Chapter 2 - The Frozen Wastelands of Solitas (Patreon)

"It is said that, in the beginning, the Six fought side by side with mankind. Even so, the deities themselves seldom appeared before mortals, and instead sent loyal servants to convey their divine will to the Oracle."***It took Ardyn around half an hour to seal the entrance to the cave with some stones and then activate the Ward that he looted from the crashed vehicle, as it was a rather arduous process, but because it involved Magic, he quickly understood the principles behind it.Interestingly enough, during times like this, the assimilation of the Template's memories was getting much faster. Even though it was more than clear that the Magic System from Ardyn's memories was much different from what was here, it was undeniably true that some principles remained the same.When he returned, he checked on the girl and saw that she was still sleeping, so he just sat by the campfire as the two Gyrinxes cuddled with him for more warmth as he enjoyed the heat generated by the fuel rods.The two felines were already growing hungry, as they had eaten a lot... fortunately, after they returned to the cavern, two of them managed to hunt a rabbit, which he began roasting for them, as he would eat the food he looted.There was a lot of it, and none of it was suitable for the felines, so he left the rabbit to them, even though he was tempted by the roasted rabbit himself. Both Bastet and Maahes were eagerly waiting for the rabbit to cook, as they preferred their meat cooked rather than raw.They were a bit eccentric creatures.It wasn't like they wouldn't eat the raw meat, but when there was a possible different option, they would go for the cooked. He lightly looked at the sleeping Huntress as he grinned and tapped Bastet on her head.Among the pair, she was the one who was more mischievous and prone to causing mischief, as he learned during this day. The female Gyrinx gave him a nod of her head, as she jumped down from his arms and strode towards the Huntress.And then she smacked her tail across her face.But contrary to the hopeful expectations of the female Gyrinx, the reaction was zero... though the feline was able to sense the faint movements on her face, so she jumped on her legs and started hitting her nose with her right paw.Now there was more reaction than previously, as Bastet continued annoying the seemingly unconscious girl until it was already enough, as the girl suddenly 'awoke' as she hushed at the feline, who jumped back to Ardyn happily.Finally satisfied with the outcome."When did you notice?"She realized he knew she was only pretending to be unconscious, something she hadn't accounted for because she thought her act was flawless."When the Grimm we were ambushed... your heartbeat and Mana reacted instinctively to the ambush, my dear... You need to work on your acting skills."He explained with a grin and a somewhat patronizing tone of voice, as he knew that she was awake for most of the time. For Ardyn, who had centuries of memories in his head, and many of them involved dealing with people, it wasn't that hard to see through someone or something like this.On the contrary, such party tricks were not much in front of his eyes.Even though he was aware that she had just woken up, he knew that during his fight with the Grimm, she was awake.Since then, she had only been pretending to be asleep.He had to admit that her acting was good, but the problem was... with the Template's memories merging with his own, he knew a liar and a pretender when he saw one. In the end, Ardyn Izunia could be considered as one of the best con artists in the entire world."Ts... You are pretty suicidal to be in this place without even Aura... and don't talk patronizingly to me, or else once I recover, you will know real pain."She said as she didn't really like his patronizing tone of voice, but Ardyn didn't really care as he kept smiling. Still, she found it rather fascinating that there was someone brave enough or foolish enough to wander into the Solitan frozen lands without even his Aura being unlocked.She could feel the Mana around his person, but not the Spiritrons or Aura, which was the most peculiar case... but it wouldn't be the first time that someone was this peculiar through the long history of the Remnant and its civilizations."You are not really grateful for someone who didn't leave you freezing in the snow."Ardyn said, gritting her teeth, but quickly came back with a perfect answer."Like you didn't save me only because you want to hitch a ride from this place, which also leads to the question... who are you?"While the first part of the sentence was rather carefree, Ardyn noticed that there was something underlying in her tone of voice when she asked who he was...Aas he needed to come up with a satisfactory answer.And fast.Obviously, there must have been a reason why she was asking that with a great deal of wariness, because his instincts and experience were telling him that there must be a deeper reason for the well-conceived hostility.And most fortunately, lying was his second nature... be