Irene flew through the air like a free spirit and arrived at Aren's Inner Circle with wings of grey and gold.
The air was frosty in this area of the city. Athelei felt himself shudder as he sat on Irene's shoulder. Mist Pine was one of the most southern locations in the Holy Nation of Illyas and thus, it was also the warmest. With each day that Athelei progressed during the journey, it got colder. And now that his altitude had abruptly changed it became all the more obvious.
As for Irene, she was loving the feeling of the air blowing through every part of her body. The frosty air was nothing against her snow-tempered fair skin. She continued to race uphill until the flat zone of the plateau came into sight.
Once there, she made a beeline toward's the city's centre where a fortress-palace hybrid of sorts had been constructed.
Athelei saw how immense the construct was, with pillars that soared over every other building in the city. It was a Parthenon in the midst of what seemed to be...
"An acropolis..." Athelei muttered as he scanned the Inner Circle of Aren City.
It was indeed a high city, as its walls were the natural formations of rock and earth. Seeing such a different perspective made Athelei look back at how Aren City looked like from afar. It looked wondrous when you stood at the Outer Circle's gates, but when you were at the very top of the city, flying on an angel in the sky, it felt heavenly.
The Middle and Outer Circle spread out all around him, and Athelei could finally see the extent of the city. There were still many areas that looked to be ruins of the ancient city that previously stood here. A hundred years was not enough to overwrite it completely.
'I do wonder if any Mystic Artifacts still lurk within those ruins.' He thought to himself as he fancied the idea of becoming an Adventurer more and more.
Athelei was tempted to have a look around while he was still in Aren city, but he was currently preoccupied with Irene Vistas, and her concern for the city's populace and well-being.
Searching those ruins would satisfy Athelei's curiosity, yes. But accompanying Irene in defending against the Exiled's Nightwalkers would satisfy both his curiosity and desire for vengeance. Perhaps his hungry wings would also be satiated if enough Nightwalkers decided to waltz into his hungry maws.
'I will do as I did with that Heroic Luck guy, Arnold. I'll shadow Irene and feed off of her kills. It's a symbiotic relationship and helps me skip the step of shattering the Nightwalkers myself.' Athelei inwardly nodded. He liked the idea of simply being a vital supporting character. It would guarantee his safety and help redirect the information flow onto the main character of the people's tales as well. This time, he would use Irene as a main character.
It was slaying a flock of birds with one stone.
Athelei was then wrenched out of his thoughts by the sound of Irene's footsteps resounding on a white marble floor. Athelei looked around and discovered that they were standing in a hall, with a wide garden at his back, and the Parthenon at his front.
"Fold your wings so you can walk properly," Athelei commented from the side when he noticed Irene's wobbly movement. He inwardly chuckled though as he thought, 'I did not consider sending those memories as well... My bad.'
"...Right... right," Irene answered, as she sluggishly did what she was told to do. Her mind was still muddled by her emotions.
Feeling the solid ground under her feet made Irene feel like that entire flight was but a dream. Though, the gold and grey wings were still on her back. It still weighed down on her despite being made of fog and smoke.
She was still in a slight daze when she looked around the Parthenon for familiar faces.
"Oh, Irene! What brings you here so late in the night..?" A voice came running towards her with rapid footsteps. That voice was slightly stunned, however, when it seemingly noticed the wings on Irene's back.
"Long story. Quickly send word to the Guard Master, Church, and the Lord. The Exiled have infiltrated Aren City, desiring the Spirit Lotus." Irene spoke with a grim tone and a sense of urgency.
"T-the Exiled?" The voice spoke, and Athelei saw that it was a middle-aged man who stood at about Irene's height and held a bunch of documents and scrolls in his hands. "Oh no! Sire's hunch had been right!"
Athelei and Irene then watched as the middle-aged man scrambled away in a hurry. A few of the scrolls and documents fell off the pile in his hands, but the man didn't seem to worry for them.
It was then that a bright light lit up in the distance behind the pair.
Irene nearly snapped her neck as she looked back. Her eyes quivered as she witnessed a huge, spreading plume of flames emerge from within the Middle Circle. There was red-orange energy pushing the flames out to consume all that was flammable.
Athelei felt a familiar aura spreading from the energy. He recalled the constant shift of hot and cold temperatures and related it to his experience seeing Irene's Rank 2 Dictator strength.
'I see... Liquid Tangible Will...' Athelei confirmed his theoretical knowledge with this first-hand experience.
"Damn it..." Irene swore under her breath, but Athelei heard it clearly.
Athelei felt Irene's Tangible Will bubble from under her skin and pour out of her pores. She then spread her grey and gold wings, and the 5-meter wingspan was a sight to see.
FWHOOM!
