Bab 343: Chapter 343: Logical Deduction
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After a sharp flash of golden light, an eruption of bubbling gold waves rolled downwards through the air and painted the entire building in their colour. Every surface reflected the brilliance of the annihilation magic as it rapidly cascaded towards the krakyrn with violent undulations like encroaching despair given royal form. Ares' magic had been ramped up to eleven and this was doubly true for anything annihilation related as this single art was looking to single handedly be enough to force the krakyrn to flee with its tentacle tails between its legs. The second the Grand Annihilation made contact with the krakyrn's head the latter was pushed down as though a cartoonish ten thousand ton weight had been dropped on its head, crushing it and dragging the creature lower and lower. It's body was pulverised and forced to bend and sink back down into the waves and it was brutally beaten down and out of view, replaced by the golden cloud tide storming vertically through the building. Even under the water that battering continued as each explosion in the chain rocked the monster's world, kicking it around until eventually it was flung deep enough to regain full control of its body and resist. Even despite the depths of the water somewhat hampering the Grand Annihilation's efficiency, and even though it was now being pit against a fully fledged krakyrn with no restraints, it continued to fight valiantly and clash with the creature head on for supremacy. It lost out in the end but not before popping of the monster's ten eyes with a BANG while acting as one final slap across the face.
The beast had been learnt a very important lesson here about the fact that there was always a bigger fish and Ares was practically a megalodon compared to it. With a few growls of pain the krakyrn took its leave and swam through the currents to escape this place in relative safety. It too, like Fin, was more powerful underwater than above it so if anyone dared chase it they would be making a foolish mistake. All the krakyrn wanted was to return back to its regular dwelling now that it had successfully accomplished what it came here for. It could rest up and recover, regenerate its missing eye and damaged insides thanks to its kraken heritage offering it such powers. Tentacles regrew the fastest of every body part but the krakyrn could absolutely fix everything else with enough time sort of like a revenant. The difference, though, was that revenants' regeneration was superior in every way, prevented death, and could even heal the soul if it had to for whatever reason. This krakyrn could just slowly create new limbs and body parts to replace the old and expel anything too damaged to keep from its body, shedding its war scars. As for Ares, his hand for instance, all he needed to do was wait a while and it would be back to normal. He didn't have to cut off his hands and gestate a new one inside him for a week or whatever, his lost finger would just regrow from the stump and his broken bones would snap back into place and fix their shattered parts. Ares was basically a superior creature in every way to this amalgamation and that had been made abundantly clear to the krakyrn who now had an image of its natural predator imprinted onto its psyche.
Back by the Federation, Ares, the natural predator that eh was, was lying face down in the water and slowly drowning as bubbles floated to the surface every time he gurgled. Yes he'd sunk the beast but his body had given-in mid fall and now he was just kind of dying a pathetic death because he forgot to take this small detail into account... Thankfully Nibbler waddled over, leapt into the water, and bit Ares' Zephyr so he could drag him back to land. Who's a good little lifeguard? Nibbler is! The tiny friend also seemed happy now that Ares wasn't on fire anymore and gave his face a lick before waddling back over to Hunter. His paws were still wet so they plodded along and made a quiet plopping sound with every step that made Ares chuckle while he was digging around in his Primordial Blade.
It was finally time to take one of Allie's pills. They were more effective than what he got from his international rewards and so he figured he would be able to at least stand up on his own and Voidwalk back to the house where he could collapse again in peace and rest after consuming one. Allie's pills were of a quality that couldn't be matched by the handouts he was given by the C.O so he refrained from using them specifically for situations like this. A stamina pill ought to do the trick, and invigorate him for long enough to sort things out here, so he dropped it into the air in front of him, caught it with telekinesis, and moved it into his lazy mouth that was struggling to even open properly. He did eventually swallow the thing and a lemony zing assaulted his taste buds so much so that the bitterness of the pill was enough to make Ares get up on its own. That bitterness allowed him to ignore the tiredness dulling his mind and limbs but would fade in about thirty minutes. It normally lasted longer but his current state was really just that bad. He was utterly exhausted and so the pill had to work harder and expend more of its nutrients to keep him up and running. Either way, thirty minutes was overkill and talking to the people here wouldn't take forever anyway. He could rush the journey home and throw in a few Shifts / Double Jumps to speed the process up if need be. Though he'd been planning on using the comprehender, as well as just generally checking out his new Extinction Converter, it was probably for the best if he left that for tomorrow when he was actually capable of moving.