it in the life as Sirius Grey or the life as Ardyn Izunia."Ardyn Izunia and for the rest, I cannot answer as I don't remember almost anything, My Lady. But it's my utmost pleasure."He stood up as he gave her a typical bow that was common among the Lucian Nobility, as she stared at him for several seconds, and she gave him a very slow nod, but she still held up her guard around him.As Ardyn sat down, Maschenny took something from the Dimensional Storage on her hand and slipped it on the ground. It was a small crystal in the shape of a ball."Khun Maschenny."She stated simply, observing his reaction, but there was none... which was pretty interesting because, not being a boastful type, she was pretty famous across the four Kingdoms and outside settlements of humanity and faunus."Could you please pass me that?"She said to the unknown man as he reached out to the crystal-shaped ball and picked it up, feeling some sort of Magic from it penetrate his body and then disappear as fast as it emerged.The entire thing was extremely brief and took only a few moments, but he figured out that it was most probably some kind of test that she prepared for him or something like that because the light that emanated from his body just shot through his body before it dissipated."Here."He passed her the crystal ball, which she stored in her armor pocket, while looking more relaxed."Was that some kind of test?"He asked as he watched Bastet come to the now-introduced Khun Maschenny and jump on her lap."To see if you are not Corrupted One, Humanoid Grimm, or Abomination. They cannot touch the Crystal of Light that is used for the identification of these creatures, as they could hide from even some of the most advanced Magical Methods of screening."Obviously, Ardyn didn't really understand a lot of it, as everything that she was saying was pretty much unfamiliar, as he tilted his head to the side in utter confusion. But on the other hand, he was rather pleased internally that he was right that this was some sort of test."Ts... I forgot the amnesia. In the short story, the Corrupted Ones are the humans or Faunus that are corrupted by the Grimm Liquid, and they are usually the Cultists of the Grimm, worshipping them as their Gods and hoping to resurrect the Primordial God of Darkness. Humanoid Grimms are, as the name states, the very powerful Type Grimms that could take the human form, and Abominations are humans or faunus that willingly fuse with creatures of Grimm into unholy abominations of flesh and darkness."Her explanation was pretty straightforward and easy to understand, even if it contained, once again, some unfamiliar terms, but that could be discussed at a later date. Though it also made sense, because it seemed that the creators of Grimm were far more developed than he had initially predicted.He understood that in a world like this, where there is only war for survival, and with the possibility of infiltration, there must be methods of discerning those who are threats to humanity.The Humanoid Grimms were basically indistinguishable from your average human, and without a special means, it was impossible to tell if someone was actually human or just a creature of Grimm that was taking on the human form.Which was pretty problematic.And then there was the topic of the Corrupted Ones or Heretics, who were basically the worshippers of the Grimm. This actually made sense, that some of the humans and faunus would worship the Grimm as their Gods or a divine instrument on the material plane.Be it Eos or Terra, apocalyptic cults and religions were nothing new under the sun."Then it's good that I am not one of those..."He sighed in relief because of the Starscourge in his body, but seeing that it was converted into a controllable and other form, it wasn't picked by the Crystal. Yet, when he touched the Crystal, he felt something very familiar.Sometimes he couldn't even distinguish what memories belonged to the 'Sirius' and what to the 'Ardyn Izunia', yet, the feeling that he felt was very much alive."That Crystal... what is it?"Ardyn asked as he started preparing food for the Maschenny because she was still injured and couldn't move that well, or just didn't want to."That thing? According to the Scholars, it's Essence of Primordial God of Light... but who actually knows..."He almost froze in his tracks as he opened one of the packs of instant food and prepared to heat it... From the memories he had, he recognized the feeling of the Divinity and the subtle Draconic influence within the Divinity that was in the object.Ardyn could sense it on a very intense and familiar basis."Is that so..."Well, at least now he has confirmation of some ideas that popped into his head about the peculiarities of this world. The fact that she possessed something like this must mean either one of the two things.Either these things were actually not that super rare, but he didn't think that this was the case. Even if they were not ultra-scarce, they would still be locked in the vaults or in the hands of the most powerful people in the world.Or the second explanation was that her