A Reaper's Philosophy-Chapter 66: Mission Z

"Where to now?" I asked Gen as we walked in the streets of Madsus City.

"You guys seem to only have ordinary equipment on you. It’s almost like you just became hosts yesterday. Not one rune is on your clothing." Gen said to us.

’Could they be so confident in their skills that they don’t need equipment? Nah, probably just some newbie cultivators...we are so going to die!’ Gen thought to himself.

"We’re here." Gen said as we arrived in front of a cloth store.

"Fuck yeah!" Lilith said with a passion.

"Our big mission is to go shopping for clothes?" I asked out loud.

"Our mission...is a lot more complicated than that. Which is why it is important that we go with the right equipment.

I don’t know how you two managed to make an impression on Ravana, but my hope on our survival rests on her not being wrong about you. At the very least, we can rely on Lilith since she has the highest cultivation here.

Nonetheless, we are probably going to die. This isn’t a mission, it is a death sentence! No one is forcing you guys to do this you know? The mission was just another way of saying no." Gen said.

"Don’t worry. We’re strong." I said assuringly.

That of course did nothing to ease Gen’s worrying. He was still certain that we would die. Surprisingly, he seemed prepared for it.

We then walked into the shop and kept walking within the large space. All manner of clothes were out on display. Many of them were very revealing. We finally reached the other end of the store and saw a different section. On this section, all the clothes were engraved with numerous different symbols.

"Why do these clothes all have markings on them?" I asked Gen.

"Runes? You don’t even know what runes are?" Gen asked in shock.

"I know what they are, I’m just genuinely surprised to see them here. Do they have a significant meaning on the clothes cause it looks like just jibberish?" I replied.

"Runes are an ancient language tracing far back to a time even before Dunamis. Each symbol has its own value and meaning. Some say it is the very language of Exousia itself. They are the building blocks of arrays.

Arrays are formations used to amplify a power. It could be speed, strength, defence, vitality, etc. In some cases they can create an entirely different power.

Runes are powerful, but they only become significant when an array master imparts their will into the runes.

Anyone can curve a rune, but in order to use it, you would have to fill the engraved rune symbol with exousia and mark it with your will. An ordinary array user would leave traces of the rune still visible. However, an array master might leave almost no traces and in rare cases, the rooms might appear nonexistant altogether." Gen said passionately.

"Gen? Ah, I thought that was your voice I heard. What are you doing staring at this trash at the front? You know the good stuff is back here. I have a new armor you just have to test out." A tall black woman said walking out from the back of the shop.

She had long black hair tied in a messy ponytail. There was a wild and free aura about her.

"Who’s this?" Lilith asked. "This is Elda Vergan, owner of this shop here." Gen said with a wry smile.

She then led us to a spacious room at the back with a 10m long wall at the side decorated with armors and weapons of different kinds.

"This is my new baby," Elda said as she handed over a vest like armor to Gen.

"It’s been tested right?" Gen asked as he put on the armor.

"Take your position at the end of the room please." Elda said to Gen with a smile.

"You still haven’t answered my question," Gen said worriedly.

"Yeah, it’s being tested right now." Elda said quickly then stretched her hand forward.

Runes began to float around a bracelet that she wore as lightning slowly began to spark off of it.

A massive lightning bolt then shot out of Elda’s hand and raged towards Gen. Gen upon seeing this only sighed heavily and took the blast head on. A barrier, with numerous runes floating about, appeared around the armor Gen wore. Gen remained completely unharmed.

’That blast was stronger than even Armando’s Tribulation Lightning and that armor just withstood it!’ I thought to myself in shock.

"You’re actually going to kill me one of these days." Gen said to Elda.

"My craftsmanship is legit and you know it." Elda said confidently.

"Very, but such armor is not why we are here today. We need equipment that can protect us and help us fight against lethal poisons to the soul and bod." Gen said in a serious tone.

"Mission Z?" Elda asked.

"Yeah." Gen said solemnly.

"You’re an idiot for what you did, but I didn’t expect a death sentence." Elda said with disappointment.

"Who gave out the mission?" She asked.

"Elder Mai." Gen answered defeatedly.

"Then there’s nothing I can do except give you the best equipment that I have." Elda said passionately.

"You mean the most expensive?" Gen asked rhetorically.

"Being the heir to the wealthiest family in the North, I don’t think it’s beyond your budget." Elda said with a smile.

’Rich!’ The tailed Lilith and I thought in unison.

Gen was then given a black, jade like ball by Elda and was instructed to step on it. The moment he stepped on the black ball, a sticky black substance then shot out and clad him with a full body armor that wrapped around him and began to take form.

This armor was specifically crafted to ward off poisons. A half black, half white mask was then given to him as the last set piece of the armor.

"Give a set each to these two as well." Gen said pointing at us.

"No need, just the masks are fine with us." The tailed Lilith said.

