The thundercloud finally descended after spending a few more hours over the raging sea post Allora accomplishing what she had intended.
The twenty-eight experts found themselves on a small, familiar island once again, one devoid of any living being for as far as the eye could see. But that didn't mean there was none on the whole.
No high land contours sprang from the ground. Instead, the flat ground was livid with various assortments of vegetation, most of them keenly rising up so high, one would have thought they were in a contest to taste the sunlight first. This was mostly true for the thick forest near the other end of the island.
Brooks and streams that fed into one, small lake could be spotted from most places around, and they all boldly declared their clarity with shimmering glares over their colourless, moving bodies.
The view of them was better accentuated by the colourful spectacle from meadows a, and the experts couldn't help but smile at the picturesque scenery.
This place hadn't always been like this.
Only when they settled here, did it become a paradise.
The group walked forward, going through some scattered trees to a definite position just ahead.
Chatter was minimal between them, but it was cheerful. Discipline was one thing they all had to exercise, especially when they were here. It was a crucial rule, and everyone honoured it without question.
Among the twenty-eight, four could be seen carrying large, yellow boxes that looked to be made of a material similar to refined glass, but murkier. Perhaps it was more akin to quartzite, actually. They held the boxes with a suspicious level of care.
Six minutes later, the group was standing before a structure unlike the natural elements on the island.
It was a tall, wide archway made of painted wood.
The intricacy of its designs was overwhelming, and its proportions, with 4,6 meters of height and 7 meters of width between its two, thick shining, red posts, was intimidating.
A trail of meaningful groves traced from the foot of one post to the arch, which was crafted with a myriad of frightening, fleshless faces, and then to the feet of the other post. These groves were not there for mere decoration, however – though they were that enticing to gawk at – as they were the only means through which one could interact with this archway.
For that, an Unlimited was needed.
Grim stepped forward and lazily placed his gauntlet on one of the posts. Here, he didn't need to do anything. His Granted Armament reacted to the groves, and passed on what was needed to activate the archway; an unseen, serene energy that was stored within the armour.
The groves lit up vibrantly in white, and then, between the posts, a wide, sharp flare appeared with an 'ohm'.
Grim led the way into this bright light, and it blinked as he passed through it.
He did not emerge on the other side of the archway.
The others quickly followed after him, and when the last passed through the flare, it vanished quickly, leaving the red archway alone in the midst of the greenery.
...
The experts devoured by the light felt, for a moment, as if they had been trapped in a dark space, and then, a familiar scape emerged before their eyes.
A sharp burst of mana filled their lungs, as well as an astounding sense of freedom and power.
They were home.
Only Deign could make them feel so welcome.
The world the boss had made for their operations.
They stood on a grassy ground and before them, a stout mountain stood, waiting for them to scale. Atop it, a treacherous storm that always persisted with an endless flavour to it, darkened its peak, and above it in turn was a dark sky that refused to be lit up by the lone sun.
Thankfully, the graceful light of this sun bore down brilliantly – as it should – on everything under the black sky, and the experts were so used to this that the blue sky of Aigas was almost becoming an abnormality to them.
"Up we go," Grim said, though deep within, he wished he could climb this mountain in a different fashion.
It didn't take long for the group to reach the summit, a journey which has seen the experts feeling a greater increase in the influx of mana into their bodies.
A minute later, they stood before IT.
The Honing Fortress.
Its magnificent girth was so wide, it almost exceeded the width of the summit of the mountain, and it rose up to a height of twenty meters.
Strangely, its exterior seemed to be made of round, obsidian poles as thick as an elephant, their ends lined with two golden rings each. A total of 124 squares from which intense lights burst out could be seen from the face of the fortress, giving the illusion that they were windows exposing light from within the building.
Longer poles exceeding the length of this giant structure settled close to the top jutting from the sides. Strange bone bodies hung from them, not looking quite as dead as a common man would hope.
Naturally, the eyes of most would be stolen first by the Honing Fortress, but it was preceded by two large, cubical pools of clear water, between which was a stone pavement that led into it. Strange flowers grew at the rims of the pavement, and as the twenty-eight passed over it, a few stopped to smell them – as most always did.
There was no end to the beautiful sights before the Fortress, but the group was used to them. They entered the mansion through a doorway shaped opening at the centre that also beamed and with light, and emerged on the ground floor.
"Never get used to that," Grim said as a mash of essence blasted his face with the second, swift change in scenery. He took an agitated whiff and stepped forward.
Yuyui agreed with his sentiments. She had her Eye of Dispersal open to ward away some of the more intense essences from her body.
It was always like this. After all, the ground floor was arguably one of the most uncomfortable places to be in within the Honing Fortress.
The space was wider than what the external view of the fortress would have one believe; at least twice as large.
An obsidian floor made of exquisite marble stood below while playful, floating were most of what made up the ceiling. More attracting that these, however, was the end of floor.
Whenever one entered, their eyes were once again stolen by the view at the very end.
First, was the fact that the end of the floor, didn't have a wall, thus things happening past the mansion could be seen; storms, and lightning of an unnatural shade sparked in the distance, along with strange, thudding noises. This was the source of the tangle of energies that most experts couldn't even comprehend.
The most outstanding thing to show from this floor however, was a great throne surrounded by a pool of what looked like ever hot lava that partially obscured said throne... and the figure that sat on it.
Then again, this figure was already difficult to make out.
Not only was he constantly being smothered by thick, stubborn clots of dark cloud, his four 'eyes' seemed to shine as bright as suns, disallowing a perfect view of him. On top of this, sharp bursts of Levin played tag within these clouds, their appearance so bright they almost dyed half the entire floor white each time they emerged.
Grim lead the group forward until they were four meters before the throne. He gave a light bow, while the rest, excluding Yuyui – reluctantly – gave a deep one.
The 'eyes' of the figure on the throne flashed sharply, and then he spoke.
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