“So the entire bill comes to 32 trillion credits, after your points are converted and used, you still owe just under 31 Trillion credits, so how would you like to pay?” Arson stared at Sprinter for a long time. The others in the room stared at Arson and wondered what he had planned for this situation, but only Troy could feel it. The unbridled rage that bubbled just below the surface of Arson’s placid features was enough to make her wonder if everyone within the room should run. Yet Troy stayed calm as Arson stayed calm. He wasn’t mad about the money, not that he had the absurd amount, but something about the girl she and Micro fought being pulled aside by the woman that had escorted them all there. After the apparent Headmasters for the Sri-school Legacy left, Arson relaxed visibly to Troy, but still wasn’t comfortable. His normal, seemingly endless energy was nowhere to be seen. She tried to listen to the meeting, but couldn’t focus. It was something in Arson’s eyes that told her they would soon be in trouble if she couldn’t manage to stifle the feeling of rage she could sense coming from him. Arson looked at his funds, and Troy knew he had to be surprised by what he saw there. She’d sent over his portion of their companies proceeds since he’d been gone, which she knew first hand to be more than enough to pay the bill. What she couldn’t see was Arson’s internal battle with the use of funds that his friends had worked hard for. The use of credits to pay what he felt to be his problem, not theirs. Nor did he want to use money that could progress his friends forward. He didn’t raise his hand toward the available credits that hung in the air, but instead toward the financing plan option. He’d be forced to make payments each season for the next season cycle in excess to what he owed, but would insure that the money used came from his own efforts, and not off the backs of his friends and family. Troy stared in shock and puzzlement, as did many in the room. His sisters wore confused and bewildered gazes, Rob squinted at Arson, and everyone else seemed to wear the exact same question on their faces. What would make him do such a thing…? “Now that we have finished filing, unfortunately we have to call the authorities. Graveyard should be here to collect you all for questioning shortly; this is just company procedure I assure you everything should be fine. Don’t...” said the nameless representative until Arson’s mana could be felt. He closed his eyes and exhaled. Arson the only one left breathing in the room. The moment felt like an eternity to Troy and the others gathered there, but Arson sighed and stood up eventually. “We’re leaving.” That was all he said before he started to leave. The pressure settled slightly the further he got away, and finally his friends and siblings were able to look around at one another, all rising to their feet. At first it had only been Arson’s party, but his siblings were quick to pick up on what may be about to happen. “We the royal family don’t negotiate with extortionist…,” said Ash. She was going to say something further until Troy looked back at her with a gaze that expressed the need for words were unnecessary. Ash snorted, even as she poked the table with a purple and gold flame. The entire tables top lit, and neither Ash nor anyone else looked back at the shocked faces or the table being sucked dry of mana, mana that floated after Ash, flowing into her body in a rush. An alarm went off and their group heard sounds of violence down the hall from their location. Their shared glances told them all that they were thinking the same thing. Where is Arson, and what are those sounds…? The group walked around the corner and were shocked by what they saw. Arson was surrounded by cultivators. A massive smile on his face. His scythe being wielded by his three Living Hand constructs, while he punched, kicked, and flipped through opponents. Every movement was an attack. A flip combined by two conductive water orbs being shot in seemingly random directions, Only for people to inevitably be struck by them. Forced into the paths either through being threatened by his weapon and constructs or Arson himself. Arson didn’t need help, but his party wasn’t the type to sit idly by and do nothing. They didn’t join the melee in the middle, but instead they started to attack the excess of guards that continued to pour into the hall. Some of the cultivators proved to be incredibly tough opponents, but Troy found herself constantly flanked by Micro in a way that made it hard for her to be approached. Troy wondered if Arson had assigned Micro to guard her, but didn’t have time to ask. None of them from what she knew had learned how to truly sense mana, so she assumed that none could tell the various levels of strength being used all around them. At first… then she realized after not even being allowed to fight certain targets by Arson’s own actions, that maybe that was no longer true. It wasn’t just her, but