Chapter 109: Ice-Spies - Interlude

  Opal entered the viewing deck of her usual training ground with her sisters. She was completely spent after the intense training session. But this was not new to the triplets. Parth trained them pretty much in a similar manner. Why would Andrea be any different?

  This was the same gymnasium that Path generally commandeered. But now, the triplets had taken over the place, holding the fort for him. As they all sat on the deck, Andrea finished setting up her holographic targets. A couple of minutes later, the side door opened, and a training golem stepped inside.

  The overhead holographic screens began flashing with a countdown, and the moment the number hit zero, a layer of ice covered Andrea’s entire body. The holographic targets began moving in all sorts of patterns, blocking Andrea’s path.

  Opal watched on as Andrea shot forward, dodging the holo projectiles that began raining upon her. Opal could see the metrics on the screen in front of her. The objective of this training was to bring down the golem without getting hit by a single hologram. Pretty tough. Opal knew that she couldn’t do it. Neither could her sisters.

  Moira could, but Opal wasn’t too sure about it. Because mobility was the main goal of such an exercise. Moira could defend, she could attack, she could heal, she could do a lot of things. But Mobility was the name of the game over here. Comparatively, maybe Zircon’s advantage would allow her to do it, after all. She didn’t even doubt about Parth being able to finish this challenge.

  Encased in her ice armor, Andrea seemed to have no trouble initially, moving past the projectile with ease. Generally, people would think that such a thing would hamper mobility. But Andrea could do a lot more than just cover herself with her ice. Opal watched in rapt attention as Andrea juked to the side, narrowly avoiding a cluster of holo projectiles that zipped in front of her. She was steadily making her way towards the golem without getting hit by the targets.

  There were some mishaps here and there where she had to backtrack in order to avoid the sudden traps of holographs coming together. But Andrea was steadily gaining ground.

  It was interesting watching the acrobatics in play. Andrea was not using her ice mist. Presumably because her mist contained tiny crystalline powdered ice. It would touch those holograms after all. And the screens said that the threshold for failure was minimal contact with the user’s mana. So, without using that cheat method of spatial awareness, Andrea was depending just on her five senses.

  A few moments later, she got almost within striking range.

  The golem was mechanically designed to predict its opponents, so it immediately went on the offensive, trying to push her into a hologram. Instead of blocking, Andrea jumped high. She landed on the golem’s shoulder and pushed off even higher. Before the thing could retaliate, she somersaulted in the air and shot down at it. The ice encasing her entire body expanded, and within seconds, shaped itself into a massive bident. The impact drove the golem to the ground, as the prongs of ice pinned it down firmly.

  The next moment, alarms began to flare. But it was not a sign of success. Opal glanced at the screen, and the large flashing text said that one target was disturbed.

  She looked at the arena, and sure enough, one holo projectile was glowing red. But it was not in the path of Andrea’s construct. So what had happened?

  She waited for the replay, to see what had happened. The golem was down for the count, though. It wasn’t getting up. Such was the force of the impact and the sturdiness of the construct itself. There was no proper mobility and leverage for the golem to escape.

  “God damn it. I need better control over these constructs.” Andrea’s voice came over the speakers. She didn’t wait for the reply, seemingly already in the know due to her connection with her ice. Andrea practically melted out of the ice construct and began making her way to the deck.

  The replay began, and Opal turned her attention back to it. The video focused on the moment of impact. A tiny chip of ice dislodged from the construct and hit the target a couple of meters away. The broken chip was hardly as large as a fingernail, but the parameters for this training were strict.

  Opal believed that Andrea was being too harsh on herself. This was similar to getting a ninety-nine percent score on an exam and complaining about the one percent that was wrong. But of course, she was too used to this kind of behavior with Parth as well. Trained fighters like these demanded perfection during the training.

  Parth always said, “Make mistakes in training. Identify them, then get rid of those mistakes so that they don’t pop up during the actual battle.”

