking a few too many hits, she was starting to learn his attack pattern and was able to start evading his attacks. At the same time, she was generating powerful sparks of electricity around her body as she gathered up her Mana. After evading another one of his strikes, Phi leapt up into the air and curled herself up as she was surrounded by a ball of electricity. More of Utaru's strikes came at her, but were negated by the electric field around her. After a few moments, he switched to a defensive stance as he sensed a powerful surge of power being built up. The air around them became highly charged with static electricity that it practically made hair stand up on end.

With a loud shout, Phi quickly uncurled herself and released a highly concentrated blast of electricity all around her. Tsuki and the others were quick to react and leapt out of the attack's range while Utaru attempted to stand his ground.

Utaru felt the pain from being shocked by her attack, but continued to stand, unrelenting. He was impressed that she was able to gather all of that Mana while being hit from all sides by his attacks through the rifts. "I should with someone of your caliber, I shouldn't be surprised. To be able to initiate a counter while intentionally taking direct hits…" he said. While his defenses held up, he found himself paralyzed by static electricity when he tried to move. "Paralysis, huh? Well, that's an issue…" he said.

At the same time, Utaru noticed several spears of ice form around Phi. Elle had used the chance while he was rendered immobile to retaliate herself. She launched the ice spears towards Utaru, but because of his paralysis, he couldn't dodge them very well. Out of the six that she launched, he was only to able to just barely dodge two of them and used his katana to slice through two shards of ice. The remaining two ended up crashing into him. One grazed the side of his left upper left thigh, leaving a deep gash while the other ended up hitting his lower right arm as he tried to slice through it which caused him to lose grip of his katana and was sent flying from his hand. It clattered and slid across the icy floor.

Now rendered defenseless, Cheria formed several energized arrows on her bow before pulling the bowstring back and firing them at him. He only managed to dodge one of them and ended up taking direct hits from the rest. Utaru eventually broke his paralysis, but not before chains of light summoned by Lynette shot out from incantation circles to wrap around him. He struggled to break free from the chains as Tsuki came charging in towards him, slamming his shoulder against him with force and then swinging his sword upwards, slashing through his armor and leaving another gash across his chest. This caused the chains to break, but also sent him skidding back on his heels which forced him to stick his katana into the ice in order to stop himself. Despite the injuries and relentless barrage of attacks he had taken direct hits from, he was still standing on his feet, but barely.

Utaru gathered a high concentration of Mana into the blade of his katana and swung it forward, the blade slicing through the icy floor before pulling out of it in an upwards slash and released an arc-shaped blast of energy at Tsuki. Allie put herself between him and the blast just before the arc-shaped blast of energy collided into them and exploded, filling the area around them with flying shards of ice and smoke. The smoke persisted for a few moments before a bright flash of light appeared within it and a ring of light shot out from within, dispersing the smoke immediately. Allie had transformed into her angel-like form with the halo over her head, white rings around her eyes and her wings on her back with the strange-looking sword on her hand. They were both unharmed from the Utaru's attack.

Utaru was caught off-guard by her sudden transformation, but didn't let that slow him down. He immediately swung his katana again, slicing the air and causing rifts to form once more. He attempted to use his Void Slash technique against her like he did with Phi, but unfortunately for him, he would have different results. Unlike Phi, Allie seemed to sense exactly where the blasts of energy were going to originate from and used her sword to slice through them. Then, just as another rift was starting to form, Allie lunged towards the spot immediately and put her hand out towards it as it opened up to fire a blast of light through it. She used his own rift against him as her attack blew through his and came out through the other end which ended up swallowing Utaru and sent him crashing against the icy wall behind him.

Brought down to his knees, Utaru bled heavily from all of the injuries he's sustained. Not only that, prolonged exposure to the Wellspring was starting to take a serious effect on his body. He felt that his body had grown much heavier and became unable to move. Allie came flying in with her sword over her shoulder and swung it to deliver the final blow. However, just before her blade could make contact with him, a wall of shadow suddenly formed in front of her, causing her to hit the wall instead. Immediately upon making contact with the wall of shadow, the clash resulted in an explosion which sent Allie back screaming out in pain as she slid across the icy floor towards Tsuki.

Tsuki ran up to Allie who had taken the full brunt of the explosion while the wall of shadow that suddenly appeared remained unaffected. It looked like whatever just happened redirected the force behind her attack right back at her. "Allie! Are you okay!?" he asked.,

Allie took a pretty hard hit. It may not be evident to Tsuki and the others, but what had just occurred was that when her own Light-based attack collided into the wall of shadow and had it redirected at her, it wasn't the same Light-based attack. What really happened was that the force of her attack was absorbed by the wall that had appeared and then fired it back at her in the form of a Darkness-based explosion. With the element of Light being super weak to Darkness and vice versa, the resulting injuries were fairly bad. When it came to Light and Darkness opposing one another, it's all dependent on how strong each attack is. It's almost like playing a game of chance where you don't really know which attack will go through until it happens.

Allie let out a series of pained coughs and groans as she struggled to sit up. "M-master…I'm okay…" she said. It was just one attack that she got hit by and she felt it's effects all through her body. It was like being catapulted through several layers of stone walls.

Tsuki put his arm behind her and helped her sit up before looking over towards the wall of shadow. Whatever that wall was, he could feel the overwhelming Darkness coming from it. Compared to what Utaru has shown off so far, it was far beyond what he should be capable of. In fact, he couldn't help but feel some old vibes that he hasn't gotten since his encounters with Caius. "What just happened?" he asked.

In that moment, another familiar voice spoke through Tsuki's mind. It was the voice that belonged to the soul of Alexander. "No…this feeling. It can't be…!" he shouted.

Immediately following Alexander's voice, the voice of Cliff also spoke out. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see that they're still around too …" he said.

After Cliff's voice spoke, it was only natural at this point for Fumiko's voice to also chime in again. "They're just as persistent and annoying as their Master is" she said.

Tsuki had noted a sense of alarm in the way the three of them spoke. It was obvious that whatever was going on, it wasn't the first time the three souls have encountered it and that sent a bad chill down Tsuki's spine. "Uhh…what are you talking about…?" he asked.

Everyone's eyes were locked on the wall of shadow as it started to disappear. Standing behind it was an individual in a long, black cloak that covered everything. Their face was darkened by the hood over the person's head. He was standing in front of Utaru, who was still down on his knees, with his left arm extended out. The atmosphere in the whole chamber suddenly became very tense. One look at this person was enough to almost freeze everyone in place. They all felt a great evil coming from the cloaked individual.