all of them. Arson picked targets. Some attacks he simply let hit him, the mana fully absorbed by his pores, while other targets, he didn’t allow to touch him. These same targets at first seemed to be those targeting the weaker members of their party, but Arson didn’t stop all attackers that managed to get close to those he came with, just those powerful enough to force him to want to dodge. All of these were assumptions Troy made as the fight progressed, while in reality Arson was gauging exactly how restricted his mana and core were. A conductive water spartan kick landed on a massive cultivator that even towered over Arson. The man had busted through the wall in a surprise attack, aided by stone and construction materials. Meanwhile Arson had triggered his closed eye dominion, and received flashes of his entire surroundings with every blink. He’d turned even before the massive cultivator even started to burst through the wall, cocking his leg back in what seemed like a random direction. His foot landed directly in the chest of the man, whose eyes went wide at being taken off his feet and sent soaring through the air to smash into another wall. The wave that pulsed out from Arson’s foot caused all that attempted to close in when he’d turned his back to them suddenly were mostly blown away. Others were able to break through which honestly surprised Troy, but she shouldn’t have been worried. The moment Arson was going to be struck by the few men and women that made it through, scythe attacks were sent out by his weapon. The constructed hands spun three times; the blades enveloped by a crimson energy that looked similar to his own golden conductive water orbs. Thin waves of the energy lanced out toward his foes, and Arson continued toward his next target without truly giving attention to any of the opponents directly next to himself. Their strikes would have collided with Arson, but in the same moment the three thin waves made contact with his enemies. Like the explosive orbs Troy was used to, these attacks also had a similar effect. The only difference was, the trails of visible mana that rushed into Arsons body. Enemies were sent flying through the air, whilst being simultaneously drained of their cores entire mana pool. Troy didn’t know exactly what occurred, but neither did Arson. The feeling of being drained of mana after using it was new to him, but so was having it restored by his attacks. This of course had always been something that happened while he used any form of conductive water orb, but he’d always had far too much mana running through his system to ever experience the sensation. Now he was forced to use the tool to its maximum capacity. His normal sized conductive water orbs took far too much of his mana pool, so he was once again forced to use the miniaturized version like bullets rather than the normal bomb style. He could now use a maximum of 10 of the small shots before he was forced to wait on his mana to restore itself. While it seemed that his weapon could strike as many times as it wanted without pause. Things turned more intense when more guards started to come through the windows, but it was in that moment of increased intensity that things changed drastically. Troy was unaware of what Arson was doing, but the openings made by Arson during combat were capitalized on by Micro. Seeing this Troy began to also utilize every opportunity given. This then became the entire group's task. If an individual struck out in an enemy's direction, others covered the charge. Troy saw Auto cover Rob’s assault on a group of cultivators with a mana-based semi automatic pistol. None made it close to Rob as he smashed paralytic gas bombs into the faces of guards; laser-like bullets capable of knocking them completely off their feet making his blitz far more intimidating and impossible to stop. Rob noticed the help, and made sure that his propeller palm drones dropped potions like artillery strikes on any who neared Auto. A sensation of unease could be felt growing in Arson through his bond to Troy, who at first couldn’t understand why she and Micro had started to seamlessly sync their attacks. A hard-light clone, kicked a cultivator through the air, before Micro emerged from the individuals own shadow and snatched him by his collar. The cultivator was then slammed by the head into the floor below, Micro able to position the man beneath herself aerially before riding him by the neck downward with a stomp. Khalif dropped men and women into their own shadows with a single touch, letting them fall into Ash’s path. The girl then sent fireballs toward the targets, often before they could even hit the floor. Her targets were blown through the air, and into groups of rushing opponents, that were instantly set ablaze. None panicked at first… After some saw the living forms of cultivators sucked dry of mana and life energy, they became less accepting of their assigned task. Their shriveled forms were used by Khalif