social status was actually much higher than he had anticipated, and she actually got it from her family or someone like that.For Ardyn, this seemed more plausible than the first one."How long till someone is sent ot piuck you up, Lady Very Important?"He asked about the time to discuss the origin of the Crystal of Light, as he was rather focused on preparing something to eat and obtaining information about how long it would take someone to look for her.Maschenny ignored the remark, but she made a mental note to return it, as she tried to summon her Pocket."What's that thing?"He asked as he looked at the floating ball of metal or whatever it was, as it orbited around her, and he looked at the thing rather curiously. This was the first time that he had seen something like this, something so interesting and also advanced..."This is a device called Pocket, created by The Workshop of Atlas. It is a common communication device in the Remnant, albeit only those who are rich enough can buy one, or one can obtain it by becoming a Certified Huntsman. They function as a dictionary, a communication device, a wallet, an account, an identification device, and, depending on their Grade, there are even more functions."She answered as she tapped on something in her Pocket, which came to life as she then started sending a message to someone with their location and situation. The Pockets were something that was used only by the rich and powerful, because manufacturing one was rather complicated and required plenty of rare metals and materials."These Pockets are made from a combination of Suspendium, Dust, and some rare metals. My own Pocket is A-Ranked, basically one of the highest-ranked pockets in existence, which are ridiculously expensive and sometimes cannot be bought even with money. I have sent out a distress signal and confirmed location... within a few hours, we can await extraction."Unfortunately, her Pocket was deactivated during the flight for some reason as she turned it off, which meant that it didn't register the crash and sent out distress signals directly to her family, and they could only depend on the Academy's search.Which could be pretty slow and vague.It was much faster to send the request for help directly to her family."Well, that's good... It's getting colder... here, take something to eat."He passed her the food that he had heated up as she took it from him."Thanks... Did you loot the bullhead that crashed? I can see that you have Arathion's Dimensional Equipment in your hand."She stated as he started eating the rations, which were not really the tastiest thing around, but they were edible. Even though the Dimensional Equipment wasn't up to her standards, it was still something far more valuable than most things...Even among the Great Families, the pieces of Dimensional Equipment were rare due to the fact that they could be manufactured only by powerful and skilled Magi in a Space Magic... and there were not many of such Magi even in the entire Dominion."Certainly. It would be a waste to just leave it there."He didn't bother to even attempt to hide the fact that he looted a few corpses, as there was no reason. Not to mention, it wasn't like she wouldn't recognize the things that originated from the Alsius Thors or the Dominion, because that was pretty easy for her."Good... never liked that arrogant bastard when he was alive."The reason why Maschenny didn't like her "fellow student" was mainly because the young man was hitting on her constantly, even after she gave him a few beatings. She couldn't understand whose genius idea it was to assign the two of them on a joint mission.Certainly, now she was more satisfied as the man would become Grimm food soon enough, because he didn't survive the crash either. She had like zero patience for the people whom she found annoying, and violence was her preferred language with them."How cold... mademoiselle."He said as her eyebrows twitched, hearing that annoying tone of voice once again."Pragmatic, not cold... and not stop talking already, you are being annoying."Certainly, he could appreciate her bluntness because she was very straightforward, despite her cunning and deceptive tendencies that didn't escape Ardyn's eyes. Nevertheless, he stopped annoying her, because she seemed as if she would punch him if he continued.Despite everything, he knew that she was vastly stronger than he was... be it in terms of Mana and especially the Spiritrons, because he could feel its strength straight away. Well, that was to be expected, if she was from a prestigious backround, it was only given.Now the only thing that remained for them to do was to wait until someone arrived to pick them up."On the other side, are you healing well? Don't you need some medicine or whatever?"Ardyn asked, more out of curiosity than real concern, as he knew she looked alright and that her Aura was healing her pretty fast despite everything. Not to mention, it would be pretty weird if someone like her didn't have at least one or two life-saving measures."No. I already have everything that I need, and my Spiritrons are