Chapter 29: Investment 29— The Talk with Skion and The Start of a Brand New Adventure

"Wait...wait don’t tell me he can see us," Deria stuttered.

"Don’t worry it must be some kind of gli—"

Yuki gazed at Helix and felt he was very real.

"Nevermind," he muttered.

They all got into battle position. It was not like they could end the memories at will. The presence of Helix was highly suppressive such that a normal person would fall unconscious. And this wasn’t even up to ten percent of his actual strength.

The fog around Helix moved first to attack them before a translucent burst of light dispelled the fog.

"Helix, why don’t you go back to your slumber?"

Skion appeared floating in the sky radiating white blinding light. He clapped his hands together and a large wave of light disintegrated the fog of Helix.

"This is merely the prologue. My return is nigh," Helix rasped as he vanished in the light.

"Woooooooo." Skion wiped the sweat off his forehead as he let out a sigh of relief.

"Master!" The Four Vassals jumped onto him with hugs.

"We thought you were gone forever," Caldiya cried out.

"Old man. Don’t play tricks on us next time," Drakan beamed.

"It’s good to see you again, Sky Father," Kalehan said calmly.

"I am greatly amused by your phenomenal comeback, my Lord," Yuki blurted out.

"Now, now all of you. I know you missed me," he gloated.

After their brief reunion Skion quickly got down to business.

"Don’t get too excited yet. I died a long time ago. This is but a fraction of my soul that was placed in that young and upcoming god over there," he pointed a finger towards Elliot. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Elliot touched his chest in surprise. "Me? But I didn’t do anything," he mumbled.

"You didn’t have to. It was on auto so far as the condition was met that you came inside the 8 Trigram," Skion explained.

"It’s time for me and my successor to have a little private chat." He snapped his fingers causing him and Elliot to vanish into white light.

"Where did they go?" Seria looked around only to find out that her fiancé was gone.

"Don’t worry he will be fine," Drakan replied.

Skion and Elliot appeared seated underneath a large tree on a mountain surrounded by white clouds.

"Where are we?" Elliot took a moment to take the mystical scenery to memory.

Skion spread out his hands. "You could call it a safe space free from disruption and eavesdropping." He looked serious for a moment then he burst into laughter.

"You totally bought it." He continued to laugh at Elliot’s gullibility.

"Okay, okay time to get serious. This is a secret space I created within the Eight Trigram just for this very moment."

Elliot knitted a brow. "Don’t worry I am not joking this time," Skion muttered.

"So I guess you have something to tell me," Elliot mentioned with a bold tone.

"Yes of course I do." The look on Skion’s face suddenly became serious.

"My disciples must have told you about the resets and how this is currently the last one." He took a deep breath.

"Well if I must say it’s good to see that you created a strong bond with Seria Ale Migalison. After all she’s a project that I worked tirelessly to perfect," he muttered.

"What do you mean?" Elliot tried to wrap his head around what Skion was saying.

"All will be revealed in time. All I can tell you is to keep her happy." His gaze drifted towards Elliot.

"And train like crazy. For now you can barely defeat an actual emissary disciple," he let out a sigh.

"But we just defeated one the oth—"

Skion cut Elliot off before he could finish.

"She was nothing but a lab rat. An actual disciple would have blown your academy to bits along with half of the capital of the nation," he said with a convincing tone.

"You need to prepare for what is coming. At a point you would realize that even the famed tier 20 spells are nothing but paltry tricks," he stated boldly.

"I think I can handle my—"

In a blur Elliot was flipped upside down and Skion pinned him to the floor.

"What in the world happened?" Elliot grunted. He couldn’t comprehend the movements of Skion.

"That proves my point." He stood from Elliot’s body.

A miniature white crystal appeared above Skion’s head and entered into Elliot’s body. He felt as if a drop of water had landed in an empty stream inside him.

"What was that?" He palpated his chest.

Skion placed a finger above his lips and winked. "Let’s see each other again."

An invisible force pulled Elliot towards the clouds.

"You haven’t answered my question!" Elliot shouted as he was pulled out of the space and reappeared beside Seria.