That aside, Shold and Bort were the first two people to come running up to Ares and check to see if their meal ticket... Friend, was still doing alright. He was their escape plan to Vraizon so him biting the dust here would delay everything! He'd been lit on fire and nearly murdered by the krakyrn so it was only natural to see if he needed anything these two could provide him with. They were rich after all! An energy drink? Some healing pills? A sauna? A fire hydrant in case he suddenly burst into flames again? All he needed was to name it and Ares would have whatever he desired at his fingertips! He was ok, though, and had already long since gotten what he wanted so he dismissed them and told them they were free to do as they pleased from now on. Ares would come pick them up at the previously arranged time (whenever he was done with Neo Gear) and, until then, they weren't needed for anything else. They'd fulfilled their end of the bargain with perfect marks so Ares would do his own part later on without fail.
Next up was Nibbler and Hunter. Nibbler was pretty simple as Ares just stroked his fin a bit and that was enough to make him bark contentedly. As for Hunter, well he was still shocked that Ares had that much power tucked into him! Naturally he'd heard the rumours of his magic but seeing it first hand was an entirely different ball game. Ares explained, briefly, that he'd found a good treasure to drastically improve his magic but that wasn't what he really wanted to talk about right now. Hunter was an expert in deciphering the actions of monsters of all kinds and Ares was hoping he maybe knew a thing or two about why the krakyrn showed up. It seemed the captain was also interested so he finished chatting with Shold and Bort about clean up measures cross the Federation and came over while announcing his presence.
"Mind if I hop in and join the conversation? I've got some thoughts on the matter too."
Hunter shrugged and didn't seem to mind much. "We've been in the same room as one each other a few times but I don't think we've ever spoken directly. Geordie, isn't it?"
The captain tipped his hat and nodded in response. "That it is. And I know of you, Hunter. You were but a tiny kiddo last time I saw you. Heard about the scuffles between you and your old man here and there so I've got a rough picture of what you've been up to. Also, nice to meet you too golden child." Now Geordie was tipping his hat to Ares who was basking in the glow of being recognised abroad. It wasn't the first time it happened but that just solidified the fact that he was becoming famous. It's not like he craved the attention but being a well known figure had benefits and would make his life easier so this was a good sign if people in important positions knew who he was... That or Geordie was just calling him golden because of the art he just used which honestly might have actually been the case. This guy gave approximately zero craps about anything that happened anywhere other than his Federation and news from foreign locations did not reach his ears very frequently. He'd probably tune it out even when it did anyway so whether he was aware of who Ares was or not was still in the cards and would likely never be definitively answered because Ares didn't care enough to ask. Either way, Ares responded with his own revenant-styled greetings.
"Hello Ahab, nice to meetcha."
Hunter had to butt in here. "Ignore him, he's always like this." Geordie raised an eyebrow as he looked back at Ares but eventually decided it was better to not feed the gremlin the response it craved and waste time on the kid's antics if he really was consistently like this. Hunter spoke up again and got started on the topic of its unwelcome guest appearance today "Anyway, about the krakyrn... I'm thinking the final treasure of the auction had something to do with it. I was talking with the host just a moment ago, as he was organising his employees in the aftermath, and he mentioned he wasn't able to find the item anywhere. He seemed particularly stressed about it, because of its value no doubt, so he ran off without really answering any of my other questions but I think the krakyrn took the thing. The treasure I mean. Apparently the first tentacle that broke through the floor, by 'complete random chance', 'happened' to just 'accidentally' burst though the ground exactly below where the treasure had been? I don't buy that level of arbitrary happenstance one bit.