Irene blasted herself out of the Parthenon with Athelei's grey, foggy consciousness mixing with her Will. A powerful gust of wind shook the plants of the nearby garden.
Athelei saw how the Rank 2 Dictator's strength enhanced his wings and he realised how extensive the compatibility between Tangible Will and a consciousness cloud is.
'Perhaps I do not have to shadow her... I'll just mix myself with her attacks.' Athelei thought to himself and he added a note to his training schedule,
=o=o=o=o=
-Practice Tangible Will
=o=o=o=o=
Irene flew over the sounds of small battles occurring here and there. Athelei watched as a few patrolling guards engaged a couple of Nightwalkers while the rare powerful Adventurer was cleaving through them.
Athelei saw many Rank 0 and 1 Dictators and identified their shining energies. He also took note of the Artists and Evolvers, but he had yet to familiarize himself with the difference between ranks.
Reading things was different from experiencing them. As with Tangible Will, a Rank 2 Dictator did not constantly liquefy their Wills. The subtleties were hard to take note of if one had nothing to compare and contrast them to.
It was only recently that Athelei was getting a firmer grasp on the difference between adult humans.
Arnold and Hyeon were likely at the peak of Rank 0, while they had some kind of uniqueness to them.
Captain Thallium Yan should be stably sitting at Rank 1 Dictator. As for her Evolver's Battle Prowess level, Athelei guessed that it was higher than her Tangible Will. Which could put her at Rank 2 Evolver.
The merchant caravan had hired hands who were likely at Rank 1, but they were especially skilled in navigating the routes they were familiar with.
The Harmonic Knights under Captain Yan should be around the peak of Rank 1 for their main classes. They usually had a secondary class for that was what differentiated them from the normal fighters.
As for Athelei? Entry-level Rank 0 Artist. Lisa was the same but as an Evolver.
These were all Athelei's guesses so far though. He needed more data, and that was why he desired to join the fight by supporting Irene. He was weak, but he was the bane of any consciousness-based existence alone. If he were to add the Nefarious Icon, he would be omnipotent on that plane, but it would bring irreversible drawbacks if he used it in this chaotic battle.
The entire city of Aren might just get sent into the depths of insanity if Athelei messed up.
As Athelei was gathering data, Irene suddenly spoke, "I found that fireball bastard. Angel, it's time we strike."
"Oh?" Athelei sat up straight and looked for that specific Nightwalker.
He saw the Nightwalker was standing in the centre of the flames. Its body looked masculine, with chiselled muscles and a broad back.
"He looks strong," Athelei commented and allowed his grey fog to flow, "Attack as much as you want, Irene. I'll make sure each attack of yours will annihilate whatever consciousness it hits."
Irene raised her brows when she heard those words. She suddenly felt a foreign, yet friendly existence churning within her Will and was astonished.
She now knew just how risky it had been to accept Athelei's connection to her when she saw how his consciousness was mixing with her powers. 'If Angel had been a malicious force... I don't know what would've happened to me. Why have my thoughts been so chaotic recently? So many less than desirable decisions...' Irene did not realise she had been exploited by Athelei's unique Sway.
But since Athelei was already this deeply entwined with her powers, Irene just shrugged and focused on what was more important. 'If my choices come to bite me back, then it will be my fault and mine alone. I can only hope and strengthen myself so that such a thing will never happen.'
An orb of golden light was flung from Irene's slender fingers. Its target was the strong-looking Nightwalker.
"Hm?" The Nightwalker grunted and felt a sense of danger come from the orb.
He sent out his own red-orange Tangible Will and faced the orb with his sheer strength.
The resulting shockwave thundered across the battlefield and the Nightwalker squinted his nonexistent eyes. His enemy's Will was just as strong as his. He had to take things into close combat and bring them down using his strength.
He was a Rank 2 Evolver and Dictator, making him a force to be reckoned with. He was worthy of being a city's guardian with just his strength, but instead, he chose to be a city destroyer.
The Nightwalker scanned around him, trying to find the person who attacked him. All he could see, however, were the flames he had created himself. There was no living being within the range of his initial display of power. Only burned corpses were there.
That's when four more golden orbs wreathed in an invisible grey fog shot towards him once more. The Nightwalker was slightly flustered, as he blocked two of the orbs with his Will, causing another pair of thunderous shockwaves.
The last two orbs, he blocked with his fists, trying to send them back from where they came from.
Boom!
He successfully redirected the orbs, but it returned to nothing but the empty night sky. The Nightwalker was then surprised to see a winged human as his opponent. He felt intimidated by the gorgeous appearance of whatever strange existence being he now faced.
"Who are you..." He muttered to himself, bending his knees as he got ready to shoot into the sky.
"Those are powers that humans have never had... It's what I've been searching for."