Saga: Journey to the Sunrise
Arc 1: Retro Anomaly
Chapter 14 – PLAN
All four of them dozed off in the high sunlight.
"I nearly died and we lost Guffu too. Man, this sucks!" Zarita stretched her arms in pain and laziness.
"Well, it was a gut-opening fight for sure." Scyures laughed at his own joke, which none other than Hein laughed at.
"..." Myale was silent as always.
"Good thing you all collected information as I said?" I think I'm being too calm here? Because I didn't join the fight yesterday.
"You used us as bait just for some shitty info, and how are you planning to get Guffu back, our so-called brain?" Zarita mocked Lanmyth with her expression and gestures.
"Don't worry. I have a perfect plan." I swiped my thumb over my forehead.
"Man, today's too hot, don't you guys think?" I let out a sigh.
"Summer is arriving. We must prepare for that." Erika informed while swinging her sword.
"I'll need every one of your aid today, so take a rest." On Lanmyth's words, Erika sat under the shade of a tree.
"And by that 'everyone,' how many do you mean?" Surprisingly, Myale spoke today.
"I guess you, me, Scyures, and Zarita are mains. Erika, Gunbo are supporters, and Hein is just Hein." I consulted with that Saint Natteflusk regarding this, and if I'm correct, I cannot lose.
"What do I have to do?" Hein spoke.
"Just keep spraying your magical energy in the air around us. It'll help us all."
"Oh-k."
"Also, where's your crown?" Scyures asked. Now I wonder where is it?
"Crown?" Erika stared at Hein.
"I gave it to Zartha!" Zartha? Did he mean Zarita? All of our gazes stuck on her. Zarita started looking here and there, rolling her eyes in confusion, and spoke,
"Erm... I gave it to Pina-Tuna for cleaning, I guess." Pina-Tuna? Those two folks who follow Scyures everywhere?
"I'll go and get them here!" Gunbo stood and walked towards the village centre.
After a minute or two, he returned with a crown in his hand, shining bright as the sun, with jewels in it drinking the sunlight, dripping from their facets.
Hein sprinted near him, took the crown, and wore it.
Erika's gaze was stuck on his as she squinted her eyes to decipher the scene. Then she got closer to Hein and sat on her knees.
"Is this what I think?" she asked.
Lanmyth stood up and walked near them. "YEAH! It's the king's crown. Hein, you gotta be responsible now. You can't just leave it anywhere. It's an ancient relic!"
Ancient relic. These were the first and only existing objects that held a ridiculous power in them, only awakened by those who had sync with them.
"You need to understand the value of this relic. Only then can you use it to its full potential, got it?" I pointed a finger at him, and he nodded. I looked around—everyone had shocked expressions.
Who are they looking at?
I looked behind me and—Erika? She dug her hand in the soil near Hein's feet, and her sword lay powerlessly on the ground.
She started to murmur her weird words, and we got worried.
"My lord, my god, our kingdom's Sovereign! Over god! Please forgive me for ignoring you until now! I was too incompetent to understand your wisdom! I can offer you my head if you're angry at me for breathing the same air as you. Standing on the same land as you, being taller than you, looking down to look at you! I'm sorry, please accept me as your journey-crew. My parents will be so proud, they will burst into tears. I'm really, really sorry to look this pathetic. I'm sorry I couldn't solve this anomaly alone. I'm embarrassed to look this ugly. Please accept my faith, my family, my bloodline is the biggest follower of your miracles—you are our god, please..."
"Stop it! You're being weird!" Hein backed off, looking half-scared, half-weirded.
Erika licked the dirt on Hein's shoe, stood up, ran back, and hid behind a tree.
[Lina:–Boss! Her reaction to Hein is probably the most normal I think someone can be if we're going with what those texts said about this world!]
[Is that what they meant by some-people-seeing-king-as-their-religious-god?]
Lanmyth held his head in pure despair and disdain. Zarita started laughing at her. Myale was giving a side-eye.
"God? He's just a kid!" Scyures spoke.
"Let her be it. At least someone is gettin' god treatment, ahahaha!" Zarita started softly smacking the rock in laughter.
Gunbo and Scyures were practicing with swords. Lanmyth was planning with Lina, and Zarita was meditating with Myale.
Erika was following Hein like a stalker.
"Gosh! She looks so creepy like that."
"A... hu... ha... he." Hein could hear her faith-filled snickers from far away.
The grid lines were blurred as if her original personality had dissolved in a pothole of faith.
The only motive keeping her sanity in the jar was to bring defeat upon the thin anomaly and liberate this land.
The swords clashed, emitting faint embers dissolved in the eerie darkness, in contrast to the orangish aura emitted in the vast canvas of this land.
Lanmyth ran his mind through a thousand fields to stumble across some patterns.
Although this village hadn't been of much use since the days of arrival, there were still activities going on—unseen and unknown but harmless. The natteflusks, with un-mounted walnut shells on their backs, were farming rice in the river.
But this wasn't what caught Lanmyth's eyes. It was somewhere inside. In the hub—the ocean of information here. He, like a shadow, went inside the hub.
[Ability "Invisibility of Mirage" is activated]
None could perceive the shadow of this man, who ran his fingertips through multiple pages—unknown books passed down through generations, while some were still fresh.
Words reflected in his eyes; with every word, a new theory unfolded, and with every new page, a myth was busted.
Unknown to this, Zarita was trying to meditate, her hands resting on her knees—thumb pressed against the finger, and the middle, ring, and little fingers pointed outward.
She thought,
Why should she do this? But maybe it could help? She didn't want to look pathetic in front of her siblings anymore.
Myale was trying to see through the world itself—a technique similar to true cultivation but more hand-to-hand type.
The World-Fabric Style was a diverse technique that could be fused with any martial art, any sword skill.
The user must look and aim beyond the target in order to get a clean hit. But it doesn't end here. The more you perceive the world and the opponent as the same, the more effectively you can attack beyond their concepts and dimensions.
Some myths suggest this was the technique the hero used to split heavens.
The sun was setting low. Everyone had held their ground, positioned according to the plan.
Would it work? This was not a question. The only thing Lanmyth had that made him extraordinary was his confidence.
His Leo was hitting his Mars, burning with intensity.
Furthermore, his preparations were well made—not a single step could slip.
And then he came.