The krakyrn must have sensed that treasure from miles away and come darting through the ocean in search of it here. I mean it made a beeline right for this building, ignoring everything else along the way, and wound up in the exact spot where a precious item disappeared? It doesn't really take a genius to put two and two together from that... Now the only question, really, is what was that treasure exactly and why did it even want it to begin with? Sure rare treasures are extremely addicting for powerful creatures and cultivators, and they'll fight tooth and nail for them, but to go to such lengths and actively charge headfirst into enemy territory without a plan is crazy. It seemed less determined and more desperate based on the way its eyes were squirming around, according to witnesses who were on the scene, when it first surfaced. It wasn't calm or composed so I'm thinking it was less to do with affiliation with the treasure and more so longing because that treasure was somehow relevant to the krakyrn. In what way? I don't know/
That's my best guess but I can't tell you any more because I don't think those insufferable auction lot are ever going to spill the beans. They're obligated to remain professional at all times and, as the item has not yet gone up for auction, they won't disclose what it is before hand. Some auctioneers believe hinting, or outright naming a treasure and its effects, in advance drums up hype but others, such as these lot, think it stifles the upper limit of the bid. If no one knows how much items can potentially cost, or be valued at approximately, ahead of time, they might even bring every single ounce of wealth they have and fall into a bidding frenzy over an item nobody saw coming. As they have more money on their person, they feel more inclined to keep bidding because its readily available and they feel richer than they otherwise would. In the moment shock, that leads to poor decision making and overbidding on items with an overabundance of wealth, is their goal and they won't compromise on that. They must still believe in vain they can find the item lying around here somewhere, or that they can get it back from the monster at some point, so they won't give away information about it for the sake of their client... Who's going to be incredibly pissed off when they find out the item has been abducted by some random overgrown fish... Well, that's a problem for the auctioneers to figure out and has nothing to do with us. Our major concern is that the krakyrn, the next time it appears, might end up using whatever that treasure is against us. It has the sentience to wield treasures so I suggest keeping an eye out for anything strange in our next encounter."
"Next encounter?" Geordie kissed his teeth. "I wan' an answer to why it was doing strange shite in this encounter! What the hell was up with that water magic? The beast is known to use fire magic with its mouth, wind magic with its wings, and technicals here and there with its tentacles. Never heard of no damn water magic! That's what I wanna know about!"
...
Hunter parsed through his knowledge on wyverns and, more specifically, krakens but he couldn't come up with any justifiable reason for this anomaly. Lots of krakens had water pillar affiliations but randomly gaining one after years of not already possessing one was undeniably incredibly strange. There were some monsters that could gain affiliations by killing other animals and absorbing the affiliation, or something along those lines, but the krakyrn had no business falling in that category of monster. That was not a talent it possessed otherwise it would have gained the affiliation sooner as well as a bunch of other ones in addition to that. It was looking likely that it had nothing to do with its biology and everything do with something else entirely, like maybe a rare resource that spawned at the depths of the ocean tha developed an affinity for the water pillar for who, or what, ever ate it? While Hunter was thinking things through, however, it seemed like Ares had maybe come up with his own idea as he had somewhat of a eureka! moment and lowered a fist onto the palm of his other hand with a bright expression.
"I think I know! The host of the auction, as it turns out, is like me in many ways and gave the answer away with a pun, of all things, earlier!"
Hunter and Geordie weren't here for the unveiling of the item and so they needed more clarification. The latter was the first to ask. "What do you mean?"
"Well he said a few things that line up nicely with what we already know. The monster started randomly using water magic, right? The item for sale came up last, despite the proclivity of businessmen to avoid cultivation and combat related treasures, but everyone was assured that it was because the type of item it is was worth it. Finally, and this is the big one, the host said that it can enable people to do things they previously couldn't! It's a water pillar enabler!"
"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." The auction host came thundering over while hushing Ares and glancing sideways to make sure nobody else overheard this important detail. "I am BEGGING you not to go around spreading that information! We are expecting a fierce bidding session once that item is revealed in all its splendour and I don't want it ruined. Our client is expecting great results and, quite frankly, I do not want to disappoint them."
"Surely that mythological creature now owning an enabler is a more pressing matter?" Ares almost couldn't believe the nerve of this guy! The krakyrn was a monster that defied normalcy, and could have even an entire book dedicated to its unique history and strength, and yet this prat was more concerned about the auction item than the dangerous thing that now owned it! That creature's strength would have skyrocketed with such an acquisition and yet it was still just learning how to use it properly. When it could finally cast arts it would become an even bigger menace to the Federation and anyone who dared try to stop it. In case it wasn't obvious, giving an extremely powerful SEA CREATURE, the ability manipulate WATER was VERY BAD. This wasn't like it was a fire pillar enabler or something equally useless, not even remotely close, it just had to be a damnable water pillar enabler!
And the host knew how important that titbit was too because it was one of his selling points! He'd mentioned something about the 'circumstances' being perfect for owning that treasure and it made a heck of a lot of sense why right about now! Sure the businessmen might not care about cultivator-oriented treasures but this thing could easily defend you if you learnt any water based defensive arts! There was more than enough water to go around and somebody in the transition realm could easily, on demand, summon a tsunami wall. Then there was offense too... It basically all but removed the need to dedicate time and effort to becoming a better cultivator, and slowly developing an affiliation that they might not even have, while being a natural fit for the environment they lived in. No wonder this fool expected the enabler to sell well. It was quite literally the perfect item to sell in this specific country and to these specific rich people!
