"Where do you think we are, Thomas?" Mercedes calmly questioned while gazing at the golden sun rising on the horizon. They were lucky to have not been stuck on a random island, but they were still kept in the dark about their current location.
Thomas glanced around and saw familiar features of a certain region in the mainland continent. A dangerous continental region riddled with hundreds of thousands of problems. A region that was abandoned by the federation and the world.
"From the looks of it... Were standing in Adikia." Thomas nonchalantly responded while Abraham was frozen in place after hearing the answer from his father. He shook his head unable to comprehend what they were doing in the southernmost part of the continent.
"What do you mean by that, Father? Adikia? Why would be here?" Abraham's emotions were crashing into one another. Thomas gazed at him as if he were an idiot, but Mercedes intervened before something could happen.
"We didn't know where the island of Pandemonium was. To be honest... We simply got a lucky ride with one of their cargo ships." Mercedes explained why Abraham didn't know about the location of the Maximum Prison Island of Pandemonium.
It was something hidden from everyone and was considered an urban legend in the federation. Because of that, the personnel operating the base were interior and loyalist soldiers. Their skills didn't matter at all as long as they knew how to keep a secret.
"I see... But that wasn't what I was to ask about, Boss. After all, Adikia is where I live and where my son was born. It is a place that we can call hom-"
"You can call home..." Abraham interjected since in his perspective. He had no good memories of this place. There was a reason why he left the hellhole after his father got arrested. The region was shrouded with misfortune and death.
"The moment the two of you fight in front of me. I'll break all of your bones. You can do all of that when we return to the city. Understood?!" Mercedes stood up and uttered coldly towards the two. She didn't desire to see some family drama, especially when she was far from home.
"Understood, Boss." Thomas lightly bowed with a grin while Abraham gazed at him and bowed to Mercedes. "I understand, Lord Solace. Apologies for the unnecessary drama."
"Good, but there's no need to call me Boss or Lord Solace. We'll have to infiltrate the region so we need to change our names. The two of you will call me Merce, Thomas will be Tom, while you Abraham will become Abram."
"It's nothing more but a shortened version of our names, but it will be enough."
Mercedes gave orders and adapted to their circumstances. She didn't want to gain unnecessary attention with the two of her subordinates calling her some grand names. It would be problematic if locals heard of it.
"Good plan, Merce. I have a place in the region, but I'm not sure if it is still standing. Others tend to loot things even if an owner is in front of them in this region." Thomas expressed and continued. "Warlords also rule over the region and many are under their mercy."
"This will be a dangerous journey."
"The journey has always been dangerous, Tom. No one gets their boat destroyed by a missile." Mercedes smirked and glanced at Abraham. But she noticed that Abraham was in a trance, candidly staring at the horizon of a desert.
Mercedes furrowed her eyebrows and nonchalantly called out to Abraham.
"Abram, you okay?"
Hearing her alluring voice, Abraham got out of his trance and almost fell forward. He gazes at his master and replies. "I'm alright, Lo- I mean... Merce."
"I'll trust you, but tell me if you have information about this place. While being ignorant is a blessing, this is not a situation where someone can be ignorant. I hope that you will explain yourself."
Mercedes patted Abraham's shoulders and stepped forward. She started walking towards the vast desert as Thomas followed behind her. Numerous thoughts passed through Abraham's mind before following Mercedes and Thomas.
As they passed through dry bushes and grass, the desert heat surrounded them and the temperature started distorting the air. Mercedes wasn't that bothered by it, but Abraham and Thomas were having a hard time adapting.
"I miss the air conditioning of that prison," Thomas remarked as beads of sweat kept falling from his forehead. He wasn't exhausted, but he felt tired because of the heat.
"It's been over two decades since I left this place. It's still hot as ever." Abraham expressed and continued walking with his shirt drenched in sweat.
But as navigated through the vast desert, the two noticed Mercedes trekking onward as if unaffected by the heat. There was no sweat dripping from her body and she appeared to be far from tired. To her, their situation might look like a road trip.
Of course, this was the preconceived notion of the two after observing Mercedes for quite a while.
What didn't know was that Mercedes was checking her digital window for the notification of the multi-point quest completion. Since she had entirely rescued Thomas from that prison, Mercedes had received her rewards.
―<▼>―
●[𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐚𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝟏/𝟓(𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭).]
➤[𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤(𝐒).]
―<▲>―
'The rewards will make it easier to return back.' Mercedes thought to herself while staring at a particular skill that was S-class in the active category. It was known as Blink and from the looks of it. It was probably the most versatile active skill she currently had.