  It made sense. But one shouldn’t beat themselves up all the time. And this was coming from an upright person like Opal.

  Normally, after witnessing such a performance, Zircon would have clapped mildly. Amber would have been exuberant. But alas, things were different. Zircon was even more withdrawn than usual. And Amber was far less boisterous. She was angry. Frustrated. And it showed in her training as well. And they all were training a lot. They had never been slackers. But after knowing that their friends were still trapped inside the dungeon, they just didn’t want to sit still at all.

  Andrea walked onto the viewing deck and plopped down next to the triplets.

  “You need to teach us how to pull off moves like that. Given that we can fly, we should be more agile than we currently are,” Opal said. Moreover, all three of their artifacts were related to mythical creatures. Mobility, agility, and aggression shouldn’t really be a problem for them. After the encounter with Blackbog, aggression hadn’t really been a problem, per se. But they could always get better in the other aspects.

  “It’ll come in due time, kids. You haven’t been fighting for long. Training helps. But it can only help so much. We need time, more than anything. And we are short on that. So right now, focus on the basics. Parth taught you how to punch. I’m teaching you how to kick. Your other trainers are drilling you on battle tactics. All that should be enough. You’ve done well so far. You have nothing to worry about,” Andrea said.

  “But how can we not worry? He was- no, he is stronger than us. But he still got trapped. Moira has two artifacts, but she also got trapped. We have two more trials to go. Not to mention the maniac that’s gunning for us. It’s hard to stay positive,” Amber said from the side.

  In a way, Opal agreed with what Amber said. She missed the two of them as well, and she was afraid. The triplets spent most of their time with Parth and Moira. They hadn’t spent much time with Kwame. But he was still a part of their group. And he was a good person. They did wish him the best as well, but the connection was just not as deep. They would have to rectify it when they all returned from the dungeon.

  Returning to Byron’s Boon, not seeing their three friends in attendance, shocked them. Traumatized them even. Opal wouldn’t ever forget that feeling. They had thought that they had lost their friends.

  It was only after their advisors told them that the artifacts hadn’t returned to Byron’s armory that they could finally let out a breath of fresh air. Their friends were still alive. Trapped, but alive.

  However, the pain didn’t really go away. The dungeon was just heaping them with hardship after hardship.

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  “Hey, come on now. You’re mistaking being trapped for losing. They haven’t lost the fights, have they? We know that the enemies that went after them did not make it out. All three of them are still alive. You know them. They’re tough. They won’t die here. Just you wait. We’ll meet them when we go into the dungeon for the next trial,” Andrea said.

  “I know, but still...” Amber sulked.

  “As I said. Don’t worry too much. You have us looking after you. We’ll handle all this. We have a plan to meet up with them. We have emergency signals just in case. It’ll all go well. Trust in all of us. We won’t let you down. You do trust that they’ll stay alive inside, right? They are strong. You know that,” Andrea said, and then got up. “Come on now, it’s time for lunch. You need to get some food in your bellies after all this exercise. Let’s go.”

  Later that evening, the triplets got ready for dinner. After the training session with Andrea, they had a scrumptious lunch. Then they trained with Ms. Nakiri’s trainer. Now they had a team meeting with their friends, or at least those who were still outside the dungeon.

  “Have a good time, girls. Stick with Emilia and everyone else. In case you need anything, I’m just a call away. Be safe, have fun,” Ms. Nakiri said, waving the triplets off as they got off the aircar.

  “Bye, Ms. Nakiri,” they waved in unison as the aircar took to the skies.

  They quickly rushed into Cleo’s Orchid, not wanting to get mobbed. It was not that there was a huge crowd, but by now it was quite known that their teams liked to visit Cleo’s. Thankfully, due to them being such high-profile regular customers, Cleo’s knew how to handle all that.

