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    <03/27/1965 - 13:31 | Delta Camp, (Unknown Region) Sprawn Valley>


    Despite having expectations of such a successful reconnaissance report, the return home was anything but welcome. "You were supposed to complete your job and leave no trace!" The handler for this important mission slammed the stack of paper against the table separating himself and Krim, who deserved all the mess he wrought upon himself. "Tell me once more why you decided that killing a bystander was the path you chose, when we explicitly stressed recon only."


    Krim cleared his throat with strong hesitation. It wasn''t clear whether this handler just had a stick up his bone, or if the higher-ups would really see it the same way. "Unlike all your other teams, I accomplished the goal I was sent out for. That bystander was more involved than you realize. Had I left her alive, she would have blabbed about the same vulnerability to the tower mages, who would have taken steps to beef up the security even more."


    "Tch! Well it''s not me you''ll have to convince. If the boss doesn''t like your answer, it will be your ass on a stick."


    "You can finish your berating, Monarch. The boss already knows about this." Monarch and Krim both nervously turned to face him, as Lance cautiously crept forwards, his mind a maze of information from the recent shake-up. At the very least, they had black coffee available at this very table, and Lance wasn''t shy about sharing a long sip.


    "Lance," Monarch greeted with an annoyed tone. "I''m not sure what you expect to come from all of this, but having a murder in the capital city will make our investigation of the report much harder."


    If only they would learn to relax ever so slightly. Lance pitied almost every single soldier in this growing group. Everyone has been through so much already, yet they still don''t realize the significance of it all. After another coffee sip, he glared at Krim for a moment before interrogating the intentions. "Soldier Krim. Presently, your actions have yet to be judged for punishment, since we are still weighing the total benefit of your discovery. Tell me in your own words, what exactly you learned out there."


    Having been put on the spot, Krim took some deep breaths before answering. Lance could have just read the report like anybody else, but maybe there was something Lance thought he could learn by hearing it from his own mouth. "It''s not as though I hid anything. The footage I brought back should speak for itself. As far as testing, we will need to wait until they forget about security for a while."


    Lance crimped the mug tighter, visibly tense at a reply he did not want to hear. "I have better things to do than watch an idiot drown herself in false magic. I asked you to explain it to me in your own words. Do not make me repeat myself!" After cringing his last words through his teeth, Krim nervously answered appropriately.


    "Yes sir. The stray magic that made impact with the exterior bubble of the tower''s core proved three elemental facts. The first was that, the crystal core room of Eldora Tower is actually exposed to the outdoors at all times. Though it does appear to have a security feature in place to seal the room with magic-resistant plates capable of retracting, these plates are only ever utilized during a lock-down emergency. Otherwise, the core room is exposed to the sky. The reason should be obvious; the same room must house crystal technology to absorb pure lunar light."


    "And the other two elemental factors are?"


    "The very same area is protected by a highly advanced shield bubble which likely draws direct energy from the tower''s auxiliary power system. This bubble shield serves two purposes. The first and obvious is to provide an extensive amount of protection from any externally sourced magic attacks or infiltration attempts. Even if you could see it and unleash an attack, that shield bubble will likely have the same general strength of a Siriean dome. However, in addition to being protected, the shield bubble is modified to run a most impressive kind of cloaking technology. From the outside looking in, you would never notice anything out of the ordinary; just metal frames part of the tower''s roofing structure. If enough energy disrupts the shield however, this cloaking temporarily fails without alerting anybody of its failure, after which it refreshes every minute or so."


    With a crooked smile of curiosity, Lance made his own personal deduction from those facts. "That means they likely hold all the most valuable secrets right at the core room. The boss''s instincts are quite impressive."


    "The third elemental factor is what was observed during a temporary failure in this cloaking system. An array of crystal spheres, obelisks, and other various gear-based machines running in unison. Perhaps there is frequent human involvement, and perhaps there is not. What is clear to me is, the machines inside of that core room are responsible for the conversion and projection of magic from pure lunar energy to a Leray veil."


