Chapter 9:

Chapter 9: Base in the middle of Nowhere

SOLARIS: Journey Through Another World

By the time Arthur left, it was properly dark out, the cover of night would allow him to sneak in without getting caught, and all he had to do was find the building. Based on the set of coordinates Clair gave him, he should get there in a couple of minutes if he ran. By the time Arthur arrived, the moon shone dimly through the cloudy sky, and at first he saw nothing. But as it turned out, they had cast an illusion spell to make it seem like nothing was there; he was able to discern this by just getting close and feeling around for any loose magic in the air. As he had planned earlier, Arthur was able to sneak in with ease, and from the looks of it, it all looked rather normal. Boxes sat in piles all over, and the building itself was illuminated by a couple of hanging bulbs. Surely there was a hidden entrance somewhere, and since they were in the middle of nowhere, that entrance would be under the floor. Arthur would utilize a high-ranking skill to find the way, waiting. He hid himself behind some of the boxes and waited for one of the disciples to either show up and open the way, or one of them would leave. Arthur eventually ended up lying flat on the floor, seemingly hours had gone by; he wouldn't know, as he had no watch or any other way to tell the time, since the building was also windowless. The sound of stone rumbling gave him hope. Carefully, he peeked over to see the floor in the middle sliding open as figures in robes walked out. Arthur struck fast, not giving them the time to react. Once they were down, he ran down the steps, and he would find himself in a whole new area. Everything was so much more... cold? The floor was carpeted, and the lighting was a dim blue, giving off a cold office-like vibe. The Doors led to rooms on the side as he walked through the hall, most of which were empty, some had boxes and other things. Arthur reaches the next room but hesitates to open the door, his hand just hovering over the knob. He could feel something on the other side, but he wasn't sure what it was. Arthur reaches into his subspace and draws his blade, and then kicks the door open. On the other side was a lab, two disciples were in this one, one of them held a clipboard and was writing something, he stood in front of a large test tube that held...something. There were multiple tubes, four in total. Arthur lunged forward and pierced the closest Disciple, but when he got to the second one, they had pressed a button, and moments later, the tubes pulsed, as they opened, the liquid inside spilling out as the creatures crumpled to the floor. They were strange, disfigured monsters, and their pale skin had cracks of energy leaking out, multiple arms bulged out from the back with multiple eyes on their face. Arthur immediately cuts down the closest one before moving on to the other three. His blade sinks into the third's chest, but its three hands grabbed onto the steel, its fourth grabbed his wrist, preventing him from pulling back. The fourth was advancing on him, and the third monster still had its grip on him, with his free hand, Arthur points a finger gun at the thing's head as a beam of light pierces through its head, loosening its grip as Arthur whirls around and lodges the sword into its side, cutting off one of its arms. Again, his blade was stuck. Using its three arms, the monster held Arthur. In an attempt to break free, he made eye contact with it; its eyes looked...sad? A coarse, raspy noise is emitted from the monster. Arthur's eyes widen,

"...Kill...me..." The monster spoke. He clenches his jaw as he places his hand on the once-human's chest, and a larger beam of light pierces through, leaving a hole in it. Arthur carefully lowered the body, which was slowly rotting open; they all did this. Inside was the base, the thing that they used to make the monster; inside was a small body that had been melded into the flesh of the monster, a gaping hole right where the light had struck. Arthur sheathes his sword and moves over to the desk, where a screen was left on that had files and notes about these experiments. They had done this to multiple people; seeing these files brings a certain commission to mind. Years ago, when Arthur was still a kid, he had heard from Father Rhan about a commission that had something to do with an entire village going missing. To think this is where they went, all those years later, the commission has finally come to an end. Arthur returned to the doorway, turned around to take one final look at the deceased, and held his hand out, palm facing the ceiling. His power did more than just shoot lasers, though it took more concentration to do; he could make fire. A white flame flickered to life in the center of his palm, albeit a small one. With a quick flick of his wrist, the flames danced through the air and clung to the flesh as it spread all over. One final act, it's no burial, but it was the closest thing they'd get to proper closure. He took a few steps before halting. I could come back and get the files later, or I could just get them now... With a sigh, he turns around and re-enters the smoky room, ignoring the smell of burning corpses. Arthur hastily searched through the drawers till he found the physical copies of every patient; he tossed everything that was in that drawer into his subspace just in case, and dashed out the door, taking in a deep breath of normal air. None of the other rooms had life in them; some had empty tubes, but nothing more. Arthur eventually stumbled into a room much larger than the rest; this was like a gymnasium, but 100 times bigger. The entire place was made of white stone, and tall pillars lined the back that went up high. Set dead in the middle was a set of stairs that led further into the facility, but people blocked his path. To be more precise, one person and more of these abominations. The man seemed to control them; they all held their heads low as they cowered before him. The man was dressed like a doctor, grey pants, a turquoise shirt and a white lab coat. His face had the look of a calculated person, but at the same time, he didn't. He began clapping,

" Well, if it isn't the youngest Adept rank hunter to grace the Adventurers Guild! If I had known you were coming, I would've greeted you myself," The man says. Arthur's entire body was tense. " You'll be able to tell roughly what rank they are by just feeling how much power they wield," Was what Father Rhan had told him, and based on what he felt now, the man standing in front of him had to be an Apostle.

Arthur snapped back when the man started walking, so he fired a warning shot, and to emphasize the threat he posed, he made sure it killed one of the monsters. He stopped. He took one glance behind him and kept his composure. "I'm sure you know what these are, don't you-"

"You're an Apostle, aren't you. You must be the weakest of them," Arthur cut him off, taunting him with a forced smirk. He had no reason to do that; there was a good chance this would set him off. Ah, forget it. Arthur drew his sword and prepared to fight. The Apostle drew his own weapon, a scythe. How fitting. " You have a sharp sense, Arthur. I'm the third Apostle," He says, twirling the sycthe. Arthur could feel his heartbeat; it just had to be the third one, not the fourth or fifth? The Third Apostle stops the spinning by slamming the butt of the scythe into the ground, it now stood perfectly upright on its own as he had let go and bolted right at Arthur, who had no time to react to the absolute arm-shattering punch thrown by the dude, it threw him across the floor a good couple of feet, Arthur pushed himself up with his good hand, his other arm wasn't broken, yet. The Third Apostle does a butler bow. " Marelius, Apostle of Advancement. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

-MAIN OBJECTIVE-

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CRYSTAL OF ENTROPY

DISCOVER THE GOAL OF THE DISCIPLES

Reach Level 900

WHO ARE YOU?

-SIDE OBJECTIVES-

KILL THIRD APOSTLE MARELIUS(0/1)

PROFILE: Arthur

LEVEL 120

ATK:694

SPD:635

DEF:600