regenerating at a steady pace... though my Aura was shattered and that would require some more time than just regenerating Spiritrons."She answered as they were eating because, over time, as her Spiritrons began to recover, her healing rate shot up exponentially, and she was in much better condition than she had been.Aura Shattering was a phenomenon in which someone using the Aura had their Aura destroyed... such effects were pretty severe, as they usually resulted in a backlash in the form of a Spiritron revolution, which could lead to severe internal injuries.During the Aura Shattering, the person's body would be basically hit by the reverse-flow of the Spiritrons, which usually leads to injuries to the Meridian Network of the body.Fortunately enough, Maschenny was of the Khun Family, and as one of the Great Families, they had a lot of precautions against something like that."Well... seeing that you are recovering fills my heart with joy and happiness, My Lady. And perhaps you can conduct Spiritron Awakening for a little ol me, yes?"In the Remnant, everyone had Spiritrons... be it Humans, Faunus, or even Animals and Magical Beasts. The Creatures of Grimm, being Soulless, are the only known form of life that does not have an Aura like the other living beings.By extension, everyone had access to the Aura because the Aura was the External Manifestation of the Spiritrons outside the body. Aura was an ability that all those with a Soul can use, at least with enough practice.Aura could manifest in different ways, depending on the person who was using it, but it was an undisputed fact that having Aura was the first step in being the Extraordinary in the Remnant.When a person was using Aura, its basic ability was to passively strengthen the body of a person; basically, the more Aura one had, the stronger physical capabilities a person would obtain over time.It won't happen overnight and it would take some time, but the results were there and they were real.At the same time, according to the brochure he got from Murasaki, Aura could also be used for various Defensive, Office, and Auxiliary purposes. Overall, it was a building block of the superhuman, and without the Aura, Remnantians would have perished at the hands of the Grimm long ago."I would... but conducting the Spiritron Awakening on another person usually takes a heavy toll on the person conducting the Awakening."Hearing that disappointed Ardyn a bit, but at the same time, he understood that she was injured and that awakening his Spiritrons could worsen her condition. Spiritron Awakening was usually carried out in a way where someone with a rather sizeable amount of Spiritrons would use his own Spiritrons to awaken the dormant Spiritrons in another person.This tended to leave the person who was doing the Awakenings a bit weakened... normally it wasn't cause any problems, because the people that were conducting the Spirit Awakening were usually pretty strong...Mostly so they could carry out the Spiritron Awakening for more people.But Maschenny wasn't at that level yet, and she was also pretty seriously injured."But... there is another way."She suddenly said with a weird gleam in her eyes that he noticed, and certainly, he didn't have the best feeling about it."What way?"Ardyn wasn't really aware of the other ways of Spiritron Awakening, but logically... There must also be another way.The logic behind this reasoning was pretty simple.There must have been First Generation Spiritron Users, the ones who awoke the Spiritrons either by themselves or due to some other circumstances. Then, from these First Generation Spiritron Users, the other Spiritrons Users must have been created through them Awakening Spiritrons of the other people."In the modern age, it's almost given that there are two categories of Spiritrons Users. Either someone is born into the Great Families or Aristocratic Lineages, and they are born with their Aura Unlocked, or someone unlocks the Spiritrons for them. That's called the Regular Method... then, there is also the Irregular Method, which is Awakening the Spiritrons by yourself."Maschenny was the first category, as she was already born with her Spiritrons awakened from birth, like the rest of the members of the Great Families across the Remnant. Yet, she was also very well educated and knew that people without Spiritrons could also Awaken the Spiritrons by themselves.Such people were called Irregulars.Those who opened the Souls by themselves.Exceedingly rare cases of people, because according to ancient history, most of the First Generational Spiritrons Awakeners were produced through Spiritrons Awakening through External Methods.Either through Rituals, Sacrifices, Mana Awakening, or some kind of Artifact that did the job.Spiritron Awakening could be done in many ways, and doing it through the External Methods was how the Spiritron Cultivation spread across the world since ancient times.The number of the Irregulars could be almost counted on one hand.If not for the various external methods, humanity would never even have had a chance to rise.She was rather