Cheria tried to fire off a few arrows at the person but it was like she was frozen in place. She couldn't move a muscle. She wasn't under some sort of Arte or anything. Her body just wouldn't respond as a nervous sweat suddenly broke out. "Who…or what…is that? The aura they give off feels suffocating and soul-crushing…" she said.

The individual looked around the chamber at each of them. They were still looking pretty weak, but it was obvious that they harnessed great potential to become stronger. They soon locked eyes onto Tsuki and Allie where they soon started to let out a menacing chuckle. The individual started to radiate an intense aura as a massive surge of energy started to circulate around them. Soon after, a ball of shadow formed in front of the palm of their left hand that was still extended outwards and after a few moments, they fired a blast of pure Darkness towards Tsuki.

Everyone was too stunned to move and could do nothing to stop or evade the attack. As the attack drew closer to Tsuki, he felt a great power suddenly surge inside of him and take over. However, this time was completely different than before. He didn't feel the power of just one of the souls, but all three of them at the same time. The color in his eyes shifted from dark blue to a mixture of blue, red, yellow and violet as a massive build-up of power suddenly emerged. The Caliburn in his had also had a notable change to it as well with the blade surrounded by several different colored aura and incantation circles. Almost driven by instinct, Tsuki swung the Caliburn at the oncoming attack and clashed with it, releasing intense sparks of pure energy all throughout the chamber and causing the ground to considerably shake. Cracks in the wall and floor soon started to appear the longer the clash continued. Then, in a loud yell that had the collective voices of Tsuki and the three souls, the Caliburn managed to slice through the blast of Darkness and causing to explode, filling the room with a heavy smoke cloud.

The smoke cloud lingered for a few minutes until it finally started to disperse. When it did, the cloaked figure was still standing on the other side of the chamber with a pleased look on their face. Meanwhile, Tsuki stood hunched over, breathing heavily. The aura coming off him now was overwhelmingly powerful. It was far stronger than they've ever felt before. His eyes were still multi-colored as he kept his piercing gaze locked on the cloaked individual.

Allie could feel the overwhelming strength coming from Tsuki because of their connection. She undoubtedly felt several different powers and emotions taking place at the same time. She didn't just feel Tsuki, but the presence of Cliff, Fumiko and Alexander all at once. It was as if all of them had fused together into one being. This wasn't the first time she felt this before either. "Is this…what happened with Caius…?" she asked. She had flashbacks play through her head of their encounter with Caius in Basilwell. It was directly after he had inflicted the grievous wound down Tsuki's chest. He had suddenly exploded with power and lost control of himself for a brief moment. For a short time, he was able to fight at the same level as Caius was. This was that same exact feeling as back then, only much more stronger and stable. Not only that, it didn't look like Tsuki had lost control of himself either. "These feelings…they're so familiar…and warm…" she said. When she was sensing the presence of Cliff, Fumiko and Alexander, she couldn't help but feel a great deal of warmth and nostalgia. She's definitely felt this before, but was unable to recall any memory of it. As she tried to remember, fuzzy flashbacks played through her mind that contained a number of different people and what was pretty shocking was that they all looked and dressed as if one group of people was from another time compared to another.

It took Tsuki several seconds to realize what just happened. He felt a sudden incredible power surge inside of him and he acted out as if by instinct. He looked down at his hands as he felt this power circulate inside of him. "What is this power…?" he asked. Normally, when he takes on the power of a soul, his voice blends with the soul in question. This time, it was like he was speaking in four different vocal tones, though the other three were subtle.

In response to his question, Fumiko's voice spoke out. This time, it was for everyone to hear. "Soul Fusion. It's the ultimate power boost for the Sigil as it temporarily infuses the Bearer with the power and consciousness of each soul" she said. Suddenly, the spirit of Fumiko appeared next to him as clear as day though she didn't have a physical form like Allie did.

Tsuki looked over towards Fumiko who was standing right next to him. He was used to seeing her in the Celestial Bridge, but having seen her now in reality was almost mind-blowing. "Fumiko…?" he said. He had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't daydreaming.

Fumiko put her hands on her hips and nodded. "That's me! Fumiko in the…aether…flesh…whatever…" she said.

Then, Cliff's voice spoke out and, much like how hers was, it was out loud for everyone to hear. He also soon appeared in spirit form right next to Fumiko. "Shocking, isn't it? We weren't expecting to do this so early on ourselves…" he said. He glanced over towards the cloaked figure and glared at him for a few moments before looking down at his hand. His whole body, much like Fumiko's, was almost translucent. "It's just a shame I can't do anything in this form" he said.

As expected, Alexander's voice spoke again and also appeared as well with the same circumstances as Cliff and Fumiko. "It can't be helped. That blast would have wiped us all out if we hadn't fused" he said. He could already start to feel the strain that Tsuki's body was being put through. This was a technique that he wasn't ready for in a lot of ways. They were going to stretch the limits of his body before long. "Then again, it's not like we were expecting to be paid a visit by one of them" he said.

Lynette looked on as the spirit forms of the three souls within Tsuki suddenly appeared in front of everyone. They've all heard their voices talking through Tsuki, but this was the first time they've actually laid eyes on them. She could see the immense power and incredibly high levels of Aer swirling around and within them. They could be almost on par with that of a Wellspring. "Incredible…" she said. She was lost for words with what she was seeing.

Cheria kept shifting her eyes from each spirit. "These are the souls inside of Tsuki…?" she asked. She knew that none of them meant him any harm, so she didn't have to worry about it them. However, she did feel like each of them carried some sort of weight on their shoulders.

Elle looked towards the three spirits around Tsuki and ended up locking her eyes on Cliff. His half-human, half dragon form was more predominant than Melphi's was. While she did a good job of concealing most obvious marks, Cliff looked like they were part of his skin. With a number of scales around the length of his arms and on the side of his neck and face and long, red tail, he had an appearance that boasted strength. "The Crimson Spark in person, huh? Melphi would lose it if she saw this" she said. Even though Cliff was known by a number of different nicknames, Crimson Spark being one of them, that didn't take away from his character. He was the strongest Dragonkin to have ever existed. Legends say that he was practically a one-man army and that he took on an entire stronghold of enemy soldiers by himself.

Tsuki looked at the three spirits with a dumbfounded look. "You guys…are here…? How…?" he asked.

Cliff shook his head. He must have a thousand questions along with the rest of his companions, but they were afforded very little time and there would have been too much to explain all at once. "We'll talk later. We're barely managing to project ourselves like this as it is" he said.

Tsuki suddenly felt weak, causing him to stumble a bit. He could feel his strength fading fast. "So much...pressure…" he said. He felt an intense pain in his chest as his breathing started to become heavy. It made him more unbalanced than he already was.

