I Refuse To Be Fate’s Puppet - Chapter 72

Arata moved through the Valley and arrived at, what seemed to be, a marketplace. But this marketplace was a lot different to those that Arata was used to. Although they had stalls selling different items, the people that were walking around were not all alive. There were spirits, undead beings and ghouls that were walking around. There was a strong stench of Death that, thankfully, was reduced by the fact that Arata was now a spirit. But even then, he could smell it. He did his best to blend in with the spirits that moved through the marketplace. He moved through with a blank look on his face as he passed by all manners of dead creatures. There were creatures with rotting flesh, goblins and lower level demons that grunted and growled at anything and everything they went past.

There was a scent of Death over these creatures and Arata knew that they were all undead beasts, most likely doing chores and errands for their masters. Even some of the stall owners were beasts and undead creatures. This truly was a Dark Guild.

Arata surveyed the area as he walked through the marketplace. He could see buildings in the distance, attached to the sides of the Valley walls. He made his way towards them. He could see that some were houses, while others were taverns, bars and shops. He glanced at a large tavern that seemed to be full of people and creatures inside. Arata remembered his father saying that a tavern was an information goldmine, and this seemed like a good place to start digging, so he followed a few spirits that went inside, through the front door. Literally.

Inside the tavern, it was a lot louder than outside. There people drinking and chatting with each other. There were also creatures and monsters that seemed to be drinking here as well. To the side, there were two small goblins that were fighting each other while a bunch of people cheered at them. Arata knew that he needed to find some information quickly. As he made his way through the bar slowly, doing his best to keep himself hidden, he paid close attention to his surroundings as he listened in on the conversations of the people he passed by.

“Hey, there’s a Spirit outside the gate causing havoc.”

“Really? Some lost soul I bet.”

“Apparently it’s just some brat.”

“The brat has Dark Flames.”

“What? Oh I gotta see this?”

“Why are you in such a rush? I doubt a kid can have that kind of power.”

“It’s true. I’m watching it through my Spirit right now.”

“Then why aren’t you trying to get him if he’s so powerful?”

“And clash with the powerhouses that are there right now? I enjoy death, but not my own.”

Arata moved on through the tavern and most of the conversations seemed to be about Ryouma causing some chaos at the gate. He moved through the crowd, continuing to listen in on what was being spoken.

“I have a Ghoul at the gate watching. This kid just sent that cocky punk from the Black Hunters flying. I wonder who is gonna be able to tame him.”

“I have a new soul I’m ‘tinkering’ with. A juicy young one from the last raid we went on. I’m planning on….”

“A Water Spirit for this hunk of junk? That’s a total rip off!!”

“If you don’t like the terms, then don’t buy it. I’ll find another buyer.”

“How’s the kid doing? Still lying low?”

“Yeah. No one in the Institute senses anything out of the ordinary.”

Arata paused. At the corner of his eye, he could see two men at a table in the corner. One had a grey scarf that covered his face completely, while the other had what seemed to be a strange dark glow hovering off of him. Arata found a spot to blend in with the surroundings before melting and becoming a shadow. He moved across the floor, completely hidden. He came to a stop beneath the table of the two men as he listened in.

“And will there be any issues with the aftermath?”

The man with the scarf over his face shook his head.

“None. The higher ups already have a contingency plan if things go south. As for the kid, once the job is finished, when can dispose of him pretty easily.”

The other man took a sip of his drink before replying.

“As long as the kid stays out of sight, we can initiate the operation soon. They are currently in the midst of their Class Ranking tournament. If we act within the next few days, we may be able to hide underneath the chaos of the competition to prepare. And then strike while the fire is hot.”

Arata frowned. He had found the people he was looking for. An operation? Seems like they are planning something big at the Institute. And that kid is the center of it. The man with the scarf chuckled.

“These kids are completely unaware of what’s gonna happen. Oh, the joys of unsuspecting victims.”

As the man chuckled to himself, the other man stood up.

“Send the details to the kid and make sure that everyone knows what they are doing. Don’t screw this up.”

The man then walked away. The man in the scarf chuckled as the other man left.

“This is going to be an easy job. No sweat.”

The man got up and went to leave the tavern. Arata moved and followed him. This guy is obviously the connection to the kid and sends the orders to him. Just the person he needed to find. As he left the tavern, Arata hid in his shadow. He realized that this was the opportunity to either discover the plan or intercept the messages to the kid. The man moved to a small hut by the edge of the Valley. He walked in and moved to a table. He began writing a letter.

As he wrote the letter, Arata knew that this was his time to act. He rose up from the shadow and channelled his Energy. The man in the scarf sensed something and turned around as he charged his Energy, but it was too late. Arata slammed his hands into his chest as he sent a surge of Energy into the man. He activated the Void as he cut off the man’s senses. The man dropped to the floor with a blank look on his face.

Arata looked around the small hut. He found a bunch of documents scattered around and he quickly looked over them. He paused as he saw a layout of the Royal Institute. He grabbed it and found 6 crosses across the school.

“They seem to be in some kind of formation. A large scale spell of some kind? This formation doesn’t seem familiar to me. I’ll bring this to Eva to see what she thinks.”

