"Well, fancy meeting you here" Aryll chuckled, as Himmel and Victoria also noticed them. Himmel swept his eyes across them with a slightly suspicious gaze while Victoria warmly raised her hand in greeting. Ruby silently observed them for a second before quietly sighing and smiling. "It's them" she whispered to Aryll.
Endyr cocked her head as she realised that Ruby must have used some sort of Analysis to see if they were actually themselves. 'Actually, my Anti Analysis wasn't triggered, so maybe it was some sort of soul sense instead' she pondered.
Mind/Soul Magic was capable of bizarre and unorthodox things in comparison to other Elements, and they also had their own version of Analysis. Altair learnt the basic applications of Soul Mana during his classes in Sky Cross, but he hadn't received a properly in-depth explanation yet.
'Speaking of which, I wonder how he's doing...I should try and establish a connection after I complete this mission. He likely has some information to share. And I should warn him to be more careful of Alexander and Nezra. The Blood Coven seems to be building a presence in the city.'
Kulkiri stepped forward to meet their teammates as he surveyed them. "Well, you lot seem to be in good shape" he greeted warmly. "Did you encounter much trouble on the way here?"
Aryll flicked some hair behind her ear as she answered. "Oh, just some Vampires here and there. Mostly Masters, but we met a Grandmaster too. She was a tricky one, but we managed to slay her in the end."
From the side, Victoria flashed a coy grin. "I managed to Level Up twice" she revealed with a flourish. Kulkiri gently clapped twice in admiration before asking his next question. "Do you know where the others are? I haven't seen anyone other than you and the three behind me. Since we should be approaching the core soon, I think we should reassemble as much of the team as possible."
"I agree" Ruby chimed in as she surveyed their surroundings. Despite being blind, Endyr felt like she saw more than the rest of them, excluding Endyr herself of course. There was a reason Mind/Soul Mages were knows as clairvoyants and seers in Orvonia, and why Chanteur was given so many concessions being relatively mediocre as a God.
In terms of grasping the future, Chanteur was only behind Weaver and was ahead of Fallacy and Daemon. And this was with Fate only being a partial Authority of Chanteur, with Fallacy and Weaver both focusing heavily on this aspect of Orvonia.
"We haven't seen anyone else. Myself and Himmel were teleported together, while Ruby and Victoria met up separately before joining us. I think everyone is still alive, but I don't know anything beyond that" Aryll filled Kulkiri and the rest in on what she knew.
Johan and Erich stepped forward and gave their own opinions. "We should push on then. As we are there's eight Grandmasters, while we have already killed two of the Vampire's. Whatever Kismet is planning is clearly time-based, or else he wouldn't have enacted these stalling tactics. We should push as deep as we can and disrupt him. The others will follow suite once they catch up."
Himmel frowned and scratched his chin in contemplation. "Are you sure our numbers will be enough to even the odds? Kismet probably brought seven or so Grandmasters with him, and the Vampires already had two Grandmasters before his arrival. Subtracting the one we killed, there are still eight Grandmasters is this building. In a one-on-one matchup, we're at a disadvantage. Plus no one here is capable of taking on Kismet by themselves."
Kulkiri placed his hand on his chin as he let out a hum, his eyes flickering behind the mask. He drummed his fingers against the smooth surface of his mask as his gaze deepened. Everyone stayed silent while he sunk into his thoughts, curious as to what he would come up with. After a minute, Kulkiri dropped his hand and came out of his reverie.
"Alright, Himmel has a point. Just rushing in would place us at a disadvantage, but we also need to apply some pressure to try and slow down whatever Kismet has planned. So I recommend we skirt around the outer part of the inner sanctum, essentially heckling the Vampires until the others arrive. On the other hand, we could just focus on slaughtering the weaker Vampires. I doubt Kismet and the Grandmasters would stand by as their men drop like flies. Someone would have to come out and intervene."
Victoria pursed her lips and nodded her head as she snapped her fingers. "I think the second option is better. Kite around the stronger Vampires and just pick on the weaklings until they either snap back or are forced to gather together, thus halting whatever they're doing."
Kulkiri looked around for any objections and seeing none, he rubbed his hands with unbridled glee. "In that case, which way shall we go first? I can't tell where anything leads, it all looks the same to me."
Endyr looked around, seeing four arches in each cardinal direction. She had come from the north, while Aryll and Co had come from the south. That left the east or west to explore. Aryll turned towards Ruby for guidance, but the blind blonde shook her head. "The walls here interfere with my Divination, and quite seriously at that. The best I can say is that the east has strange Mana fluctuations while the west is eerily quiet. "
"So either the Vampires are doing something in the east and causing fluctuations, or are doing something in the west and concealing all traces, thus creating an oddity" Johan murmured as he looked between the two arches.
As the group fell silent in contemplation, Endyr turned her attention to the System for answers. After all, it claimed she could exchange almost anything for Authority Points. 'Hey System, which way is best for us to take?'
[Would Host like to use {1} Authority Point to receive the answer?]
Endyr narrowed her eyes at the price, but didn't immediately say no. She currently had 10 AP and had the opportunity to gain more by completing the mission. This single point could lead her to a dozen more, and she would be compensated in some measure at least. After taking another look at her still-contemplating teammates, she sighed and agreed.
[Ding! {1} Authority Point has been subtracted!]
[Host should take the east door if they wish to cause the most damage to the Vampires and {Kismet}'s plans.]
Endyr couldn't help but grin after seeing the message. While the System was incredibly dubious and not afraid to threaten her, it was also undeniably useful in situations such as these. She hadn't forgotten what had taken place in Sky Cross earlier, but she was willing to shelve that issue for another time and focus on what was in front of her.
She turned to Kulkiri and spoke in a clear voice "We should head east."
Everyone turned to her, and Himmel scowled. "Why east?" he asked in an unfriendly tone. Endyr just snorted and revealed her hand, and the silver coin resting in her palm.
"It won the heads or tails."