To make matters worse, none of this accounted for what the treasure could do aside from the obvious enabling power. Enablers were rarely so simple that they enabled an affiliation and did absolutely nothing else. That treasure didn't look like a weapon, like the Prowler, so it probably came attached with a truly powerful art of some kind instead of having raw functionality. An enabler's art would seriously be no joke and if the krakyrn was capable of using it, given its high cultivation base and general strength, Ares' job ending its life had become that much harder. He couldn't blame the auctioneers necessarily, they couldn't have known this would happen, but he was still annoyed at them for trying to withhold this information! If it weren't for Ares being here earlier, and hearing what this muppet said as he tried to reveal the item, the risk factor would have climbed exponentially with nobody being any wiser. The people on the Federation, and potentially even Ares, would have had another showdown with the monster later and marched straight to their watery graves because of these punks! The things people in this country would do for a few extra stardust was getting a bit much and Ares had never felt such a massive urge to star blowing things up out of pure dissatisfaction with his surroundings! If it weren't for all the innocent people in this country he would do Sheryashka a favour and remove this place, and all the snobby pricks on it, from existence!... Alas, he wouldn't actually ever do it but telling himself he would made him feel better! Empty grandstanding calmed him down and allowed him to resist the urge to give this stupid host a wedgie and a swirlie! At the same time!
Meanwhile, Geordie seemed less annoyed despite the somewhat traitorous revelation about the auctioneer's intentions. "Well whatever. As long as I know I'm not going insane and that monster didn't just start spouting water for no damn reason."
Hunter smiled wryly at Geordies somewhat bizarre priorities because he admittedly felt the same sense of relief. "Yeah, I get you. Would have been real embarrassing if 'the monster hunter guy' couldn't come up with an answer to that question. Good thinking Ares, you hit the nail on the head perfectly... And you!" Hunter turned to the host. "Get the hell lost!"
With repeated hand gestures from Hunter the host was shooed away and forced to retreat back to his gaggle of employees where they brainstormed how to get the damn treasure back! How on earth they were planning on doing that without the help of the three people they just angered was anybody's guess. Plus there was technically competition here... Ares wanted the enabler! Finder's keepers, losers weepers! He didn't like those people anyway and a new enabler was up for grabs? The client could go take a hike! Ares had bought it for the low low price of absolutely free, thank you very much! Let's do business again some time! He was just about to disembark from the Federation in a desert area as well so he doubly wanted it! Having a second enabler would open up so many options for him as it was quite a generalist pillar he was gaining access to and if he ever found any gaps in his overall skillset then that treasure would be a great way to fill it.
Now Ares had a real vested interest in killing that abomination and so he was going to make sure he kept an eye out for it and dealt the lethal blow come what may! He could then either try and use the Prowler to pick up the treasure in secret or just straight up fight off anyone else who was after it, he really didn't mind one bit what it came down to because he was confident in himself either way! So confident that he was already thinking of a future in which he owned the thing and trying to find loopholes for a very specific problem. It was unfortunate that you could only use one enabler at a time!... But if Ares complained about that then he was truly losing the plot. The number of people who could whine about such a thing, because it actually affected them in the first place, was only in the low tens of thousands across the entire universe. Still, his fundamental champion's sense of entitlement was flaring up again! Honestly, maybe one day he might even actually get what he wanted, that was just how being a fundamental champion worked. The entire world was at your fingertip and all you had to do was figure out how to approach earning your chosen reward rather than worrying about whether it was even possible in the first place. Sometimes it was even just given to you if you were lucky enough! Point in case, the Extinction Converter had fallen right into his lap and now this enabler had too!
Ares figured there was nothing left here to discuss so he bid these two adieu. "Alrighty then, now that we've figured that out all that's left is to actually kill the thing in a final confrontation next time it shows up. That's then, this is now, though, and I have to head back home before I run out of steam again. It's been a pleasure and I'm sure I'll be seeing you two again in the near future!" Ares gave a wave and departed through the front door where he found some of the businessmen hanging around. They were concerned about the result of the scuffle and how best go about clean up efforts. At the helm of the discussion was Cash who had his back turned to Ares. The guy had a barrier around him that evidently came from a treasure of some kind and it was one he must have felt confident in. It looked tough, as far as normal barriers went anyway as Enyo's were still stronger than this, and he must have been relying on it in case of emergency when the krakyrn was going wild earlier. Ares wouldn't put it past this guy to have been the first one to cowardly evacuate the building and abandon everyone else inside... Ares was about to just leave but he figured he might as well drop a subtle threat while he was still here that ought to put things into perspective for this dummy.