There were also the 1,000 points which meant that she could finally use the shop. It has been a while since its activation and never once did she open it. After all, she was practically in the zero in regards to the points she had.
Without any hesitation or delay, Mercedes opened another interface which was none other than her status. She glanced at it with a calm gaze and inspected every information written on it.
――<▼>――
[𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐝]
●[𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲: 𝟏𝟖𝟒𝟎/𝟏𝟖𝟒𝟎]
●[𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏]
●[𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: (𝟓/𝟐𝟎𝟎)]
●[𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞(𝐬): 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝]
●[𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭]
➤[𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞(𝟏𝟖.𝟒)]➤[𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭(𝟏𝟏.𝟔)]➤[𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭(𝟏𝟔.𝟗)]➤[𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚(𝟓.𝟕)]
●[𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱]
➤[𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥(𝐬): 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫(𝐒), 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐁), 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐫(𝐀), 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭(𝐀), 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦 𝐀𝐫𝐭(𝐀+), 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞-𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬-𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐭(𝐂+), 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤(𝐒)]
➤[𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥(𝐬): 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞(𝐀), 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧(𝐀+), 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐂), 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐁+), 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐲𝐞(𝐂+), 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧(𝐁+), 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲(𝐀), 𝐇𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬(𝐁), 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝(𝐁+), 𝐄𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲(𝐁)]
――<▲>――
Staring at the digital status interface, Mercedes was nearing the threshold of 20 attributes in physique. It made her wonder about the limits of her growth, especially the moment she gets rewarded for her next main quest.
There were also obvious marks in her active skill category. There were two S-rank active skills and they were the only ones throughout her arsenal of skills. She hadn't received any S-rank passive skills, but even the A+ Domination was overpowered.
"I have grown a lot since the beginning."
"And these numbers wouldn't be the end of it."
The edges of her supple lips rose as she continued stepping forward into the vast expanse of sand.
A couple of hours later... The group arrived before the entrance of an impoverished town. They had finally seen civilization. Though, it wasn't that good in terms of circumstances. But that didn't matter. Civilization was a civilization.
"Let's separate and investigate the area. If there are gangs in the town, I know you already understand what you need to do." Mercedes coldly uttered and disappeared amongst the crowd of people. Thomas and Abraham were left behind as they also separated from one another.
Mercedes nonchalantly navigated through the crowd while covering her face with her dark cloak. She understood the problems that came along with her beauty and didn't want problems to arise from it. Beauty was a blessing yet a curse.
"The living conditions of this town aren't up to standards..."
"This really is Adikia."
Adikia, as said before was a continental region in the southernmost tip of the mainland continent. It was known as the land of instability. Adikia was abandoned by the government since it was the breeding ground for crimes and terrorists. Because of it, Adikia became a hellhole it was now.
Mercedes wasn't that bothered by the scenes of poverty. She had gotten used to it during her time in the fortress city. But nonetheless, she felt the people's unfortunate situation. Unlike the unavoidable apocalypse, the circumstances of Adikia was still the result of human decision.
'However, it all comes according to the benefits. Is keeping Adikia a positive thing for the country? Will it benefit the nation in some way? The answer to this question was obvious. There were no benefits. Adikia was a resource black hole that couldn't be developed.'
'It's an unstable place that no one would want to set up their business in its cities or towns.'
'That's just the simple truth of it.'
Mercedes walked through the crowded road and noticed a group of people holding rifles under their hands. They were wearing a strange hood and appeared to be a part of an organization. A terror one at that.
"Terrorists, huh?"
"This is the first time I'm seeing them with my own two eyes." Mercedes was curious about the identity of such terrorists. She wondered what kind of organization they came from. But she wasn't planning to waste her time asking such questions.
They needed a vehicle and had to get out of the region.
Mercedes was about to ignore the group of terrorists. But before she could take a single step forward. She noticed a little girl walking towards them while conjuring a fireball with her fingers. Her eyes trembled as a shocked expression emerged on her face.
She was frozen still and couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was as if reality came crashing down. After all, superpowers weren't supposed to be possible. They were nothing more but merely a work of fiction.
"Calm down, Mercedes."
"You have the AEGIS System inside your body, so how is a superpower far from reality?"
"Although, it does change everything."
And then... A digital interface emerged as the second part of the multi-point quest formed before her eyes. It was another quest that was related to the terrorist group. Her eyes coldly glinted and bloodlust escaped her body.
"Another flashy quest..."
"I guess I'll complete it before going back."