555 Rights and Wrongs
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
He laughed.
“This is not how I expected Direction to twist and turn, circling back to its definition from millennia ago.”
He mused.
“How do tides manage to find each other and race back through traces of their origin, as if seeking the very fires of beginning? Is this how all things are designed?”
He thought.
“No matter. I have been given enough reason and time to watch it unfold.”
He went back to visualising the very nature of the world with strumming in his hand.
A distance from him, a boisterous laughter, much like his echoed, mirroring the reality that was still times away from being realised as incomprehensible irony.
***
“Hahahahahahahaha!” Skullius chuckled while shaking his head. At some point he even covered his face with his hand as genuinely, he found this funny and had not seen it coming at all.
Before him, the figure of Yuyui with a teary, confused and slightly angry face could be seen. She was kneeling before him, having just recently passed a brass coloured necklace with a sparkling silver jewel in the shape of a three point star to her master on the patch of snow before him – an action she paid for with the horrendous melting of her flesh.
She had just recounted everything that happened before she left Genhuis City in a desperate run to bring all she had stolen to Skullius.
She had expected rebuke.
She had expected Skullius to not excuse whatever returns she had brought as in return, she had probably wrought the wrath of the Purity onto them.
She had knelt immediately before him in this secluded, snowy plane where only snow covered rocks and a few sickly, cold trees were all the beauty that could be seen for miles, with the rest being blameless white, acknowledging that while she served her own ego somewhat, she had screwed up.
Yet, to all her serious confession and all, Skullius had burst into laughter.
It had been thirty seconds now and he didn’t look like he was going to stop anytime soon.
Sure, to Yuyui it was a bit refreshing to see Skullius show something other than a maniacal chuckle or a smirk or smile but…
“Master… I don’t think… this is funny…” she said in a small voice. “Please… say something.”
Skullius stopped laughing.
He smiled and sat down on a snow covered rock.
The cold wind blew on the two for a minute or so as silence dug in.
Yuyui grew even more nervous. She sneaked a glance at Skullius and found him gazing into the distance expressionlessly.
“You know, from the time before we met and back, I was always getting into trouble. I lacked knowledge, I was desperate to meet certain…deadlines and I didn’t make the most informed decisions half the time. Somehow it worked out. I grew and managed to solve some situations while other times, things just seemed to go my way. Still, it was rough. All I had were people who had to be cold when dealing with me otherwise they would die and even now, as we grow to care for each other somewhat, we are still distant,” Skullius said.
He turned away from the distant white and looked at Yuyui.
“You’re right. You brought along quite the huge obstacle for us.”
Yuyui shrunk.
“But you know what? I accept it. I have no right to judge your actions. In fact, I can’t. Because I understand them and I act the same all the time. Ever since that day, I gained UNDERSTANDING of many things, including myself. You only mentioned what you did as wrong but…” Skullius said as he drew closer to the kneeling Yuyui.
“You grew, didn’t you?”
Yuyui puckered her lips in surprise.
“Wh-What do you mean?” she asked, unsure of what Skullius was talking about. “Does killing someone really make you grow?”
Skullius shook his head.
“No. Maybe. I’m the worst person to ask that question. Even though I was human once, I’ve never had trouble taking lives. That won’t change even if I get to understand who I am. What I mean is, you pushed yourself towards a goal you wouldn’t have achieved with your previous mind-set. A part of your constrained mind changed. The kill was but one of the results you got after you were cornered.”
Was that so?
The lime haired girl thought to her frustration back there.
She really had wanted to accomplish her mission so desperately that she resorted to utilisations of her abilities that she wouldn’t have considered if she stayed in her shell.
Bargaining a chance to see the Grand Priest with her life and leaving a dead body of hers as a way to throw off the Priests by even a little bit…
These were things she thought about in the heat of the moment while debating her impression of the Purity.
Was Skullius right? Did she grow?
When she reached this point, Yuyui was jolted into remembering something important. She quickly pulled out from her pocket a small pouch.
It was beige in colour and made with a leathery fabric.