  Within minutes, they rushed to the terrace and occupied their usual table, waving at the staff as they ran past them. Andrea and Stefan were already seated at the table, but Emilia was nowhere to be seen.

  “Order up, kids. Emilia will be here with us soon. I’ve placed her order as well,” said Andrea.

  “Another analysis?” Stefan asked, preempting Amber, who was just about to ask that.

  Opal ignored that byplay for a moment and instead placed the order for the three of them. At this point, she could recite her sisters’ favorite items with her eyes closed. The fruit options in Cleo’s were impeccable. Amber had a sweet tooth, so a cake. But brother Parth would scold them for only eating desserts, so she ordered a salad as well. Zircon preferred vegetables, so a bowl of stir-fried veggies for her. And for Opal herself, fried rice and some fruit. And a milkshake each for all of them. She swiftly placed the order and closed the screen.

  “Yes, please, Mr. Stefan,” Amber asked.

  Of late, they spent most of the time with Andrea and her team. They had gotten closer to Stefan as well. Frankly, they were a bit intimidated by the Synthire at first. He was tall, pale, and had those scary eyes. But it turned out that the man was a softie.

  “Here we go,” he said. He was not a man of many words.

  His artifact manifested on his face. The visor looked as cool as ever. The blinking patterns on the screen added to the coolness factor. They, of course, didn’t know what it said, but it was a lot of information flashing by at a crazy speed.

  “You’re good. No injuries, manageable fatigue levels. All in all, a good day of training,” he said.

  Of course, Ms. Nakiri’s manor had all these facilities as well, to check their status. But the Inspectacle was the best artifact there was for this kind of stuff. So they took his opinion as well. It never hurt to be vigilant.

  “Sorry, guys, I was running a bit late. I hope I didn’t make you wait for too long,” Emilia’s voice cut in as she walked towards their table.

  Right on time, the servers walked in behind her and placed the food on the table. They had timed it perfectly for Emilia’s arrival. Once again, proving why this was their favorite hangout spot.

  “Nah, we just arrived a few minutes ago. But never mind that. Where were you, hmm? Spending some time with a certain healer?” Andrea teased.

  “Oh, shush, Andrea. We don’t have time for this nonsense,” Emilia said simply as she took her seat.

  Being accustomed to this discussion, which had been happening for the past few days, Opal dug into her food instead. Amber and Zircon did the same. Meanwhile, Mr. Stefan just plugged the winding straw of his opaque cup to the implant on his neck.

  “Yeah, sure, shush me now. All these rendezvous don’t matter at all. But when I decide to have a sparring match with Parth, all of a sudden, gossip matters a lot to you.”

  “For your information, I was doing reconnaissance. Not barbarically beating the bloke that I have my eyes on. Honestly, this is not high school. Grow up, Andrea. You should be open with your intentions. Not doing whatever you tend to do,” Emilia said.

  “And I’m telling you for the hundredth time, you have it all wrong,” Andrea exclaimed.

  “Sure, whatever you say.”

  “Why don’t you grow up for a change? He’s my sparring partner. You’re the one still in that high school mindset, and you call me immature. We’re just friends who like to fight.”

  “And I totally believe you. But onto serious matters, I do indeed have some information for us,” Emilia said.

  “What happened?” Amber asked.

  “Blackbog has caused a major ruckus. Several patrons are unhappy with him. I mean, the death toll this time is insane. And he is a key contributor to it alongside the dungeon.”

  “Tell me something new, sister. This is not news. We already knew that he was insane. Heck, everybody knew,” Andrea snorted, her face twisted into an ugly sneer.

  “Not everybody. And not to this extent. I mean, we lost seventeen voyagers in the first trial. And counting this one, we have hit a total of thirty-six. This is not normal at all.”

  “So what are they gonna do? There’s nothing we can do until this whole thing ends. And some of these deaths could have been avoided if those pieces of shits didn’t go after other voyagers.”