He found a collection of letters, that he pulled out and quickly brushed through them. His eyes widened as he began to piece things together.

“These sons of…..I need to get this information back to Eamon.”

He then turned back to the man on the ground. He had a look of disgust.

“As much as I want to kill you, you are needed for the bigger picture.”

Arata crouched down and placed a hand on the man’s head. He began to channel the Energy he received from Eamon. Eamon had given him a piece of his Truth Energy that he had modified to manipulate someone’s mind. He told him that it would mould the person’s reality, making them believe something that wasn’t true. Thus, helping them sneak in a piece of false information that this person would input into the letter to the kid. Arata opened his eyes as he finished sending the Turth Energy into him.

He stood up and helped the man up, seating him at the table.

“You sit here, wake up and then finish your little letter.”

Arata looked around once more before going out, through the wall. He floated back to the gate. They had spent long enough here and any longer would be dangerous. Their souls weren’t supposed to be unattached to their bodies, so it was probably a good idea to get back as soon as they could. Arata found that the crowd around the gate was much larger as people were not only fighting against Ryouma, but also against each other. Arata grinned at the chaos his Shadowguard was causing.

Ryouma seemed to be rushing around and setting off powerful explosions of Black Flames wherever he went. Ryouma yelled as he threw another punch at some incoming ghouls.

“Screw you bastards!! Get off me!!”

Arata maneuvered his way through the crowd. He sent a message to Ryouma through their Black Crystal. Ryouma turned and locked eyes with Arata. He then looked at the crowd of people as he roared loudly. He channelled his Energy into his fists as he slammed his hands into the ground. A large explosion of Black Flames erupted around him. Many of the ghouls, spirits and people that were around him were injured and thrown back by the force of the flames. Arata rushed forward at that moment as he channelled his Energy around him. Amidst the smoke and the flames, he collided with Ryouma and sent his Energy to cover him as well.

As the flames died down, those from the Valley looked around and saw that they boy had vanished. One of the Demon’s sighed loudly.

“The stupid brat self destructed. What a waste.”

The Demons withdrew their spirits and ghouls as they loudly complained about the idiocy of children. They begrudgingly headed back into the gate. A shadow moved along the ground as it passed through the barrier. After it moved further away from the gate, the shadow rose up from the ground and revealed two transparent young boys. Ryouma turned to Arata, who was struggling to stand, and put his arm under him.

“Are you alright Captain?”

Arata chuckled as he seemed to be breathing a little heavily.

“I’m OK. Just a lot…..of Energy needed to…..to cover you as well. I don’t have a high enough…Energy and Mastery….to do it seamlessly.”

Arata paused to catch his breath.

“You need to learn Night Body before we go on our next mission. So tiring, ya know?”

Ryouma chuckled as they moved to the opening of the Valley. The Fourth Sempiternal Art: Night Body was a powerful ability that allowed you to manipulates shadows in different ways. One of the ways was to allow your body to be absorbed by the shadows and become one. One could use the shadows to wrap around you and wear it as a type of armor, protecting yourself and deflecting oncoming attacks. Or you could use the shadows to create shadow clones of yourself, with different abilities as you reach higher Masteries. And then there was the ability that Arata had used, which was to become a shadow. The perfect ability for stealth missions.

However, he was extremely drained as he needed to absorb not only himself but also Ryouma in the shadows. Normally, he wouldn’t have been able to do this, but as they were in the Bardo state, it was slightly easier to absorb their forms into the shadows. It was actually extremely draining for Arata to use Night Body normally as his Mastery in it wasn’t as high as the other Sempiternal Arts he used.

As they reached the edge of the Valley, they were suddenly hit with a surge of pain as the two boys fell onto the ground. The two boys began twitching and spasming on the ground as they roared in pain. As Arata was struggling with the pain he yelled as he opened his eyes. He felt hands on his chest, holding him down.

“Calm down, Little One.”

Arata’s eyes were slightly blurry and his head was killing him. He focused and saw Granny Mo smilling down at him.

“Welcome back, Little One.”

She helped him sit up as Arata looked around. He turned to Eamon who looked over him with a grim look.

“I can sense that you have information. I also sense the anxious feeling you have over this information.”

Arata breathed slowly before nodding.

“I have a bit of information that worries me, but I want to confirm something first.”

He turned to Eva.

“Master Eva, there is a 6 point formation that I saw and I want to see what you think about it.”

Arata looked around for something to draw on. Eva steped forward and pulled a piece of parchment and a quill from her bag. Arata took the parchment and draw 6 points. He then drew connecting lines like how he saw. Eva’s eyes widened as she saw what Arata was drawing and she looked to Eamon. As they locked eyes, they seemed to communicate silently. Eamon’s face went grim as he turned to Arata.

“Are you certain that this is what you saw?”

Arata nodded. Eamon sighed.

“According to Eva, this is one of the forbidden summoning seals. It is used to call out one of the 7 Demon Lord’s. But for it to work, you need a large amount of Energy and power for it to be activated. This particuliar seal needs power gained through pain and death.”

Arata had a dark look on his face, which Eamon saw.

“What’s wrong?”

Arata looked at him.

“Would the death of a thousand students and teachers be enough to power it?”