Allie felt his energy and vitals taking a deep and fast plunge which concerned her greatly. "Master!" she shouted. She grabbed onto Tsuki to stop him from stumbling and slowly helped him down onto one knee. She could also feel the intense strain his body was going through right now from the power he was holding which was exacerbating the effects of the Wellspring.

As Tsuki dropped down to one knee, the cloaked individual let out another chuckle. This time, the person finally spoke in a deep and raspy male voice. "Well now, what a weak Sigil Bearer you are. Wielding more power than your pathetic Human body can hold. In your current state, you're nothing more than a fly on a wall just waiting to be swatted" they said. He then glanced over and gave each of the three souls a distinct look with a grin on their face. "However, the fact that you're able to take on that form with the three of them shows that future potential still awaits you and a future problem for us" he said.

Cliff stepped in front of Tsuki and stared down the cloaked individual. "Can it, worm. Big talk for someone who sits on the sidelines and watches their lackey do all the work" he said. What he would give to punch the cloaked individual in the face and chop him to pieces with his axe.

Alexander folded his arms as he stood by Tsuki's side. "You should know from personal experience that their kind don't exactly know the meaning of a fair fight by now" he said. A big part of him had been hoping that they weren't around anymore. However, with the raising shadows over the horizon, he shouldn't be surprised.

Fumiko shook her head as she glared at the cloaked individual with disgust. "Tch. And here I thought that we wiped them all out centuries ago" she said.

The cloaked individual chuckled a bit more. He found amusement that they actually thought they had defeated them. "Have you forgotten? So long as our Master's essence continues to exist in the world, we shall never truly die" he said.

Alexander felt a sense of relief as he kept his eye on the figure. He was powerful, but that power had a heavy restriction. "Your Master is still in a deep slumber which leaves you all weakened and vulnerable. If one were to cut you down before his awakening, the connection would be permanently severed" he said.

The cloaked individual shook his head, laughing in amusement. He found it hilarious that he thought there was someone capable of such a feat. "And who would be the cutter? That Sigil boy? He's still wet behind the ears and couldn't even hope to take on even the weakest of us!" he shouted. He then gave each of the spirits another glance. "You're all just drifting souls, still bound to this realm and have no power in the physical world unless it's filtered through the boy" he said. His gaze shifted over towards Allie. "The angel girl could have potential. However, she's addled by her own psyche! She doesn't even understand who she is! As for the rest of the vermin back there, all it would take from me is one flick to the forehead for them to lose their heads…" he said with a menacing grin on his face.

The three souls couldn't say anything to counteract his statements because they were all true. No one in this chamber was even close to being ready to go toe-to-toe with one of them. They'd might as well just jump directly into the Wellspring because that battle would have been lost before it even started. They had found themselves in a situation where the good guys won't be coming out of it alive.

Utaru slowly stood up behind the cloaked individual, putting his hand on his shoulder and stumbling past him with his katana in hand. He was barely able to stand on his feet but was ready to get back into the fight. "Step aside. This…is my fight…" he said.

The cloaked individual shook his head, brushing his hand off his shoulder. "I'm afraid I can't do that. In fact, I think we've collected enough intel for His Majesty. Besides, at the rate that battle was going, you weren't going to make it out" he said. He then opened up a portal of Darkness right next to them. "His Majesty recalls you from the field and it won't do to keep him waiting" he said.

Utaru scoffed at his remark but had no choice but to obey. "Understood…" he said. He sheathed his katana and turned to face the portal. However, before entering it, he briefly shared a glance with Phi. He wasn't sure when they'd meet again, but he looked forward to it. Then, he entered the portal and disappeared into the darkness.

The cloaked individual turned his attention back on the others in the chamber. "Count yourselves lucky that we only serve in an observing capacity for the time being. If it were up to us, we'd grind you all to dust right here" he said. His eyes drifted down towards Tsuki and Allie. "Do get stronger by the next time we meet, okay? Show me that you can truly live up to the Sigil Bearer name. As for you, girl…try not to blow yourself up again, hmm?" he asked. Without saying anything else or elaborating on what he just said to Allie, he stepped into the portal as well. Moments later, the portal disappeared completely, taking the presence of both Utaru and the cloaked individual with it.

As the two of them disappeared, Allie tilted her head a bit in confusion. At the same time, she had reverted back to her normal form. "Blow myself up…?" she asked. She had no idea what he had meant by that.

Phi scanned the area and couldn't feel their presence anywhere nearby. They were gone with the wind. All that was left was total silence with the subtle sounds of Aer swirling around the Wellspring. "They're gone…" she said. She kept her guard up just in case they decided to pop out of nowhere, but after another few minutes, nothing occurred.

Cliff breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. He put on a strong front, but he was actually pretty worried there for a few moments. "A blessing then. That would have ended in a bloody massacre without a doubt" he said.

Elle approached the three spirits, wanting some answers. However, considering the condition Tsuki was in, she assumed that they didn't have much time left to retain their current forms. "You're…Cliff, right? Who was that? The power they held was unlike anything I've ever felt before" she said.

Cliff glanced over towards Elle. They had a little bit more time, so it was best to fill them in on the more important details to note. "That cloaked individual is but one of several. The three of us have an extensive history with the likes of them" he said.

Cheria put her bow onto her back and ran over towards Tsuki to check up on him. He was in pretty rough shape. "Wait, the three of you? Aren't you all from different time periods though?" she asked.

Fumiko nodded at her as she crouched down next to Tsuki. "We are. Who you just saw was one of four individuals that are known as the Hands of Sarex" she said.

Allie tilted her head a bit. For some reason, she couldn't take her eyes off the three spirits. They looked incredibly familiar to her, but she couldn't remember them. The term "Hands of Sarex" was also something she has heard somewhere before. "The…Hands of Sarex…?" she asked.

Alexander glanced down towards Allie for several moments in silence. "They are high class Daemons picked out by Sarex himself to serve as his Field Commanders. They consist of four different beings, The Axe, The Spear, The Blade and The Staff" he said. He folded his arms and looked up into the sky as he recalled his past. "We all fought them on several occasions. We had hoped that they were wiped out back in Year 2500 when a certain…cataclysmic event occurred, but as you all saw just now, they're still very much alive" he said.

Phi was alarmed by a few things he had just said. "Daemons picked out by Sarex? Are you trying to say that Sarex is still alive!?" she asked. Draxus had their eyes set on the Daemon's revival so to hear that they might have succeeded was of great concern.