"Elliot where did you go?" She grabbed onto his arm.

"That’s a bit complicated," he let out a defeated sigh.

"Okay everyone it’s time to head back," Caldiya’s voice carried.

"I am down. I don’t want to be attacked by another evil god," Deria shivered.

"Me too," Edith added.

"Me three," Taumus stated.

They all vanished from the memory and reappeared in the higher dimension.

Everyone landed on the floor stacked upon one another. They stood and dusted their bodies.

"Wooo. That nightmare is over," Edith let out a sigh of relief.

"You barely did a thing," Seria raised a brow.

"You clearly don’t care about our mental health, only Elliot’s," Deria grunted.

"Well it’s not a lie." She patted Elliot on the head. He felt a bit distant but her warm touch brought him to.

"My sweet Seria." He kissed her on the cheeks.

"Hckkkk." Seria’s face turned red, the steam leaving her head was visible.

"Tsk, couple goals," Taumus hissed.

"Okay everyone, the summit has come to a close. See you all next time," Kalehan’s voice boomed. The long summit had finally come to an end. They bid themselves goodbye.

"Till next time." Yuki waved them goodbye as they all vanished from the space.

"Ahhhh. Kids these days," Drakan shook his head.

They returned to the arena and time continued to flow normally. They headed for the class before the professor arrived. Soon a month passed and it was time for the dungeon expedition to begin.

The first year and second year students all lined up in front of the dungeon gate beneath the academy.

"The headmaster won’t be able to address you all this time due to certain pressing matters," Professor Dermiurge’s voice carried.

"But in his stead and as the dungeon advisor, I will address you instead," he announced.

The second year students began to murmur.

"Don’t tell me it’s going to be another long monologue this year again," a second year student sighed.

"Hey! Who said that? I heard you!" Professor Dermiurge let out a disappointed sigh.

"Ahem!" He coughed.

"There won’t be another monologue this time. As you were all told the previous week I am sure you paired yourselves in teams of five. Whether you have or not is your problem and the concern of your dungeon instructors not mine."

"Moving forward. I would like to announce to you all that the Four Seasons are amongst us today." His gaze drifted towards where Seria, Deria, Taumus and Edith stood.

"They have chosen to reveal their identities with the Mage Tower’s and headmaster’s permission of course. Seria Ale Migalison, Deria Peronaz, Taumus Haven and Edith Cloklein. Their abilities and seasons have still been kept a secret as requested."

"We expect great things from the Gods’ Chosen," he mentioned.

Idle chatters and cheers erupted amongst the students.

"Now, now. All of you save your chatter for the dungeon. As usual don’t do anything stupid, watch out for each other and follow the instructions of your instructors." His voice got lost in the noise. They didn’t bother to pay attention to him.

"Tsk. Young people, so annoying," he grunted.

He snapped his fingers and everyone became silent as the dungeon doors creaked open slowly. The students marched into the dungeon in their numbers.

"Here we go guys." Elliot and the rest of the group entered into the dungeon.

They were about to embark on a journey that would prove to be very eventful filled with numerous unknown elements.

"Finally the noise around this place will reduce," Professor Dermiurge smiled.

In another corner of the world of Hale inside an abandoned mansion, the mystery lady stood by the window watching the alluring moon.

Another figure emerged from the shadows and knelt before her.

"Our great Dark Emissary. I greet you," the jagged voice of a man echoed.

"Well done disposing of the trash. I will make sure that Lord Helix rewards you properly, you are my worthy disciple after all," her voice carried.

Other figures emerged from the shadows making about twelve of them all together.

"The chosen ones have entered into our territory. As expected the vassals must have addressed them." A smile crept across her face.

"But nevertheless the plan will proceed as it should." Her gaze drifted towards the shadowy figures. They all knelt down before her.

"Yes of course! Dark Emissary," their voices rasped.

She turned towards the window again staring at the moon.

"The prologue has just begun." Her smile widened turning into a sinister grin that reached below her eyeballs.

"I would love to see how you handle the horrors that are about to come your way." She placed her fingers on the glass.

"Himekawa Senji," she whispered.