[ALSO, WHEREVER THERE IS A NAMED ORT, A MONARCH IS BOUND TO BE THERE]
Wait, what? I know the possibility of either appearing was considered, But the possibility was only limited to the only one of them being there
[THE POSSIBILITY OF IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE. FOR ONE OF MY KIND TO EVEN BE NAMED, EITHER THEY WERE CONTRACTED OR THE PERSON HAS A LOT OF POWER. IN OUR CASE IT IS BOTH THE CASE AND I CANNOT THINK OF ANYONE POWERFUL AS YOU OR MORE EXCEPT THE MONARCHS. GUESS I FORGOT TO TELL YOU]
What do you mean 'guess I forgot to tell you'? that should've been the first thing you could've said. You always leave the important parts out, sheesh
Here I was on daily perimeter guard duty planning on the way to escape and dark apparently had forgotten to fill me in on an important information.
So, the possibility of if there is a named Ort being with a Monarch is being considered then? Now tell me, will I be able to win at my current strength?
[WELL TO SAY IT IN A WORD, NO. YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO WIN AGAINST A NAMED BUT AGAINST A MONARCH, IT'S TOO STUPID TO EVEN DREAM OF WINNING]
Well, that is unsurprising, so the goals are; to head in, save them, find a way to return and avoid fighting as much as possible.
[THAT'S A GOOD PLAN CONSIDERING THE LAST GOAL BEING THE PARAMOUNT. NOT EVEN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, YOU SHOULD AVOID FIGHTING AT ALL]
Easy for you to say when you're not the one doing the rescue Dark. This is so going to be hard.
[WELL, I CAN'T SAY IT WON'T BUT LET'S DO THE BEST WE CAN DAN]
"Alright let's do this"
"Umm do what?"
Oh crap. I had forgotten only I could hear Dark and had spoken outwardly by mistake and the fellow perimeter guard had heard me.
"Forget about that. I'm just speaking to myself"
"The stress can indeed get to you. Don't breakdown"
Phew. Gotten that off my back then, now to wait for the right time. When is the right time exactly?
[WHENEVER YOU FELL STACY'S SOUL LOSING POWER. WE CAN'T JUST GO RIGHT NOW; IT WILL CAUSE FIGHTING WE CERTAINLY WANT TO AVOID. SO, THE BEST BET IS TO CATCH EVERYONE UNAWARES, NOT THAT WE CAN DO THAT TO A MONARCH BUT WHAT'S THE HARM IN TRYING]
You're scaring me again Dark, but to wait till her soul is losing power? How will I even know when that happens.
[LIKE I ALWAYS EMPHASIZE, YOU ARE THE POINT. WHERE ALL SOULS ARE CONNECTED TO. ANY MATTER CONCERNING A BEING CONNECTED TO YOU IS A PIECE OF CAKE TO CHECK. BUT BE CAREFUL WHILE CHECKING, YOUR WORLD ISN'T THE ONLY CONNECTED TO YOU]
Umm, ok? Well leave that matter aside. So, I just have to wait then.
"The intel gathering team has reached the next City, Hinnies. So, we'll all do well to remain on standby incase the need for support arises" we were addressed by a high form.
[NOT LIKE ANYONE EXCEPT DAN WOULD HAVE A CHANCE]
Sometimes Dark could be so rude.
Here I was, very worried. Emphasis on VERY. I did not know what to do, waiting for Stacy's soul to start losing power and at the same time not wanting that to happen. This was very hard.
We were excused from the addressing room in Merth. By now, the city was regaining it's once lost glory. To summarize, it was now filled with life. Not really as if was before, but there was life in it. Traders selling their wares, children running around and what not. All this would have been impossible in the resistance city due to the limited amount of space.
"This scenery is making me so happy"
[NOT TO BE A WET BLANKET AT THE MOMENT BUT YOU SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON HER SOUL AT THE MOMENT]
"It won't kill you to be nice for a change. Stop acting like some monster"
[WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? I AM A MONSTER]
"You know the context in which I meant that"
[NO, I DON'T HMPH]
Same old Dark. If only he was nicer and not obviously rude.
*
I finished with the walk round the city and I returned to camp, where we were stationed to stay as weak supreme forms. I did not get any issue from Stacy's soul. Seems no issue had arisen and maybe it was just your normal Ort stronghold City. Nothing Supreme forms couldn't handle if only intel was the goal.