Alexander shook his head. "Yes…and no. The three of us have tried to eliminate him ourselves but have been unsuccessful. For some reason, he keeps regenerating and coming back every 500 years. Right now, he's currently still in a deep sleep, but it's only a matter of time before he reawakens again" he said. He looked down at his hands as he slowly rolled them up into fists. "One of our friends…sacrificed themselves in order to not only save us, but in an attempt to wipe him out once and for all. In the end, their sacrifice was for naught" he said.

Tsuki was struggling to keep himself contained. The pain he was feeling was starting to become excruciating. He felt like his body was being put through the wringer. "So you mean…to tell me that…there's another dangerous…threat out there…!?" he asked. Suddenly, he started to cough up blood as his vision became slightly blurred.

Lynette quickly ran over to him and started to apply some of her Healing Artes on him. He wasn't injured in any way, so she wasn't sure if her abilities would even have an effect on him. "Are you alright!?" she asked.

Fumiko looked down at Tsuki's condition. His body was at it's limits to how much power he can wield. "I'm afraid this is our fault. His body is trying to process a power that far exceeds what he can handle right now and is failing to do so" she said.

Cliff nodded in response to Fumiko's statement. "What you're seeing right now is Soul Fusion, the ultimate power boost. The Bearer temporarily fuses his soul with those that are bound to it and become one, single entity. This is why we are able to project ourselves and communicate with you" he said. The end goal for Tsuki is to be able to wield this power without having to suffer any repercussions from it's effects, but he was still far from realizing that goal. "As you can see, it puts a tremendous strain on the Bearer and this is the result if one were to use this ability before they were ready. Circumstances, however, forced us to use it too early, but it's better than being annihilated" he said. Then, his body started to glow along with the other two next to him. "Once we release the spell, his body will go back to normal. It's about time for us to go back, in any case" he said.

Alexander waved them off with a casual salute. "Hopefully the next time we can meet like this, we'll have the time for a proper chat" he said.

Then, the three souls disappeared in to balls of light and the color in Tsuki's eyes went back to dark blue. He felt a massive weight being lifted off of him that it almost made him collapse backwards. The strain that was affecting his body was starting to lighten up, but he could still feel the pains. Lynette did all she could to try and ease his pain but since they weren't exactly normal pains that he was feeling, there wasn't much relief she could give him. The effects from the Wellspring wasn't helping his case either. They gave him a few minutes to breathe and calm himself before doing anything else.

After a while, the researcher approached the group. "Well, that was certainly exciting. Words can't express how much I appreciate you all for coming to help" he said.

Tsuki was sitting on the ground with his back up against one of the icicles that fell from the ceiling and plunged into the floor. "Don't worry about it. It's what we were called upon to do" he said.

Cheria scratched the side of her head as she tried her best to sum up what just happened. "A lot happened in such a short time. It was over just as fast as it started…" she said.

Lynette let out a heavy sigh with a slump of her shoulders. "Yet another mystery problem to add to our ever-growing list" she said.

Phi shrugged her shoulders. "At least now we can do what we came here to do and we better make it quick. I don't know how much longer we'll be able to stay in the Glacier at this rate" she said. She definitely felt a big shift in her Mana and it wasn't a good feeling. They were nearing the limits that they can handle with the Wellspring, especially being as close as they were to it now. She then glanced over towards Elle, who was standing not too far from the Wellspring itself. "What was that glow from earlier?" she asked.

Elle took out the teardrop crystal that she had picked up. "I'm not sure. For a moment, I felt it resonate with me…" she said. Just then, the teardrop started to glow again but far brighter and stronger than before. The light coming off it was so bright that it was almost blinding. "W-what's happening!?" she shouted, holding the teardrop out towards the Wellspring.

At the same time as the teardrop started to glow, Allie also started to emit a light blue glow around her body as well. She looked down at her hands and felt a certain flow of Mana resonate with not only the teardrop, but the Wellspring as well. "This feeling…" she said.

Then, a voice spoke through Allie's head. It was the same soft female voice from before that had been calling out to her. "Approach the flow of Aer. Return what was once stolen by Human hands…" she said.

Tsuki tilted his head a bit as he watched Allie. He has heard the voice speak to Allie before, but was so muddled that he couldn't make sense of what was being said to her. This time, however, he heard it as clear as day. "Stolen by Human hands…? Return…?" he asked.

For some reason, Allie seemed to understand what the voice was saying. Her body then started to act on it's own. "I…I think I know what I need to do" she said.

Allie then approached the Wellspring, walking up to Elle. She slowly extended her left arm out towards the free-flowing Aer coming out from the Wellspring in front of them. Moments later, a steady trail of light blue energy started to leave Allie and absorb into the Wellspring. In those moments, she had flashbacks of the previous scenes that played through her head back at the research site. How the researchers were calling her a "weapon" and that she "bonded" withthe powers of a Great Spirit. She didn't understand what any of it meant, but then she had a possible theory. She had been told that her powers were being restricted by several factors. Inside of her, she felt several different types of Aer swirling around, all belonging to different elements. The element of Light was the most dominant of the bunch and so, she concluded that Light was her natural main element. However, the other elements of Aer were interfering in it's flow and as a result, making the connection to the Light unstable and restrictive. It would also explain why she suddenly felt her power being cut off during their encounter with Kaito in Nobuo Shrine.

As she appeared to transfer one of the elements of Aer into the Wellspring, it started to glow brightly as well. This caused a chain reaction with the surrounding area. They felt the effects of the Wellspring start to dwindle. The air became easier to breathe and the negative effects that everyone was having on their bodies was starting to go away. Then, there was a steady stream of Aer that was being funneled from giant pillar of ice into the teardrop that Elle was holding. After several minutes, the pillar of ice began to glow brightly and disappear right before their eyes into particles of light and Aer. It was all being absorbed by the teardrop in Elle's hands. This, in turn, caused Elle's body to glow as well as she felt a very powerful resonance between her own Mana and what she was holding in her hand.

Soon, the pillar of ice had completely disappeared and the Aer that had been circulating around it had been absorbed by the teardrop. They had just witnessed something truly remarkable and unbelievable. The Wellspring was now gone and the surrounding area felt far lighter than it ever had been. There was nothing left that would have indicated that there was a Wellspring there in the first place. The teardrop had absorbed everything and because of what Allie did, the Uncondensed Aer of the Wellspring appeared to become stabilized and compartmentalized. There was no indication of any wear on the teardrop and the object didn't pose an immediate danger. They could feel the immense power radiating from it, but it was all compacted down in a steady, natural flow. More than that, they felt that it had somehow "bonded" with Elle's Mana as the two separate flows of Aer seemed to have melded into each other in perfect harmony.