curious...The young man already had Mana, even though he lacked the Magic Spiritron Core, yet his Mana was on par with an Official Magus... and one that originated from the Great Family, which meant that one such Magus was worth ten Magi of lesser origin.Which was absolutely staggering information.Such power and potential...She was almost 50% sure that he would be an Irregular.Nobody had so much Mana without even a Spiritron Core, more precisely Magic Core...If such talent appeared within the Great Families... be it the Great Families of Atlas, Great Families of Mistral, Grand Ducal Houses of Vale, or Viziers of the Vacuo Sultanate... they would be treated as the next Family Head of the Great Family regardless of the Great Family.Using Mana and becoming a Magus was far more complicated than training the Spiritrons and using Aura. Not only was the usage of the Mana far more challenging than Aura, because the Internal Manifestation of Spiritrons was rather dangerous, but Magi also had to study a lot.Even she herself wasn't Official Magi yet, as she was still just an Adeptus, which was just one rank above the Acolyte. Adepti were people with Mana who could already cast some more complex Cantrips, were skilled at Battle Magic, had a deeper understanding of the Lore, and were preparing for the Official Magi Examination.To become an Official Magus in Remnant, the main requirement for advancement is the completion of cerebral irradiation, which means the ability to construct a so-called Innate Spell Model.The Innate Spell Model was basically a method in which spells are permanently engraved within the Sea of Consciousness, becoming inseparable from the practitioner's identity and the foundation of all future achievements."Do you have any method or just the words like look into your Soul and awaken it?"Ardyn asked as he was still a bit skeptical about the entire thing, but he guessed that he could give it a try."Only some notes that you could use as the reference... but if you already have the Mana, the process should be easier... I guess?"She almost ended the sentence with a question, because she herself wasn't really that sure.He just looked at her with a sigh and listened to her explanation.***Floating Warship of the Atlesian Dominion, IronbloodThe Warships of the Atlesian Dominion were a state-of-the-art combination of Technology, Engineering, and Magic.Each Floating Warship was capable of obliterating any Grimm below the power level of the Titled Saint, as their firepower was no joke, and they were also capable of solely cleaning out some smaller Grimm Hordes.The technological superiority of the Atlasian Dominion allowed the Atlas to rise even above the Empire of Mistral, which had the longest Spiritron Cultivation Tradition and the longest Martial Art Legacy.Or the Kingdom of Vale, which had the same but with Magic because the Kingdom of Vale had the highest number of Official Magi in the world, and they also possessed the most extensive Lore on the Magic throughout the entire Remnant.The ship was floating primarily due to the mineral called Suspendium. It was a mineral found and used in the Remnant. The higher the purity of Suspendium, the better it floated in areas of high Mana density.Coupled with the best quality Dust, the Floating Ships could fly even in the areas that were almost devoid of Mana, albeit such regions were extremely rare in the world. The Warship Ironblood was one of the newly constructed and put into service, under the command of Captain James Ironwood.Relatively fresh graduate of Alsius Thors Military Sentinel Academy and one who completed the Sentinel Program, he was the best in his year and was among the most powerful students that graduated from the Academy in the past few years.James Ironwood was a tall and muscular man in his mid-twenties. He wore a white overcoat, with a gray undercoat, a black sweater, a red necktie, and a white glove on his right hand. His suit pants shared the same color as his overcoat and were tucked into silver boots accented in gray.His hair was black, with some gray areas not from old age but from being a trait of the Ironwood Family, while his eyebrows were solid black."Captain, we have received new orders from the High Command."His adjutant, Clover Ebi, the second-in-command, stated as he passed him the message that was received on his Pocket.He was a man with short brown hair and teal-green eyes. He wore a sleeveless Atlesian Specialist uniform consisting of a white, sleeveless, double-breasted coat with red and blue accents, ornate detailing shaped like wishbones, a broad tail with red lining, and a four-leaf clover pin on the lapel.His belt had a rabbit's-foot keychain hanging from it, and he wore white pants and covered his hands with brown fingerless gloves. He also wears blue calf high boots with four dark blue straps and steel-toed plating.Atlesian Specialists was the short name for the Special Operations of Unconventional Warfare and Combat Operatives.Or just the Specialists.It was mostly a new part of the Military of the Atlesian Dominion in the attempts to incorporate more