    "It isn''t shocking that they would need impressive machinery to extend the range of their Leray veil to meet the entire continent. No, what''s most impressive is how far they''re willing to go to cover up its design. Why would a rag-tag team of mages go through all the trouble? One possible reason would be that, previous indications that Sprawn Valley is uniquely suited for Leray magic is a bold-faced lie, though I can''t imagine our adversaries wanting to suppress that. Their twisted magic rejects all realism of magic, and any copycat would likely do the same, so why hide it all? If you ask me, I''m ready to put money into the idea that the same technology can be copied and dispersed elsewhere without requiring a direct conversion to Leray magic. It probably would not take very much at all to alter the projection signature to match what magic should be. Somewhere in all of this, the conversion process houses all the answers."


    "All interesting," Krim admitted, "but you should know that Yuel discovered this secret all on her own, and quickly found herself disturbed by it. Her very next intention was to write anonymous letters of warning to the tower mages regarding this vulnerability... You see now why I decided she had to die."


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    "..." Does he really expect to be praised for this? Krim did figure out the correct location of interest, but his field work was still sloppy and messy. "When we need to disappear a body prematurely, we ensure that the person disappears from all existence. It doesn''t matter that you staged her death to appear more natural; she died a little too close to home, and you left the body there to be discovered, putting the guards on high alert in the first place. Impressive as your skills detail you were, our leadership will not dismiss this single oversight. Since you brought both good and bad to the table, your fate will not be up for me to decide."


    Krim exhaled, visibly stressed at the situation as it were. In truth, he could have easily taken away Yuel''s dead body and hid the evidence of any complication. Still, at the time, it felt like the right thing to do.


    "Depriving someone of oxygen without so much as a scratch is still an impressive ability, one they would like to study. You''re lucky, soldier Krim. So long as you prove yourself to be useful in other ways, I doubt you will be severely punished for anything."


    "You sound disappointed to say as much to me."


    "Nay. I merely wish to exact our divine punishment upon the worms crawling around our world. The disgusting monstrosity that is Leray magic has twisted nature far beyond recognition. Danton is no pioneer of this world, only a warden, like all the others before him. I won''t stop until all forms of magic are unlocked and given back to mankind."


    "If you don''t mind me asking," Monarch interjected with anticipation, "do you already have a plan in mind?"


    "Itching for some action already I see. However, I must warn you that our next phase will likely see no combat."


    Monarch adjusted his stance and faced Lance himself, pointing out the misjudgment. "I''m not here to play games. I have a job to do, a duty to fulfill. Whatever task needs to be completed to perfection is something I am more than ready to help carry out."


    Is he bored of his current duties? Perhaps Monarch simply wishes to redeem himself of any association with this brute he was supposed to handle. "If you are volunteering, I won''t deny you this. It''s already obvious what will need to be done next, based on all newly acquired intelligence."


    "You mean, you don''t even have any new orders yet?"


    "There are two types of soldiers in this group, Monarch. You are either a lackey who follows all orders to the exact letter, or you are something more, an agent capable of predicting what our masters would want before being told about it to begin with. I seek out whatever we need, for the good of the Scarlets. If you can''t figure out what comes next, then you are only a lap dog, and should avoid asking those kinds of questions in the future."


    "Hm..." What else could he say to that? Predicting and completing the next mission before it is ever assigned is impressive and all, but if one guesses wrong and makes a mistake, they are taken for a free agent instead, and are promptly disposed of. Lance either has some impressive intelligence, or balls of steel.


    "Like I said before. The conversion process of moonlight into Leray magic holds some kind of valuable information, something the government deems classified at Level S. The way I see it, the government might lie all they want, but history never conceals itself. There might be unrecovered relics and artifacts, legends and fables, textual documents lost to time. If we could scrounge up even one, it would point us in the right direction, or perhaps confirm something we already suspect."