The researcher was beside himself. There weren't any words to describe what he had just witnessed. They just saw an incredible miracle take place right in front of them. "I can't believe it…! The unstable energies of the Wellspring were stabilized and absorbed!" he shouted.

Lynette walked up to Elle and did an Appraisal of both her and the teardrop she was holding. "They're perfectly in-sync with each other. No side effects that I can see…" she said. She didn't know what to make of what she had just witnessed. "How are you feeling, Elle? Are you okay?" she asked.

Elle felt a newfound power circulating inside of her and it felt tremendous. "Well, my power feels far stronger than it was moments ago. It's like I had new life breathe into me" she said. She looked down at her hands as they started to emit a soft, light blue glow.

Suddenly, a small figure of a Spirit started to form in front of her that hovered in the air. It was the figure of a young child who looked no older than Allie. She had long, light blue hair and was covered in clothing that appeared to be made of out ice and cloth. Much like with the spirits of the souls that they saw before, she was a bit translucent, so she had no physical form like Allie.

Same as before, Lynette could feel an immense power flowing through the Spirit in front of her. It was far beyond a normal Spirit and more akin to Allie. "No way…is that what I think it is…?" she asked.

The young Spirit girl slowly started to open her eyes as she rubbed them. She stretched her body out, letting out a deep yawn. It looked like she had just woken up from a very, very long sleep. Her eyes still barely open, she looked around the chamber. She recalled calling out to Allie, but it appeared that she didn't know what was going on or why she was there. "Huh…? I'm awake…? But how…?" she asked herself. She had a look of total confusion. She looked at Elle and could feel the solid connection between the two of them. "Were you the one that awakened me…?" she asked, stretching her right hand out towards her.

Elle was at a loss for words and what was happening. She held her left out by instinct and stretched it out to "touch" the Spirit girl's hand. There was a glow that resonated between the palms of their hands that felt warm. "I don't understand. You're suppose to be a part of Undine, aren't you? It shouldn't be possible for you to retain a form…" she said. She knew, without a doubt, who the Spirit girl was. Their now apparently shared connection was undeniable.

Tsuki looked up at the floating Spirit. "Wait, you mean that this is Frost, one of the Lost Great Spirits!?" he asked. She definitely had the power to claim that she was. It was practically in the same realm as what he felt from Allie.

The Spirit girl looked over towards Tsuki and the others, nodding her head. "Yes…that would be me. Though how this has happened, I couldn't tell you" she said. She hovered across the air to face the entire group and bowed to them. "I am who you say I am. My name is Frost, the Great Spirit of Ice. I don't know the circumstances that involved with my awakening, but it's a pleasure to finally meet people for the first time in so long" she said.

Lynette covered her mouth to hide the shock and surprise on her face. "The Great Spirits…I can't believe it! They're real, after all!" she said with excitement.

Phi folded her arms as she came to terms with what she was witnessing. This was truly a moment for the history books. "Not only are they real, but this also confirms our theory on the connection between Wellsprings and the Great Spirit" she said. This was information that Luan would certainly want to have.

Cheria tilted her head. She was still trying to figure out what the whole business was with the glowing and the crystal teardrop that Elle held, as well as what happened with Allie. "What about the stuff that led up to this though? What was up with that?" she asked.

Tsuki shrugged his shoulders. If someone had the answers, it would be Frost. "Perhaps Frost can shed some light on things" he said.

Frost nodded. "Wellsprings, as people of today call it, are the results of a Great Spirit's Aer becoming unstable and uncontrollable. It disperses out into the world, leaving behind detrimental effects on the environment and surrounding areas" she said. She closed her eyes for a few moments before continuing on. "After the Archfiend was defeated in Year 1500, we Great Spirits went into a state of hibernation. Then, in Year 1505, a portion of our essence was stolen from us by the Humans who sought to destroy the Spirits. It was an unnoticeable change, but one that slowly started to have a negative impact on our overall stability until eventually, we lose ourselves. We would no longer have control over our own Aer nor where it flows to. As a result, the livelihoods of many people over the centuries have been affected" she said. It was a painful thought, knowing that you were the direct cause of so much suffering and death yet were powerless to do anything to stop it.

Elle shook her head as thoughts of the Wellspring that cropped up on the Isle of Nula appeared in her head. So many innocent lives were lost before anyone could have the time to process what just happened. "Which means…because of Human intervention…disasters like Nula have occurred…?" she asked. She clenched her fists tightly as she trembled with anger. "Humans are such…insatiable beasts…!" she said.

Tsuki had nothing to say. He didn't think Humans were perfect creatures, but to hear of all the evil sins and acts his ancestors committed, whether it was in the distant past or recent events, it deeply sickens him. He can understand why Dragonkin hate Humans so much. They had brought this bad stigma on themselves. "What about that essence you were talking about?" he asked.

Frost glanced down at Allie, pointing her finger at her. "For reasons long lost to history and time of which I can't explain, that girl holds the essence of us Great Spirits. She holds half of the missing key that would make the rest of us whole again" she said.

Allie tilted her head a bit as she looked down at her hands. What she said basically confirms what she has felt herself. "So, it's true then. All of this power inside of me…it was stolen. It doesn't belong with me" she said. She rolled her hands into fists as she closed her eyes tightly. "But why…? Why was I given stolen power?" she asked. She tried her best to force herself to remember. Maybe there was something in her flashbacks or lost memories that could help her. Unfortunately, nothing popped up in her head.

Tsuki saw the turmoil on her face that she was going through. Having so much lost to her due to forgotten memories, he couldn't imagine what she must be feeling like. "Allie…" he said. All he could do was pat her on the head gently.

Allie opened her eyes for a brief moment when she felt Tsuki's hand on her head before closing them again. Moments later, she buried her face into his chest and gripped onto his left sleeve. "It's so frustrating. There's so much happening that seems familiar to me that my instincts tell me I should be aware of. Yet, I can't remember anything. Like, those three spirits from earlier…I feel like I know them and the fact that I can't remember….hurts…" she said.

Every flashback she seems to get just opens up more questions than it does to answer them. It wasn't just that either. There have been a lot of things being brought up lately that potentially hides more answers. She still doesn't even know what she was. For some reason, part of her believes that she was Human while another, more dominant part believes that she was a Spirit. The part that believed she was a Human comes from the single flashback she had got a long while back with her lying on the ground in a pool of blood from a fatal wound in her chest. For the Spirit side of things, she had powers and capabilities that only a Spirit could have. Putting the two together then raises up another contradiction. Spirits don't have physical forms. They don't bleed like Humans do because they don't carry any blood in their systems, just Aer. Yet, Allie possesses not just a physical form that has the ability to appear from and vanish into an inanimate object, but she also bleeds. These were two different traits that one can't possibly possess at the same time.

