Cadia Riverlands
Eastern Part of Land of Dawn
"Helcurt will eventually know where we are. He has eyes and a handful of spies everywhere," Lou Yi said, warning us to be more careful.
Lou Yi, through her Ultimate Diversion, saved us from being wiped out by Helcurt's squad of dark force and brought us safe inside her home. The place was all stuffed with assorted old books containing even the most ancient of spells.
"So, what's the plan?" a question thrown by Aldous.
"The plan? Certainly, I cannot risk all of you going back there. You cannot defeat him with that line up!" Lou Yi angrily said. "Aldous and Harith, a war is going on yet you dared expose yourselves to your enemies. How reckless!" Lou Yi continued, referring to how we use Aldous' Ultimate in order to reach Vale.
"Our apologies," both Aldous and I said.
"I was about to warn you that time. But after seeing Cyclops and Moskov heading your way, I have no other choice but to silently watch. Gladly, Vale rescued on time," said Lou Yi.
"That's what I told you. Keep an eye on the map. Beware of ambush. That's a basic teaching in the Academy," Vale strongly added his point.
"The fallen Academy I suppose. It was mighty back then before Helcurt destroyed it," I added.
"So if we cannot go back there, and if our line up is not good, then we must look for powerful allies," suggested Rafaela.
"Exactly my point," Lou Yi stressed herself. "Harith."
"Yes?"
"It's good to know you didn't sell yourself out. Helcurt will surely take advantage of you."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Your Key Insight. It helps build stronger forces," Lou Yi said.
"Whoa! Wait, and why is that?"
"The remnants of smoke casted by Valir's flames during his fight with Helcurt, when you touched it, did it really allow you to see the entire battle scene?" Lou Yi asked.
"Wait, how did you know that?" I inquired with curiosity.
"Franco and Bane. They sold you out. The information was given in exchange for two twilight coins each," Lou Yi confessed.
"Those drunkard morons! Will do anything just to quench their thirst for wine! But what's the connection with the smoke and strong forces here?"
"Only fragments are needed for you to see visions of who own such fragments, am I correct? How much more then if parts of mythical items, like heroes' inventories are presented to you? You will surely locate them, won't you?"
"Oh yes! Now I get it!" I agreed, as undeniably, it was true.
"Perhaps, that maybe the appropriate reason why they call you Time Traveler, Leonin," Aldous added.
"Helcurt may have realized that earlier. That's why he wanted to recruit you badly. He might be after you more than he's after me. Having other heroes beside him will make him more invincible. And with a strong army, invading all parts of the Land is not impossible," Vale made a clearer point.
"Apart from that, there is also one important thing. Guess what?" Lou Yi gestured in a mysterious tone.
Then Rafaela stepped forward, and seemed to think the strangest of ideas. "Oh no! It couldn't be! With that ability, he will surely find the Turtle, or worse the Lord!"
"Exactly," Lou Yi agreed. "Any dust or even the tiniest part of the Mighty Turtle and Lord will be used to locate these mythical creatures. And when that happens, everything will be horrible."
"Hmmmn. The Turtle or The Lord. It made sense. Until now, none had ever defeated the Turtle, not even the Lord," said Aldous.
"That's not because they're really powerful. As first and foremost, they're difficult to find. The Magic Academy once told that it only takes one hour for a Lord or a Turtle to stay in one place, then it would move to another random, peaceful location," Lou Yi added.
"Not that really peaceful. I remembered once when I treated Yi Sun-shin for serious injuries. To everyone's surprise, the legendary Turtle moved into his ship. For an hour they struggled fighting. Until it's gone," Rafaela motioned. "The Turtle, once killed, will only spawn back after a thousand years. And by far, no one has ever slain it yet. The last was when Roger acquired the Turtle's buff two thousand years ago."
Suddenly, Vale stood up, and look at me intently in the eye. "Looks like you're the most important Leonin who has ever lived now, Harith." Then he took something from the air, and out of nowhere, a weapon, emitting crystal-blue light appeared. "Take this. This will temporarily protect you. Use this when needed."
"But Vale, I know this thing. This is Winter Truncheon. This is way too much pricey and rare. What about you?"
"I will buy another one in the Truncheon Market. And yes, that's rare. They say a quarter of that truncheon is molded from broken aquamarines. That's where it gets its strength."
"Well then, I will have it hidden in my Time Lock. Thank you," I said to Vale, deeply thankful for his gratitude.
"Just make sure to stay alive, okay? The world needs you more than us. Whatever happens, do your ability for the good," advised Vale, to which I nodded.
"So going back, what's the plan?" Aldous threw again the same question.
"First, we need to create the best team of five. My Diversion Ultimate can only carry five heroes at a time, including me. This team will teleport to the core part of the Celestial Palace, fighting Helcurt's squad," Lou Yi proposed.
"I don't think that's a good plan. Why do we have to fight inside the Palace? We can do it outside to a war terrain Helcurt's not familiar with," Vale suggested.
"He is not familiar with the Wind Valley either. But he still took it from you. Helcurt has now grown stronger, with every dose of aquamarine he gets," Lou Yi reasoned out. "But they say, Helcurt has still a stockpile of aquamarines he hasn't consumed yet. And that's why we need to attack from the inside. To steal those aquamarines first."
"And where did you know that?" Vale asked.
"From the same tavern drunkards over there. And it costs me a hundred twilight coins," answered Lou Yi.
"Seriously?" I asked, still couldn't believe how resourceful those two drunkards were.
"Seriously, and we have no other choice now but to believe them, at least. So, are we all agreeing here?" Lou Yi asked the team.
"You were right. We had no other choice," motioned Vale.
"Okay, so this team will be assisted by another team outside the Palace. That is to distract other enemy heroes around. The goal is to squash Helcurt and take whatever aquamarines left, by all means necessary," commanded Lou Yi.
"So, where do we begin?" Rafaela asked.
"Let's find the best team first. And we will decide what to do. A tank, a support, a marksman and two fighters inside the Palace," Lou Yi continued.
"All gears up. My Key Insight is ready. Who do you want me to locate first?" I eagerly asked.
"Take a look at this. Could you locate this for us?" Lou Yi said, handling a piece of sharp object.
"What is this? Where did you get this?" I asked, with all our eyes fixed at the thing Lou Yi had shown us.
"I bought it, for another fifty twilight coins. From those bastards again," Lou Yi answered.
"Hahaha," Aldous, in his usual terrible laugh. "I know now why those two are in favor of Helcurt's reign! Because the circumstances are making them rich! Hahaha!" Aldous continued, but no one else laughed with him.
"Hmmmmn," I carefully examined the item that Lou Yi had turned over.
Then casting my Key Insight, my eyes started to glow, depicting a series of visions around them. But I was shocked! It was no ordinary vision. My eyes were also seeing a pair of scary eyes. And they were glowing too, intently looking back at me! Who is this? I said to myself. Then we continued staring at each other. Moments later, he transformed himself into a mighty beast.
"If this is the Dragon's Will, come and find me," the beast in my vision said to me.
"This thing... this is a dragon's scale!" I said to myself.
Author's Note: What are your thoughts on this chapter? Have you ever tried using Yu Zhong? So OP AF, right? Okay, so what best line up do you recommend? So I will use it in the next chapters. Don't be afraid to comment! Thank you!