    "Forgive my bluntness, but, wouldn''t it make a lot more sense to track down the people who used to be employed at the tower?"


    "It seems you have half a brain, but fail to understand how to use it. How tragic. Of course past-employees are the best lead we have, but we don''t yet have a well-documented list of those people. Compiling enough information to launch that kind of investigation is going to take some time. Therefore, I deem it best to capitalize on the moment and trace down any findings that our false overlord decided to bury."


    "I understand... But where would one even begin? Aren''t the official archives off limits since that too is inside of Eldora Tower?"


    "How do you think all of those archives got into the tower to begin with? The moment they decided to hide the truth from all of us, was the same day they began hunting down these documents for cold storage. I shall first begin at the Museum of History. I doubt I can find anything here useful to us, but perhaps a certain individual there may be acquainted with a courier. If that doesn''t work out, I will explore some of the off-limit zones for any strange rumors. Assuming you tag along to assist me, I estimate this will take no more than five days."


    "I understand."


    "What am I supposed to do though?" Krim pointed to himself as he was being left out of the loop here.


    Lance let a soft smirk show, imagining how angry the boss would be at the technical incompetence. "If I were you, I''d standby and look pretty. If you have any sense at all, you would demonstrate your ability''s usefulness just before volunteering to undergo retraining for our dogma. If you really wish to ask a superior ever again for any favors, you better be prepared to deliver one in return."


    "I still can''t believe he''s getting off as easy as that."


    Monarch still doesn''t realize the significance of the mission status. "Despite a small oversight mistake, Krim did successfully bring back information which has allowed us the option to move forward, when we''ve been stuck in stasis for so long. Before the year''s end, I''m willing to bet our recruitment methods will become overhauled and accelerated, just as soon as we learn what makes that tower tick. Now, Monarch, will you accompany me on my next task? I am more than capable without your support. The choice is yours."


    Working directly with Lance? It should be an honor, even if it is a frightening opportunity. The leader of the Scarlet Syndicate is a ruthless one, a man who shows no mercy to anybody, ever. There is a reason why very few elite warriors exist with such a high rank like Lance does; you either have to be impossibly skilled in combat and trustworthy at the same time, or have enough screws loose that you fit right in with terror itself. Despite all he''s heard, Lance is so calm and docile, mayhap because of the recent good news.


    Even so, it''s not like things will change without moving this train along... Magic was once destined to become part of the world, more than just this set of isolated islands. If breaking the veil can give everyone the freedom they deserve to have, then there is no reason to hesitate any further with this. "Relics and fables you say? It''s not the typical thing I venture to hunt for, but I too trust that this is the correct path to take. I will follow your lead Lance. And before you insinuate so, I will not need personal protection, or assistance on how to inquire my intelligence."


    "Fine. If that''s how it is, then whoever finds a relic first claims all the glory for it."


    "Our end goal shall motivate me more."


    As expected, orders from the top came down just as Lance predicted. A new assignment was posted to seek out and locate any potential lost relic of the past, be it an object or a document. Even though two teams were slated for assignment, Lance and Monarch obtained the best head start, checking off every potential lead and details they could in a five-day span. A separate mission to investigate specific persons of interests related to employment in or around Eldora Tower was also in preparation, pending further coagulation.


    It only took five days for Lance''s team to search high and low, looking through every region explored and unexplored for the answers. However, on day six, both teams returned to Delta Outpost, reporting a full mission failure in finding any relevant information. Those who hunted down information about the past did too well of a job; not one single source of intelligence was available relating to the true process of magical conversion, outside of the archive room in the tower itself; a room where many have already dared to explore, and failed to go undetected in the process.


    Again, as predicted, a new mission was being launched; one to track down as many previous elites as possible, though the buildup of the briefing was instigated by a new character, one the leader himself introduced. Apparently, they had recruited someone who somehow had intelligence and ties to an unknown source of information inside of Verlith Prison. Most of the details were vague on purpose, though it went without saying that things were quickly being shaken up for everyone involved here.