Tsuki could do nothing but attempt to comfort her as best as he could. "It'll be alright. You'll get your memories back one day. I promise you that you will" he said. He took a deep breath before looking back up at Frost. "So, if Allie returns the essence that has been stolen to the other Wellsprings, will that allow us to meet with the others?" he asked.

Frost nodded her head a bit. "In theory, yes. Remember, the essence she holds is only half of a whole key. You might be able to stabilize their rampant Aer, but then you will need a catalyst of some kind to bind the Aer with" she said. She glanced over towards the crystal teardrop in Elle's hand. "It must be an object capable enough to hold vast amounts of pure, unfiltered Aer. What the Elf girl holds is one of those objects" she said.

Lynette folded her arms and mumbled to herself. "From the way you said it, we can't simply use what she's holding on the other Wellsprings as well, can't we?" she asked.

Frost shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. Once an object absorbs the Aer from the Wellspring, it becomes tied to that Great Spirit's element" she said. The pure, unfiltered Aer that had originally been circulating within the crystal teardrop now had the affinity of Ice and there was no way to reverse it's effects now that it's bonded with Elle. "Not only that, but the object has to resonate with someone in order for them to use it" she said. She had referred to the glow that emitted from the crystal when she had picked it up.

Lynette let out a heavy sigh when she was given the expected answer. "Yeah. That figures. It would have too easy otherwise…" she said. She was also curious about the connection she had seen flowing from both Elle and Frost. "What about you and Elle? I can sense a newly formed bond between you two" she said.

Frost looked at Elle for a few moments. "Our Aer has bonded together and for that, we are linked. I have imprinted myself onto her which will allow her to use my power as she sees fit" she said. She may be regarded as a Great Spirit, but that doesn't mean she can't be wielded by someone else. The same would also go for the other Great Spirits too.

Elle looked down at her hands once more. Once again, she could feel power circulating through her whole body. It was an exhilarating feeling. "I can summon a Great Spirit? Fascinating…" she said.

Phi scratched the back of her head a bit. "Yeah, I'd probably refrain from telling people that or summoning her in front of a crowd…" she said. Who knew how people would react if the was able to summon a Great Spirit, beings of worship that had been believed to be nothing but folklore and legend.

As they talked amongst themselves, the researcher eventually chimed back into the conversation. "Um…as fascinating as all of this is, would you mind talking while we make our exit? There is much that I need to report to my team. Not only that, but the temperature in here has suddenly started to drop significantly after the Wellspring vanished" he said. With the disturbances to the environment that were caused by the Wellspring were gone, nature was starting to fill up the space.

It only took him to mention the drop in temperature that Tsuki and the others started to feel it as well. They were quick to fall in agreement and decided to make their exit. With Tsuki back up on his feet, the group started to make their way back through the Glacier tunnels. They continued to talk amongst themselves and with Frost. Being asleep for as long as she was, it was obvious that she had missed quite a few things, so Tsuki and the others took the time to fill her in on what's been happening in the world, gave her a proper introduction to who everyone was along with those on the Melte Team and what their current objectives are.

The walk back to the surface took longer than it did coming down. They had picked up the female researcher that had gone back to the research site as well. Even though the effects from the Wellspring were gone, Tsuki and everyone else still felt the lingering side effects that affected their bodies on top of the injuries the received from Utaru. Tsuki's condition also slowed their pace down quite a bit too. The stunt that he pulled put more strain on his body than he had thought. It was tough to make quick movements which rendered him unable to fight. Monster started to show up as they felt the shift in the environment. By the time they had settled the conflict around the chamber where the Wellspring was, an hour had passed since they entered the Glacier. It took them 30 minutes to reach the chamber, but a little over an hour to get back up to the surface.

When they returned with the Chief and the other researcher, the other members of the survey team huddled around them, relieved to see that they were both safe. Not wanting to bring any more attention to herself, Frost had disappeared before they reached the entrance to the Glacier. Tsuki and the others were gathered around their Skiffs as Lynette healed up the injuries they had received from the monsters during their walk back. Tsuki was starting to feel his body lighten up after a while and was able to move around again without feeling any strain.

Elle looked over towards Tsuki. Even though he was getting his range of motion back, the fact that he was the one driving one of the Skiff worried her. For both his and Cheria's safety. "You sure you feel okay to drive back?" she asked.

Tsuki nodded, patting his chest. "I feel fine. Besides, it's not like driving these things requires complicated movements" he said. It wasn't like he was about to fight a monster or something. He felt fully capable of being able to drive the Skiff.

Phi looked off into the direction where Melte would be, far to the southwest. She was wondering how everyone else was doing and hoped they didn't run into any problems on their end. "I hope Reis and the others are doing okay" she said.

Cheria couldn't help but feel worried. She had this strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Maybe we should contact them before we head out. With the Wellspring gone, that should clear up the signal interference" she said.

Tsuki nodded and put his finger over the ComLink that was in his ear. "It's worth a try" he said. He then activated the ComLink heard nothing but static for a few moments before hearing it clear up with an established link. "Reis, do you copy?" he asked.

There was still a bit of static, but he was able to hear Reis respond back to him. "Tsuki! Yeah, I copy. How are things over there?"he asked.

Tsuki scratched the back of his head, letting out a light chuckle. "We're just wrapping things up with the survey team. We chased off the person that was causing trouble here"he said. He then fell silent for several moments. He wasn't sure how to break the news about the Wellspring. "The Wellspring that was inside the Glacier…is also gone" he said.

There was an audible gasp of shock that came through the ComLink before Reis responded.. "The Wellspring is gone!? How did that happen?" he asked.

Tsuki wasn't sure what to say. So much happened so fast. It wasn't a conversation that should be held through wireless communication. "…Let's just say, a lot of things happened here. We'll talk about it once we're back in Imil. What about you guys?"he asked.

He had heard a light chuckle from Reis through the ComLink followed by a slightly pained voice."You too, huh? Shit hit the fan here pretty hard. We got rid of Draxus but ran into the Elder Behemoth"he said.

Tsuki's eyes widened quite a bit when they said they had an encounter with snow beast that was prowling around the Tundra. It made him very concerned for their well-being, considering how deadly and formidable that beast was. "The Elder Behemoth!? Are you all okay!?"he shouted.

There as a brief silence from Reis before he responded. Based on the tone of his voice, not all seemed all that well for them."Well…for the most part, we are. It's a long story, so let's wait until we return to Imil for a debrief. It seems we both have interesting stories to tell. We're just about to head back now" he said.