"What we are about to go up against will eat away your flesh in a matter of seconds, and that’s only after it feeds on your soul. I insist you put on an armor for your own safety!" Gen said to us.

’What else should I have expected from newbie cultivators?’ Gen thought to himself solemnly.

"We have our own methods to deal with poisons. Like the tailed Lilith said, just the masks are fine." I said out loud.

"Fine, but don’t blame me when you die...not that I can escape death either..." Gen said to us.

We then each received our masks without further complaints from Gen.

"Did someone else make the stuff in the shop? The runes in this mask are barely visible." I asked.

"That’s cause these arrays were placed by the Legendary Cultivator Elda. You are looking at one of only four Grand Array Masters in the whole of Madsus City and the only one who is a Grand Master in not just arrays but blacksmithing as well. A master of two professions." Gen praised.

"Seems like a lot of work." The tailed Lilith said.

"An Array Master needs powerful artifacts that can withstand the master’s exousia when inscribing arrays upon objects. There was no one around that could make equipment good enough to withstand my arrays so I decided to start making them myself." Elda said as she walked towards me.

"Okay, that’s kind of hard." The tailed Lilith admitted.

"You say you can faintly see the runes on the mask?" Elda asked.

"Yes." I said to her.

"You might as well be practically undressing me. When a master such as myself does not want their runes to be seen, then they won’t be. You’ve got good eyes...do you serve under a Grand Array Master?" Elda asked.

"No, but I am intrigued." I said to her.

"If you survive, stop by my shop so we can talk." Elda said with a flirtatious gaze.

"I’m definitely motivated to survive." I responded.

The tailed Lilith then swiftly smacked the back of my head with her tail.

"Do you want to die?" I said rubbing the back of my head.

Gen quickly paid Elda handsomely then departed the shop this us.

"It’s about a 3 day’s journey to where our mission is so there’s no need to take a beast and doom it to our fate. We can just run there so try to keep up." Gen said confidently then suddenly disappeared.

Gen was an Ascended Host so his speed and stamina were far beyond average. The tailed Lilith and I then quickly caught up to him and thus our journey began.

2 day later:

(INHALES)

(EXHALES)

(INHALES)

(EXHALES)

"... I think... I’m going to die...!" Gen said collapsed on the ground as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Pathetic!" The tailed Lilith and I said in unison as we looked back at the collapsed Gen.

"...What the heck...? Don’t you two... get tired?" Gen asked still catching his breath.

"Well, eventually yeah, but we weren’t even jogging all that fast. You’re really just slowing us down." Lilith said then picked up Gen with her tail and began to sprint.

"So what is mission Z exactly?" I finally asked.

"Mission Z to hosts of our level is a suicide mission. It is an S-rank mission that would evidently require a Heavenly Host to intervene. A living poisonous cloud is slowly approaching our Madsus city. There are only 3 Heavenly Cultivators in the whole city and they are all in seclusion.

Our best chance would be Elder Mai, but even she would most likely fall to the creature. We are up against an extremely poisonous cloud with a mind of its own. The creature goes after your biological weaknesses and uses them against you." Gen said to us.

"Bet you wish you took that set of armor now, hugh?" Gen added smugly.

"Not really...

I followed the general direction. I might be wrong, but I think we’re here." The tailed Lilith said as she came to an abrupt halt right before a checkpoint.

"What, how! We should still have another day to live!" Gen exclaimed depressingly.

"I told you, you were slowing us down." The tailed Lilith said.

"Okay, seriously, what the hell is that thing? It’s literally making my skin crawl." I asked out loud.

"That is what we have all come to call, ’Death’!" Gen said to us as we looked upon an astronomically massive, dark, poisonous cloud thousands of miles away.

A few towns were between us and the poisonous cloud.

"Checking in for Mission Z." Gen says to a man at the checkpoint.

"Mission Z? Man you have it tough." The man said.

Mission Z is a well known mission that had been around for centuries. All the sects knew of this mission. Even the commoners May have heard a few things about it.

"Yeah yeah, just tell us the situation." Gen said.

"You need to slow down the cloud’s approach or eliminate the threat as other hosts evacuate the towns." The man says.

It was customary to say this. This was the main objective of Mission Z. However, no one actually expects anyone to really eliminate Death.

"Got it." Gen said.

We then began to rush through the towns and towards the living, poisonous cloud. Many of the people evacuated with beasts, others had to be carried out by hosts who were also on a mission.

We then arrived on top of a tall wall in the outskirts of one of the towns. This town was about to be the cloud’s next target. A few dozen hosts stood above the wall.

"Reporting for Mission Z." Gen said to a chubby looking Ascended Host nearby.

"Yeah, we all are." The host said solemnly.

"So, how exactly are we supposed to stop that?" I asked.

"We not... We’re all going to die." The chubby host said solemnly.