Huntsmen into the structures of the Military. The Specialists basically did what the Huntsmen were doing, just the distinction that they were directly placed under the High Command of the Dominion Military."Wyverns this close to the borders?"Captain Ironwood muttered because Wyverns were disturbing the news.They were classified as Hazard-Grade Magical Beasts, and usually only Titled Saints or S-Rank Huntsmen. They were fairly powerful and could summon more of the Magical Beasts and command them as they wished.Though practically anything that was draconic in origin was very powerful.The fact that one of them appeared pretty close to the border of Atlas was disturbing news, and it even attacked the bullhead carrying students of the Alsius Thors Military Sentinel Academy as it crashed.The most problematic was that the bullhead was the daughter of Blue Thunderclap.One of the Holy Saints of Atlas.Yeah, Khuns were a huge family...But according to all the intelligence and tests, apparently Khun Maschenny inherited most of her talent from the entire Bloodline over several generations, meaning her survival was of paramount importance.Even among the Great Families, talents like hers appeared only once every few centuries, from time to time, and all people with her kind of talent were vigorously cultivated so they could become new Limit Saints for the Great Family.Even in the Great Families, anyone who had Innate Spiritron Power above Level 10 was considered a rare talent. He knew that she was someone with the Innate Spiritron Power of Level 15, which was considered a huge thing even among the Great Families.Someone like that was basically guaranteed to reach the Limit Saint in the future, and her chances of becoming Holy Saint were also pretty high.There was also another piece of information inscribed there.Apparently, she wasn't alone: an unknown teen was with her, wielding a powerful Semblance or Noble Arte and a target for retrieval...What intrigued James was that the one who issued the order for the retrieval of the young man, retrieval at all costs, was Khun Eduan himself.'There must be something... someone like him wouldn't move personally just because of a random Noble Arte and an issued Absolute Order.'Ironwood knew that there must be something else in the play, because despite everything, their Holy Saints rarely issued Absolute Orders.The number of the Titled Saints was everything for the nations, because they were people so powerful that they could reshape entire landscapes when they found and toppled entire mountain ranges with their might.Especially the Duals, which was a term for a person who was both Aura Knight and Magus at the same time.Limit Saint was basically the last remaining stage in the Spiritron Training when one reached the Level 99 Spiritron Level, and was the limit of what the mortals could achieve. They were the strongest beings under the Heavenly Monarch Boundary, as everyone who was between Level 0 to Level 99 of the Spiritron Levels was considered to be in the Mortal Boundary.Even though it was still pretty ironic to think of the Limit Saints as mortals because they were anything but that...They were the cornerstones of the nation and its pillars.Each one was a strategic weapon, and the more the nation had, the stronger they were and the more influence on the international scale they would possess.The Holy Saints were a special existence because they were the beings that lingered between the Mortal Boundary and Heavenly Monarch Boundary after they reached the Level 100 Spiritrons and were at their absolute peak in Mana and Aura.The very reason why someone was able to reach the Level 100 was mainly because they possessed both Aura and Mana at the same time, without it... It was virtually impossible to become a Holy Saint.The strength of the nation was often decided by the number of Holy Saints and Limit Saints that it possessed, yet no nation would reveal all of their cards outright about how many Limit Saints and Holy Saints they possessed.Within the Dominion, only the Holy Saints could issue Absolute Orders.They were orders to the Dominion Military and every branch of the Armed Forces to be carried out at any cost, regardless of sacrifices and price to pay.This was the ultimate privilege that the Holy Saints of Atlas possessed.'Well... I am too small fry to worry about the schemes of Great Families.'He thought as he issued an order to the Warship to fly toward the coordinates received.These things that were happening were not of his concern.Ironwoods were one of the Lesser Houses of the Atlesian Dominion, holding the Aristocratic Rank of Lord within the Dominion since the times of the Imperium of Atlas. Their House wasn't really interested in politics as they were far more involved in the military service, which was commonplace for the members of the Ironwood Family.They were very famous for it, because every member of the Ironwood Family served in the Atlesian Military, and due to their Family Semblance, they were always holding commanding posts.In the past, their house produced Limit Saint, but that was more than millennia ago, and the Limit Saint Ancestor of the Ironwood Family has already perished to the tides of Grimm many, many years ago, but he made the ultimate sacrifice for the Atlas.Fall of the Limit Saint was always considered as an enormous tragedy for the nation, because the Limit Saints were the people who upheld the very existence of the Kingdom.