Elle glanced over towards Tsuki when he suddenly shouted out. "Wait, they encountered what!?" she shouted. The fact that they all survived an encounter with an Elder Behemoth was nothing short of miraculous.

Lynette thought back to how it was mentioned that Draxus apparently had the power to manipulate monsters. Considering how powerful the influence of Arcanum is, it wouldn't be too far out of the realm of possibility that they managed to put the Elder Behemoth on an aetherial leash. "Honestly, I can't say that I'm surprised. Since this involves Draxus, manipulating the Elder Behemoth was something that they'd do, without a doubt" she said.

Cheria thought she understood the depths of Arcanum, at least a little bit. However, if it had allowed them to manipulate a beast that tops the list of most dangerous monsters that are slapped with numerous notes of caution on it, then it made the rest of the unknown factors of Arcanum terrifying. "But still…an Elder Behemoth? Draxus could have leveled Imil if they wanted to. There were plenty more people they could have used for the rituals. Why target a small, remote village with fewer people?" she asked.

Allie stroked her chin in thought for a moment. "Maybe they prefer to do things in small batches before taking on the big hunt? Strike at your surroundings to stir paranoia and unrest and then swoop in while everyone's in a restless panic" she said. She didn't know much when it came to tactical advantage, but a plan like that would make sense.

Elle was both curious and worried for Nagi. This was her first time confronting her past, so she couldn't help but be concerned for her. Not just her well-being, but her mental state as well. Trauma like what she was forced to witness and endure takes a very long time to go away, if it goes away at all. "Now, I'm really interested to hear what they have to say. Let's get a move on" she said.

Tsuki looked over at Elle and nodded in agreement. He was also curious to know what happened with Draxus and what they were up to in Melte. He was also wondering about the villagers too. "Alright then. We're just finishing things up here. We should be back in about an hour. We'll see you then" he said. He pulled his hand from the ComLink, deactivating it and started up the Skiff.

As they started their Skiffs, Luna came running up to them with several papers bundled together. "Wait a moment! Could you bring these to the Commander for us? They're the reports and findings we had made out before that samurai showed up. The Wellspring may have dried up, but the research notes still contain valuable information" she said.

Tsuki took the papers from her and stuffed them into his bag. "You got it. We'll make sure these get to him" he said. He looked up towards the other members of the survey team as they sat around the entrance to the Glacier. "You guys going to be okay over here?" he asked.

Luna nodded, glancing back at her team. "They're all shaken, but danger isn't exactly new for us. They'll bounce back before you know it. With the Wellspring gone, we have no reason to stay here so we need to gather our research material, in any case" she said. There was much to report once they return to Imil, so they couldn't exactly sit around here and twiddle their thumbs.

Tsuki was impressed to see their resilience despite the dangers they faced. For a team of people not trained in the art of self-defense, they were steadfast and dedicated. "We'll be sure to tell the Commander enough to satiate your Chief's overabundance of curiosity" he said.

Luan looked towards the Chief and saw that he was talking with his peers with excitement. You wouldn't think that he was just in a life-or-death situation. "Thanks. I'd appreciate that. Safe travels on your way back" she said.

With that, the group started up the rest of their Skiffs and climbed onto them. They revved up the engines and soon took off back across the snowy plains of the Tundra. The ride back to Imil was full of anxiety. They probably to know what happened in Melte just as much as they wanted to know about the Glacier. Both teams seemed have a lot to divulge to each other. They weren't sure what their plans were going to be now going forward, but that was a discussion to have once everyone was back together and debriefed. In the meantime, Tsuki and the others took this chance to take in the clear, fresh air and wintery landscape. This might be the last time they traverse such an environment for a while, so they wanted to absorb their surroundings.

Meanwhile, the scene shifts across Ersheath back to Esseand Castle. It was just an average day for the city and everyone was going about their business as usual. People flocked to the markets to get their daily necessities and the soldiers patrolled the streets. All of this suddenly changed, however, in an instant. Suddenly, a city-wide alarm began ringing out and soon after that, shouts from the soldiers that lined the outer walls of the city could be heard. These sent the citizens into a frenzied panic and the soldiers into battle stations.

One of the soldiers who was standing up over the main gates to the city was looking out towards the fields in front of them. In the sky, they saw a legion of wyverns and dragons flying towards them. They weren't just any normal wyverns and dragons either; these had people strapped onto their backs and riding them. "We've got enemy incoming! Dragon Riders! A whole legion of them! All citizens are urged to seek shelter immediately! Soldiers, take your defensive positions!" the solder shouted.

The citizens quickly grabbed their belongings and took off in a panic through the streets as the soldiers prepared themselves for the abrupt siege. The wyverns and dragons quickly came flying in over Esseand and started to raze the city with their fire, some landing in the city itself. Buildings were set on fire and other structures were destroyed with ease. The soldiers began to fight against the dragons that landed in the city proper while others relied on what aerial defenses they had. The citizens, however, were also caught in the chaos. Many were injured and many more were killed along with the knights.

At the top of the city, Dragon Riders swooped in on the castle in droves and engaged with the knights on the ground. Their aerial defenses around the city, and especially the castle, were rather strong and decent, but were extremely limited. Otherwise, they had to rely on Magical Artes and other ranged capabilities. Some landed in the courtyard of the castle, which allowed them to engage with the Dragon Riders directly. Esseand has a long history when it came to dealing with dragons and wyverns, so this form of combat wasn't anything new to them. That didn't make it any easier though. It didn't take long for black plumes of smoke to rise up into the sky from the city as it was being razed and attacked by wyverns and dragons.

Inside of the castle, multiple platoons of knights were quickly starting to gather and disperse themselves across the courtyard and city. Leading the charge was Raiku as he was suited up for battle in heavy armor. He wielded a short axe on his back and a sword on his waist. He was giving out commands to the knights to further aid them in their efforts to repel their attackers. "I need Alpha and Theta Squad out in the courtyard to protect the castle grounds! Beta, Delta and Gamma Squad, head into the city and drive out the wyverns and dragons and extinguish as many flames as you can! Charlie and Echo Squads, get as many civilians into the tunnels as you can! FOX Squad, link up with the Mercenary Guild and divide your forces!" he shouted.

The knights let out a loud, collective shout with a formal salute before heading off to their designated locations. The sounds of fighting could be heard from within the walls of the castle as the battle seemed to grow in intensity. Raiku knew this moment would inevitably come when he found out that Kaito was still alive. He just hoped it didn't happen so soon.

