Before Caelus could answer Gouki, the voice of Sanctuary echoed across the four people around.
[I have no hostility over anyone. My goal is to shelter my Master and his friends. I would rather destroy myself than betray my Master. Who would think of betraying their master when he was the one who was there when no one else was?]
Sanctuary had decided to use some Mana for everyone to hear her.
Caelus was shocked with what Sanctuary said. She was almost void of emotion when she said those. But even so, he felt touched because he saw Sanctuary as his friend. A friend different from the original Sho has.
Sanctuary had become his true sanctuary over the month they were together.
He could be himself without a care about anyone discovering he wasn't the real Sho. Even when he felt depressed with Alpha's death, he had an easier time breathing because he was free of constraint with Sho's identity.
She was there when no one else was.
He didn't realize the feeling was mutual.
"Huh? How can we trust you? We don't even know what we should trust with this current world's structure." Gouki didn't back down and started a debate.
[I understand your concern. In this new world, it's easy for anyone to betray. But you must understand, I have a soul contract with Master Sho.]
Upon saying that a piece of transparent "words" floated before the four humans. Caelus couldn't describe what he was seeing. He could only feel that he was really bound with Sanctuary. But he didn't feel like a slave. On the contrary, he felt the master of their bind.
The three others with him also felt the same. Asahi was relieved while Gouki seemed intrigued. As for Akihiko, he just frowned. He didn't seem to care about the contract or anything related to Caelus.
"Hm… yeah, something like this couldn't be false. But you might be one of those who can break this."
[I wouldn't dare.]
This time, Sanctuary was showing signs of irritation towards Gouki.
"Why are you getting irritated? For someone who claims to not have any hostility to anyone, you sure can show irritation. Well, I just want to make sure you won't betray us. An AI showing irritation. You are more like a human than an AI."
After Gouki pointed that out, Caelus was shocked to realize something he took for granted. He thought it was just that Sanctuary was like a baby who was slowly learning. But he forgot that Sanctuary was still an AI inside the shelter!
He had seen how Sanctuary was showing emotion only capable of living beings. He thought it was normal. But thinking about it, if she was an Artificial Intelligence, she should be just like a robot. Was she some kind of spirit?
"Are you a spirit?"
As if having the same thought as Caelus, Asahi presented the question.
[No. As far as I know, we, Shelter Law Enforcers are the Core Essence of the shelter. We are tasked to protect the shelter and our master. If you would ask me about it now, I can't extract the information needed as I would need Mana. But I want you all to know this fact. I want to protect Master Sho more than anything. I don't even want any other master. I've accepted the command, but I won't give the same authority Master Sho has to both of you.]
Caelus was shocked along with the other two.
He knew Sanctuary rejected the same authority to be given. But little did he know it was Sanctuary's own opposition as she did not accept others as masters instead of Caelus' command.
It was as if Sanctuary was subconsciously protecting him.
"Thank you." Caelus said silently. Although he trusted the two, it was different from Sanctuary. She wanted to protect him, and thus, giving only him the highest Authority possible.
"Okay, I lost. I'll trust you with this once. If you break my trust, then, let's just call it quits." Gouki finally conceded. But even when he said those things without emotions, when he met Caelus' eyes, Caelus felt complicated emotions in Gouki's eyes.
It felt like he was proud but at the same time there was some trace of sadness and reminisce?
He wasn't sure because those emotions vanished within a second.
"Now that it's all good, let's head to Hikari. Sanctuary informed Sho that she was near us."
"Oh-ho? So, Sanctuary has tracking abilities? How does that work? I thought Sho or this dude has that ability."
"Ah, I haven't introduced Asahi to you? Asahi Fukunaga, these are Gouki Setsuhi and Akihiko Matsuda. I've met both of them at the first Hidden Zone as I've said earlier. Gouki, Akihiko, this is Asahi, my best friend." Caelus cleared his throat and started recounting how Sanctuary led him to them.
While telling everyone the story, they started moving towards where Hikari was.
It was convenient having two experts beside him. As they tell stories, Caelus got a glimpse of what the adventure was like in Gouki's point of view. With Gouki telling stories and Asahi asking some questions and providing some solutions, Caelus felt his eyes open.
He learned a lot of theoretical solutions. Those would come in handy if he ever got locked in a Zone; alone, with other humans or with other hostiles. Either way, he felt his chance of survival with just being himself elevated with the knowledge of Gouki and Asahi.
He was like a bystander that saw how two masters recount their mastery of arts. From basic to being master. And thus, he gained a lot from it.
Although all were just theoretical frameworks and needed Caelus to put it in practice first before becoming a master himself. It was enough to have the knowledge itself.
[Master, please be careful. Hikari is not alone. At least, no living being is around her.]
Caelus gasped after hearing what Sanctuary said.
"Is she fighting? Can you give more information?"
[Yes, Master Sho. Hikari is currently surrounded. I'm not sure if she is fighting. But there are unknown creatures around her. I need more data and knowledge to identify those creatures. As far as I know, I haven't seen those kinds of monsters in the surroundings of Sanctuary Shelter. I couldn't find any information regarding those monsters.]
"How far are we with Hikari?"
[You're 500 meters away from her. You need to start being careful now. Elevation might help investigate these creatures. I've noticed a pattern that could help you. Their saliva is contagious. Please, avoid getting bitten!]
*Why does that sound familiar?* Caelus wondered but didn't come up with an answer.
They were in a hurry. The four looked at each other before they proceeded to an elevated tree. The place they ended up with was another ruined building of their world that was entangled with forest. It seems that when the Super Phenomena happened, this residential place was merged with forest.
Caelus noticed how the world of Dragon Riders contains lots of forests and bodies of water. He didn't know if it was only for their country or their whole world was forest and sea. Although he noticed some buildings that didn't belong to their world. Those buildings could pass as ancient relics instead.
He wonders if the Dragon Rider's world doesn't have advanced civilization at all.
Yet he didn't think too far about that as he noticed something peculiar in the place, there was something different from this place compared to other places he saw. This place has traces of living beings… it had traces of what was once could call a home…
"Status, Sanctuary?" Asahi asked silently. Just enough for the two adults, one young man and one teenager to hear clearly.
Caelus knew that the guy was being careful given that Sanctuary warned them to.
[Hikari is not moving and is still being surrounded. It seems the hostile party doesn't know that she's in a tree. This is weird…]
"What's weird?" it was Gouki who was frowning. It seems he was in deep thought.
[The hostile beings started to calm down once Hikari didn't make a sound. It seems that the hostile beings are blind and just follow the sound.]
"Understood. Let's hurry."