  “That’s true, we can’t take matters into our hands here. But at the same time, nobody can stop us in the dungeon as well, right? Many teams have been made aware of the threat that he poses. He has been declared persona non grata. At least among the voyagers. They’re gonna kill him if they see him.”

  “Or he’s gonna kill them and add to his kill count. Seriously, going against that maniac is a major risk. Not that I’m gonna back down, mind you. He went after our people. We are gonna hit him back even worse than we already did. Heck, I’m mighty pissed that we missed him last time around. It was close. If not for that bullshit strategy that he pulled out of thin air, hitting the dungeon boundary like that. Say what you will about that crazy bastard, he can fight,” Andrea said animatedly, punching her palm in agitation.

  “Indeed,” Stefan added.

  The triplets didn’t say anything. There was nothing to be said, honestly. He was their mortal enemy. Nothing would change that. Hopefully, someone else got to him. That would solve a major problem. They weren’t all too keen on fighting him again. But if he came after them, then they won’t back down either.

  “What else have you got? Any actual news this time, or is it just something else that we already know?”

  “Pipe down, Andrea. It’s not just about Blackbog. It seems many advisors and patrons are not happy that nobody got any entitlements this round. Some of them blame us for that, you know? Saying that the tsunami was a major disruptor and nobody got any major achievements as a result.”

  Opal thought that surviving the tsunami and the dungeon breach were two major achievements in themselves. They should have gotten two entitlements for that. It was not fair.

  “Are you serious?” Andrea asked, gobsmacked due to the sheer absurdity of what she’d just heard.

  “That’s what I’ve heard. But they can’t do anything about it. Not now, at least. And apparently, they did get shut down hard by the organizers. We have Cart Blanche inside the dungeon. And meeting up with our friends and teammates is not a sin.”

  “Yeah, just a bunch of hypocrites. Everyone teams up. And we actually weren’t a large crowd at all. It was just the mishap with the positioning. It was nobody’s fault but the dungeon’s. It was herding everyone together,” Andrea said.

  “They know. That’s why they can’t do anything much to us. Even after the challenge ends, they can’t overtly do anything much. Just subtle nonsense, you know?”

  “Won’t stop them from teaming up and going after us during the challenge. Or maybe it would. I guess these Patrons are just scaredy-cats. They’ll be afraid that if there are too many people coming after us, then once again the dungeon will think that there’s a huge tasty cluster forming. And it’ll hit us again.”

  “God knows what these people think.”

  “Let them come. I’m still a bit salty that Parth, Moira, and Kwame took out that maniac with the sword. And that stupid illusionist as well. I had a bone to pick with them,” Andrea said, recalling the first trial and how those two foes had ambushed them. All due to the instructions of a petty noble who didn’t like the Hollow Crown.

  “If only I had gone for the kill back then. Maybe, maybe then they wouldn’t have gotten trapped in the dungeon. It still bothers me,” Emilia said.

  “Let it be. You can’t do anything about it. It was an honest mistake. You haven’t been holding your punches ever since, have you?” Andrea consoled her team leader.

  “Not even remotely,” Emilia replied resolutely.

  “Then what’s there to talk about? We’ll keep fighting.”

  “Where did you get the information about Blackbog from, Emilia?” Opal joined in, diverting the topic from the somber mood that had taken over.

  There was no response from Emilia for a couple of seconds before she gave a side eye to Andrea and spoke, “Farhana told me.”

  “And there it is. You aren’t a melee fighter. Why do you even have to go and visit a healer?”

  “Oh, stop it, Andrea. I was just thanking her for the help she gave us inside the dungeon. And I did get useful information from her, didn’t I?”

  “Last I recall, we were the ones who helped her more than she helped us. She should be the one thanking us. Or maybe she did, huh?”

  Opal couldn’t help but giggle. Despite all their hardships, they still had each other. Good friends who had each other’s backs. In spite of the best efforts of the dungeon and some horrible people, she felt safe.