Soon after giving out his orders, Caz ran up to his side. "Your Majesty! Our scouts confirmed that War General Kaito isn't amongst the attackers. The commander in charge of the Ersheath Border in Border Town believes that they sent out a small legion as a provocative message to us" he said. He then handed a slip of paper over to Raiku that appeared to be written and signed by the commander in question.

Raiku stroked his chin a bit as he mumbled to himself. "As if his attempt to make off with the Falcon's Claw wasn't damning enough. The indirect approach didn't work out, so he's trying to bait us into an open conflict in order to drag us into a war" he said. He probably expects them to retaliate in force due to this unprovoked and sudden attack on Ersheath soil. This would allow Kaito to secure war funds and assets around Dolothlond and gain more power and control.

Caz had heard about his attempt to steal the Falcon's Claw and how it was thwarted by Tsuki and the others. Many officials in Ustrisu Fortress and even Raiku's own council have urged him to show a force of retaliation. However, he refuses to make such a move. "What do we do now? I don't think you'll have an easy time appeasing to the council members and Ustrisu higher-ups this time around" he said. He knew that Raiku always has plans for contingencies. His inaction against Dolothlond causes some unrest and disdain amongst the older folk.

Raiku shrugged his shoulders. The members of his council and the older officials of Ustrisu are the least of his concern. He understood what they had to say, but their words and actions would only lead to further conflict. "You let me worry about the elderly. Besides, our forces can't move without my approval and they wouldn't dare cross that line" he said. He contemplated on what options he had available to him. With this sudden attack, Border Town will most likely shutter the gates that connected the two kingdoms and put heavy restrictions on travel. If they were to move troops onto Nargelond soil, they would be walking right into Kaito's hands. "We know what the root of our problem is, the War General. If the report we received from the Prince is accurate, then eliminating Kaito will put a stop to this" he said.

Caz folded his arms with a tilt of his head. "So, do you really believe it? That the reason behind the Dolothlond royal family's inaction is due to the new queen going missing?" he asked. It sounded like a pretty convenient cover story. If something like that really did happen, word of it would have quickly spread no matter how tightly kept the information was.

Raiku nodded at him. He personally authenticated the report he received recently from the Prince himself. "My son isn't known to exaggerate or make up stories. I may not know what he's really up to over there, but I do know that he's looking out for us" he said.

A letter had came to him, delivered by a carrier falcon that had been specially trained by his son. In the letter he had written, his son seemed to have uncovered a well-hidden plot conceived by Kaito and the War Council. Dolothlond recently suffered the passing of their elderly king and it was his daughter that took his place. However, there has been a lot of controversy with the former Princess. Word has it that she wasn't blood related to the king, which ended up sparking a major debate when it came to the rights of ascendance. The elderly king had no other offspring and there were no more living relatives in his bloodline; he was the last one. Knowing this, he had taken in a young girl under his care while he was still healthy and mobile. He took a liking to the girl and came to view her as the daughter he never had and had stated in his will that all rights of succession would be passed down onto her. She would form a new royal bloodline.

Naturally, many people were heavily against this. However, it had been officially stated and documented by the elderly king himself, so no one had any grounds to challenge his will. Raiku's had dug up information that those who were unhappy with the change plotted against the new queen and had her abducted under the guise that the ones responsible for the act was Esseand. With the queen missing, the War Council stepped in to take over kingdom affairs and somewhere along the way, Kaito re-emerged and started spreading the flames even more. The fact that Kaito came back into the spotlight apparently caused a major spark amongst the people all across Nargelond. Everyone knew what acts he had once committed and didn't understand how he was still alive. The War General wasn't as beloved as he once was by the public, but was still a highly regarded individual amongst the knights and officials. There have been a number of people who have been arrested and thrown in prison for acts of sedition which only fueled the people more.

Raiku knew exactly what Kaito was planning. As cunning and powerful as the man was, Raiku was still several steps ahead of him, just like during the old days. "With all the unrest that has been spreading around Nargelond, Kaito is attempting to divert all the unrest and attention by opening a conflict with us to show the people that we were the real enemy" he said. It's a predictable plan, but also an effective one as it restricts them on what they could do. Any show of force in retaliation will only benefit Kaito's ambitions.

Caz didn't like that all they could do was simply stand by and play on the defensive. It was only a matter of time before a few unsatisfied officials and knights were to act out against Raiku. He knew that they couldn't stay like this forever. "So, what's the plan then?" he asked.

Raiku already had a contingency plan figured out. "With the restrictions of Border Town passage, it will prevent armed forces from entering through the gates and civilians and merchants will be met with intense scrutiny on gate inspections. However, mercenaries are a different story" he said. He wasn't absolutely positive that whatever he has planned would be foolproof, but considering the appeal of mercenaries and their code to not become involved in kingdom affairs, they could probably use that to their advantage.

Caz stroked his chin a bit as he mumbled to himself. He started to see what he was getting at. "Correct. So long as someone presents a valid Mercenary Codex, they'll be able to gain entry without issue. During wartime, mercenary work tends to skyrocket, so it wouldn't be too crazy to think some would flock over to Nargelond…" he said. While they had close ties with the local Guild Branch, it wasn't keen to simply hand them a special request like what Raiku was thinking. However, they did know of a certain group of people with their own unique circumstances that they could rely on. It also calls to mind of the brief encounter with the Branch Leader in Velika and how he was eager to sign them up to become mercenaries. He knew exactly what Raiku was about to ask him.

Raiku shared a look with Caz as he seemed to understand what he was trying to imply before he even had to say it. He had received a notice from Flynn recently before all this commotion started, stating that they were out doing a few things for him around the snowfields. "Get a message out to Flynn Callus over in Imil immediately. Tell him that Esseand officially seeks the cooperation of Tsuki and his companions in the infiltration of Dolothlond" he said.

Caz gave him a quick salute before head off to send out his message. They both knew that if there was anyone that they could rely on to get them out of this situation with as few casualties as possible while avoiding open war, it would be them. They weren't bound by Esseand or Dolothlond laws and they were effectively cut off from Eresseas. Nothing restricted their actions and if they were able to use the networks available by mercenaries, then their path forward would know no bounds.

Raiku didn't particularly enjoy using them like this especially since it would put Cheria, the daughter of his close friends, in great danger. However, circumstances were dire and there wasn't any other choice. This was the only option that was available that would potentially pull them through this situation and avoid open war with Dolothlond. That was one outcome he had to try and prevent from happening. If they were to engage in warfare, that would open both kingdoms up for attack by Honegroth. If the world was going to prevail and conquer the darkness that is looming over the coming horizon, then the world would need to stand together as one.

To be continued…