Chapter 367 Planning Ahead
When the sun was rising, Aion finished his work of getting rid of all the evidence. During that time, somehow, Arc managed to convince the thirty thousand souls that were killed to help Aion. He was trying way harder than Aion had expected, but not in a suspicious way... probably.
Also, during that time, Aion realized that he couldn't just wait for the enemies to do whatever the hell they wanted… he had to strike them back, but it was clear that they would be waiting for him. Even if he ignores them, he has to consider how he is going to find them…
"Arlana probably knew that this was going to happen… she doesn't want to change things that are bound to happen that much, but she should be easily convinced that I can't just wait for the enemies to come and do whatever they wanted," Aion thought once he began to fly home.
Congratulations! The class Bard has reached level one hundred, and you are able to obtain a new class. Do you wish to sacrifice the materials, experience, and energy obtained to unlock the new class? Y/N
Select a new class: Singer, Joker, or Magic Instrumentalist.
Magic Instrumentalist Lv 01
Health: 08/08
Mana: 16/16
Stamina: 16/16
Strength: 01
Dexterity: 01 + 02
Magic: 01 + 02
Endurance: 01
Resistance: 01
Speed: 01
Status: 00
Harp Refinement Lv 01
Bonuses: Dexterity +02, Magic +02
Skills: Classic Song Lv 01
Passive: Continuous Melody Lv 01
Improvement Points: 0
Accumulated Experience: 0
Coins: 0
Inventory:
Absorption: 0/1000
Processing: 0/1000
Reset
Classic Song: a song that directly attacks the spirit of the enemies that listen to this song, making them lose ten points of mana per minute multiplied by the level of the skill at the cost of ten mana points per minute
Continuous Melody: The effects of your melodies become more potent as you keep them going nonstop. The effects increase by three percent per minute, and it can increase up to three hundred percent according to the level of the skill.
"... I suddenly began to obtain a lot of experience in the bard class… are the people of that country famous musicians or something?" Aion furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, this would be convenient if I had an army of humans… I can't use this with tamed monsters or my undead."
While Aion had soldiers in his territory, they weren't even a bit reliable to the problems that he had to deal with, so he had to think of another solution.
Aion arrived at home without that solution, and then he quickly went to question Arlana, but she clearly avoided his eyes. She knew what would happen, and she wasn't apologizing for making him deal with that, so she knew what was going to happen.
"Don't bully Arlana, Aion," Artemisia said.
"This is nowhere close to what I consider bullying," Aion said, and then he grabbed a chair to sit on. "If you know what happened, then I don't have to explain, and you know what I want."
"... You want to find them, right?" Arlana asked. "I tried to find traces of those people, but I didn't find… they are either too far in the past, or they even live in that future."
"... This is something that I got from the enemy this time. He is a guy that can make copies of himself," Aion said and then took the pieces of titanium that he got. "Use your power to find what this thing did, and I will use my mana to keep recovering yours."
"All right…" Arlana said and then sighed.
After concentrating for a while, Arlana began to use her magic, and then she began to see the past of those pieces of metal… a guy being killed by Aion's magic and then running around at fearsome speeds and then implating some kind of parasite on a lot of people.
Before that, the man was in a dark room, until he left some kind of capsule with a green liquid inside… before that, nothing. Once Aion heard that he furrowed his eyebrows. The enemy used one of its new clones, and thanks to it, he didn't have that many memories or dates. Was that a coincidence, or were people aware of Arlana's power already?
"Are you going to tell me what happened, Aion?" Artemisia asked. "Or did your rebellious phase already arrive?"
"I think I am past that…" Aion said and then wondered if he should keep treating his mother like she was made of glass. "The truth is…"
Aion thought that he had forgotten enough to control his feelings, but he was wrong about that. The more he said, the more he felt like breaking the neck of the enemies with his bare hands… he had some anger issues, apparently, since he always tried to keep his cool.
"The enemies aren't pulling their punches… we need to think of a way to counter their activities without exposing you too much," Artemisia said.
"I thought about that, but we can't use ordinary methods or involve most people," Aion said and then sighed. "Even if I manage to obtain the cooperation of the other guardians, they can only cover so much ground, even if they are much faster than any kind of vehicles that we have access to."
"I guess considering how much father and mother are helping you, they would tell you if they knew any answer to this question," Artemisia rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Do any of you know what to do in this situation?"
"We know some runes that can help with high-speed transportation, but nothing of the scale that Aion needs," Seris replied while looking away and thinking of some things that she could do. "While that is a problem, I think we should focus on working on the flying fortress."
It was only natural that the answers to some question won't fall on Aion's lap… so he didn't have any other choice but be patient and keep thinking of other solutions.