Cash was, to his credit, directing his lackeys pretty well. He knew what everyone did and how best to assign them roles that would speed up the fixing of this building. He knew who to send for negotiations for building materials, he knew who to put in charge of construction, and he knew who not to put in important positions because they had a habit of slacking! Not everyone worked hard, necessarily, so it was important to lump them together in low paying positions and make sure they never got a promotion of any kind. They were also the first to face the music and get fired if ever any suitable replacements cropped their head up. Cash was feeling a lot more comfortable knowing that Geordie and Hunter were here now and taking care of the issue but that lowering of his guard meant he jumped in fright and almost bolted form the scene instantly as soon as he felt something tear through his barrier! Whatever it was that had just invalidated his expensive defensive treasure did so with ease and there was clearly no pushback from the barrier which just died a dog's death and exposed Cash's back to the monster behind him. The only reason he didn't activate another treasure and make a run for the hills was because he spotted the looks on everyone else's faces nearby and there wasn't anything on them that implied there was a monster running amok nearby. Cash turned around and saw Ares' smug face and a finger coated in some strange black magic Cash had never seen before. He could identify a threat when he saw one and was admittedly a bit shaken up thanks to this interaction. He trusted this barrier, as it had done him many favours in the past, so it failing completely like this was eye opening. He still pretended otherwise though and kissed his teeth while keeping up his calm face and an unbothered pretence. "Tsk, still alive are you?"
Ares chuckled. "Yep, and I feel like 2,000,000 stardust right about now..." Ares pulled out his shades from the Blade and smoothly put them on as he started walking away. "... With change!" With a flip of the bird, Ares took off with Voidwalk and begun making his way home while Cash grumbled curses at him from down below. Having his volcano loss rubbed in irked him but there was little to be done about it now. Whatever that treasure was it had clearly been worth more than Cash knew and he was somewhat regretting giving up on it so easily. He really had lost here to that damn kid and he wasn't going to forget about it any time soon. The worst of it was all the gossip he was going to have to overhear about this particular loss going forward whenever he attended literally any public event.
As for Ares, he arrived home with just under a minute to spare so he informed Aejaz that he was going to be out of commission for a while, so he could keep an eye out for twisted on his behalf, and then fell onto his bed. He was not going to be moving from this awkward face-down position for a long while so he wriggled forward, got comfortable, and fell asleep. Today had been a good day! Ares hadn't expected to make this many gains from this transitory stay on the Federation but he was glad to nonetheless. With the fine grind blue from Xasca he was aiming for, and Garmr rearing its head soon too, Ares was looking forward to becoming an unstoppable powerhouse. He was also infinitely close to going up to 6th stage of sensory enhancement so it just felt like it was all coming together and the timing of everything was perfect. By the time he returned to Red Sun he was going to be a very different cultivator and in a league of his own. It's a shame Mako wasn't still around because Ares would love to see just how much of a thrashing he could lay on that guy with all the benefits he'd taken advantage of. Ares, after his journey, could maybe even take on four or five Mako's at the same time, and that was a conservative estimate too. Sure there had been some hiccups along the way, and likely going to be many more, but this holiday / adventure was looking to be incredibly promising. This was why it was better to go out and adventure as a cultivator than sit in the sect all day! Opportunities aplenty! This would definitely be the first of many adventures, he couldn't not go on more when taking into consideration everything that happened already on this one, and he was looking forward to them.
With that in mind, Ares finally dozed off and that marked an end to the day because, though it was still relatively early, Ares was able to sleep through the entire rest of it without waking up even a single time. The Converter gave him a lot of energy but what it gave with one hand it took with the other. This was still the calibration phase, so it wouldn't work like this from now on, but it did mean that Ares slept like a log! When he woke up tomorrow it would be time to crash the Firestarter meeting and, maybe, fight yet another tricky battle against the other major monster this Federation battled against regularly. The country had just entered the territory that belonged to the Scylla so, though it wasn't guaranteed to show up, it was best to be prepared. Not just for the Scylla but for all possibilities. Astraeus had been wrong about the krakyrn as it showed up way earlier than anticipated due to something he could not have predicted; relying on his observations wasn't a bad idea but there needed to be some awareness that they weren't always 100% right. Ares didn't think there would be many surprises left in store, if any, but he would make sure he was fully rested for each and every one of them! Arrest the Firestarters, kill the Scylla, kill the krakyrn and then that was a wrap.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
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