It had a steel clip that could be used to attach it to practically anything and on its top end was an open spot from which its content could be drawn.
“I also took this from the Grand Priest’s robes. I think this is where the other special items are,” Yuyui said as she handed the pouch to Skullius.
Once more she paid for it.
‘One more for the road, huh?’ Skullius thought.
He took the item and observed it while Yuyui respawned.
A spark flashed from Skullius’ body and clashed with the pouch which then showed complex rune work on its surface that exuded a bright energy!
Skullius let go of the item, letting it fall down on the snow.
“Hmm. There’s some kind of seal on it that made the Binds of Fukal on my body react. If it’s a storage item then it might not be easy to claim it,” Skullius analysed as his eyes blazed darkly, appraising the item.
~~~
[Brilliant Dent]
<Mythical>
A special storage pouch that can carry the weight of multiple continents while preserving the life of anything that is kept within it. The Dent can duplicate concepts observed by the user within its space, allowing them freedom in manipulating them as well.
-Special Effects-
•+50% to all stats for all inhabitants
•+90% energy regeneration for all inhabitants
•Can easily erect safety mechanisms the user desires
•Remains hidden until used or called by user
•Devours whole anything the user desires, but cannot guarantee permanent enclosure for special cases
•Filters energies
~~~
A genuine Mythical grade tool!
Since Kenno’s SinSky Shatterer, Skullius hadn’t seen anything on this level and this was the real deal.
p
Skullius couldn’t put his full focus on it for now though as he saw Yuyui start to panic.
Seeing Skullius’ Binds reacting against the pouch, made her wonder if this had been for nothing then.
If stealing this made things worse for them but without apparent benefit then…?
Skullius felt Yuyui’s heart start to beat fast and realised what the girl was worried about.
“Relax, alright?” he said with a sigh and decided to explain certain things from the top. “First of all, of all, your little trick of he behind your dead body will probably cause them to rack their brains for a bit but of course, they must have a Diviner or something to identify what really happened. Second, I never intended for you to live with me forever anyway, since a few days ago at least. You don’t have to go back to the city anymore,”
…!
“No. No! No! Master…I…!”
“I said relax. I don’t mean it in the way you’re thinking. And concerning this pouch, have you tried using your Eye of Dispersal to get rid of the rune work?” Skullius asked.
Yuyui stopped trying to appeal to her Master about being sent away and focused on his question.
She hadn’t really thought about it since leaving the city. So far, she had used her eye of techniques, and energies but not seals or runes. Frankly, she might have thought to use the eye if she was still in the heat of the moment earlier.
Now, she focused and with greater difficulty than she had been expressing before, the Eye of Dispersal emerged on her forehead!
‘Hmmm. Can only use her powers efficiently when she’s worked up? It’s common to awaken in desperate situations, I suppose. That’s why staying cooped up the city will do her no good,’ Skullius thought.
This was his opinion.
When the dark eye on Yuyui’s forehead appeared, it focused on the pouch, its iris and pupil constricting.
Blood started to leak from the eye while on the pouch, a throng of sparks shot out as the rune work that was usually invisible was ignited, showing itself with a bright golden glow!
For a few seconds, there was a clash as the rune work on the pouch spit out more and more sparks, resisting to be dispersed without a fight.
Soon, however, Yuyui collapsed, almost completely spent just from brief period of conflict but so did the rune work.
The lime haired girl kept her eye on the pouch as this stuff was different from energy where one look could compromise it. She had to keep her eye open otherwise the rune work would persist.
“Master… it’s done,” Yuyui said, exhausted.
Skullius nodded and quickly inserted his mana into the pouch. If what he assumed was correct, then the rune work disallowed anyone who wasn’t a Grand Priest or at least at that level from forming a bond with the pouch while also protecting it in more ways than one.
With the runes out of the way, Skullius could do that safely.
The moment he succeeded, Skullius immediately drew everything that was in the pouch.
A sheen of gold painted the surroundings as a stack of roughly 80 high value items showed themselves!