So, I kicked back into bed and was about to start dreaming of Stacy when-
[SO, THE PART WHERE I TOLD YOU THAT IF THE POWER OF HER SOUL WAS GOING DOWN, WE'LL HAVE TO GO, SO WE JUST HAD TO FOCUS AND SENSE HER SOUL? THERE IS A LITTLE ISSUE THAT WASN'T ACCOUNTED FOR. AN CONCEALMENT TECHNIQUE IS IN PLACE AND YEAH IT BASICALLY CONCEALS WHAT IS HAPPENING. SO, UMM THE RIGHT TIME TO GO IS NOW]
-An alarmed Dark told me the rundown of what was happening.
How could he not account for a concealment technique??
So how am I to go to her now? If a concealment technique is made on her soul, how do I access it?
[OH, THAT'S EASY. MY GUESS IS THAT THE CONCEALMENT TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN PUT SINCE EARLIER TODAY, SO IT SHOULD BE EASY TO FIND CRACKS IN IT SINCE CONCENTRATION WILL BE LESS NOW]
Hmm? Yeah, that sounded solid
Here I was, at Hinnies. How did I get here? Well, I found the crack Dark was talking about and then I thought of myself over to where her soul was and well that's what happened. I could not go directly to where she was because the technique was still active, I just found a crack in it.
[IF YOU HAD FOCUSED MORE YOU COLD HAVE BROKEN IT]
Yeah, leave that for later. At least we got here, the issue at hand should be how to go to where she is without being detected. Any ideas?
[FOR ONE, YOU COULD TRY BREAKING THE TECHNIQUE, BUT RELEASING YOUR POWER TO DO THAT WILL ATTRACT THE FIGHTS WE ARE TRYING TO AVOID. SO, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THAT. THE SECOND OPTION IS TURNING INTO AN ORT TO TRY GETTING IN]
I didn't like the idea of turning into an Ort and then mixing with other Orts. Not at all, but what options did I have?
So yeah, I transformed into One. It was how Dark looked when I first saw him in The Point but bigger. I started to where the other Orts where, scared of being sniffed out but if anything, they were scared of me, they just backed off when I approached. I didn't know what was wrong but it's good for me that I was not being attacked at this point.
Now that I was in this form, it was easier to sense and now I could focus and break the technique. For some reason, Dark wasn't talking to me but I'm guessing the guy was shy meeting back with his kind. He could be a cute one sometimes.
Focusing all my power to break the technique, all the Orts around me began to back off, I'm guessing they were sensing something wrong but I could not care about that, right now my goal was to break the technique and save Stacy.
The cracks were turning to holes until it finally broke. Seeing the breakage, I turned back to my normal form (I had left my physical body at Merth) and using the soul movement ability, I found myself in a room? No, it was not. This was not a place in this world, it was separate from it.
[SO, THERE IS GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS, WHICH DO YOU WANT TO HEAR FIRST?]
Give me both at the same time please
[SO, THE GOOD ONE IS THAT STACY IS OK WITH ONLY ONE PERSON DEAD]
The bad news?
[THE MONARCH OF TRUTH AND LIES]
That isn't too- wait Monarch? I know the possibility was there but I was not expecting it to be here Dark!!!
[AND THE PLACE WE'RE IN IS HIS TRUTH DIMENSION. BE CAREFUL NOT TO SAY ANY LIES HERE]
That was much evident from his name, thank you?
Wait if we were in the Truth Dimension, taking all truth into consideration, weren't we supposed to be in our true forms? in other words souls? And with mana running around us?
[OOH, FIRST TIME YOU'VE ACTUALLY NOT NEEDED MY HELP TO DEDUCE SOMETHING]
Rude much.
But if that was so, then that meant everyone could see me, and sure enough I felt a hug from behind me.
"W-what are you d-doing h-here D-dan" Stacy asked with a shaky voice.
"I came to save you and apologize I guess"
"But how did you come here?"
"Umm-"
And then I heard it's voice. Her Voice, THE MONARCH OF TRUTH AND LIES
"Be careful not to tell a lie here will you"
Yup, I was about to tell one. So, I decided to ignore the question.