who simply gave Ash more targets, and let no one advance on her position. At points, their party was attacked on multiple sides at once, but the most alarming pairing that defended their group wasn’t when Arson aided someone, but instead the combinations being formed by Xani and Autumn. The two girls didn’t plan on helping one another, but after the initial rush began, Xani found herself hovering above Autumn amidst a storm of propeller palm drones, and vines. Autumn lifted opponents into the air, and cultivators found themselves punched, slammed, and even experienced their bones being snapped by the equipments deadly grips. “What are you—“ The cries and yells of those forced to try and stop their exit was all that filled the halls. They couldn’t use elevators or trams to exit, and instead made their own passageways or caved in entire rooms to descend. Aura was having the time of her life. She also took on a more assistive role in the fight. She guarded Axis, Lane, and Jasmine from any who managed to make it pass all the others around them, darting from enemy to enemy in a flash of movements. She now knew she was imitating the fighting of her younger brother, but didn’t care. Any who approached their small group, was beaten down thoroughly. Aura was well versed in the art of kicking, but was still far from even a minuscule percentage of the level of skill Arson had managed to train. Arson’s own favorite spartan kick performed one after another by him then Aura on a single target sent the young woman in a roll down a flight of stairs after being pin-balled between the two. All of the BHC’s leadership, the Builders of Godhood, fought alongside the Royal Family siblings, in an ever increasing synergy, that mimicked the level of impending dread Troy felt resonating through their bond from Arson. Why would you be worried that we work well together…? It was the only thing Troy could think of. Her gut told her that she was right, most likely a result of their bond, but she couldn't figure out the why. Meanwhile, Axis and Jasmine struck poses while Lane recorded the battle around them. Jasmine nor Axis actually fought anyone, but the fake photos taken would leave any who saw them convinced that both Jasmine and Axis were formidable opponents. A detail that Arson couldn’t help but contemplate making a reality. Arson knew that if the Headmasters hadn’t left, their current escape wouldn’t have been possible. He’d actually closed his eyes during the meeting to sense whether or not they were still within a reasonable distance to take action against them and help Raid Corp stop their exit with the closed eye dominion. Once the headmasters returned to the island in the sky above the resort, Arson moved. The limits put on him by his seal caused him to not be able to leave a quickly as he’d originally planned, but the assistance given by those around him, proved to be far beyond what he expected. He’d thought what he’d been capable of with the aid of the members of the Pocket Apartment was incredible, even as he’d once held back his own power. Now as he worked beside his friends and family though, he knew both he and what he could achieve with a strong team, was far beyond what he’d first suspected. Just a little bit further… … Sprinter phoned her boss and was surprised when the older gentlemen actually picked up the call. She had almost never gotten through, but instead left audio messages for him to receive and get to whenever he was available. Now though… “Umm hello sir I am sorry to bother you, but I am sorry to report that there has been an Incident at the Raid Corp Resort Coliseum.” “I see, have you already sent over the necessary content for me to gain an understanding of the situation at hand,” asked Carter Omni, the head of Raid Corp, and Primo of the underground Career Criminal Capitol. The man was seen as one of the realm's most legitimate, and suspected gang leaders to ever live. The limits of his power so unfathomable by normal cultivators that his actions were seen as, above the law, or victimless crimes, even if they were tied to near genocidal numbers of casualties. “I did, sir, but the problem is now deeper than just an avoided bill. One of the individuals involved triggered an array linked directly to your own bloodline, sir, and may be moments away from being seized by Graveyard. I assume you don’t want me to step in on his behalf?” Silence filled the line, which was surprising enough to Sprinter as her boss had a near unforgivable level of expectations for his own kin, yet he still contemplated helping. She hadn’t even told him who the young man was, yet she felt he was completely aware of the facts to a certain degree already. “No, but if you can make sure he is tagged by one of the officers that may be beneficial, I could use another associate in training,” said Carter before the line went dead, leaving Sprinter to respond to herself. “Wish me luck.
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