***Unknown Location of Solitan WastelandsFor the past half hour, Ardyn was doing exactly what Maschenny told him to do, or at least what he understood, because even she admitted that the information was incomplete, as it was more than ten millennia old.Even with his memories... unknown to him, he already considered the Template's memories as his own, because from a certain point of view, they were his own.There wasn't much knowledge about the Souls.Yet, when he reached deep inside him, he suddenly noticed something strange as his consciousness was pulled into some kind of inner world in a split second.He felt that weird power within his Soul as he reached for it in an attempt to tap into it.Suddenly, as he reached that sphere of light, suddenly his inner environment transformed into the enormous empty black space... with the only thing in there being a set of huge stone doors.The stone doors also featured murals on them.Depicting the memories of either Sirius Grey, Ardyn Izunia, or Ardyn Lucis Caelum.He strode to the door, and he put both of his hands on it.Suddenly, he pushed... with all the power that he had, he pushed toward the door.He felt their heaviness and size.Yet...Suddenly, a beam of light hit him in the eyes as they were opened.***Meanwhile, "outside", Maschenny looked at the meditating Ardyn, who had been in a deep trance for the past hour or so. She could see that he was attempting to awaken his Spiritrons and Semblance on his own, though it was highly doubtful if he would be successful.'Who would have thought that it worked... if he could open it, then he would be one of the very few in the world with the potential to reach that Level...'As she pondered over her future schemes, she noticed that suddenly both his familiars ran to her and in a split second as something was happening and the cats felt it way before her.And then it happened.An enormous wave of Spiritrons exploded from his body that was oppressive to the point where she thought that it was on par with D-Rank Huntsman.But the purity and strength of his Spiritrons and Aura that were manifesting outside of his body were far higher than that... most probably approaching the C-Rank Huntsman of the commoner origin."I-i-mpo-ssible..."She was almost thrown against the cave wall, which shook as if an earthquake were taking place."The first Irregular... in several centuries.."The Irregulars were a big deal.Since the Primeval Times, the number of them has always been extremely low because the conditions for becoming one were incredibly harsh and unrealistic for anyone.Maschenny remembered that Irregulars had the highest chances of breaking the limits of Mortality, and those who reached the zenith were almost all Irregulars. Those who were born into the established Lineages and Great Families had zero chance of becoming one.That was the price for their advantages. Everything required balance... and the balance in exchange for being born into the Lineage, with many advantages that almost none had, was the price of a much harder time breaking through Mortality.Many were satisfied with that, as most won't even be able to reach the stages above A-Rank. Only after several moments, when his Aura levels started rising again, she woke up with his thoughts."Wake up, you dolt! You will destroy the cave! Ardyn!!!!!"As she shouted, the young man's eyes shot open, and his Spiritrons levels stopped rising to the usual level for the lowest standards for the D-Rank Huntsmen as set by the Hunter Association.Which was a rather staggering result.Every person was born with a different amount of Spiritrons, and that amount one was born with was often the deciding factor in future accomplishments because it was a reflection of one's innate talent.This was termed as Innate Spiritron Power.Innate Spiritron Power is indicative of a person's potential, as individuals with higher Innate Spiritron Power tend to have stronger Semblances and train at a faster rate compared to those with lower Innate Spiritron Power, even when both are at the same Level.The higher the Innate Spiritron Power one had during the Spiritron Awakening, the easier it was then to progress on the pathway to power.During the Spiritron Awakening, the average person's Innate Spiritron Power was something between Level 2 and Level 5. If a person was from a good Lineage, then they could reach even as high as Level 7 or Level 8.Those descendants of the Great Families were more special, as their Awakening of the Innate Spiritron Power lingered somewhere minimally at the Level 8 and reached as high as Level 10, which was also called Innate Full Spiritron Power.Geniuses like herself with a very strong Bloodline Manifestation could reach even higher than the Innate Full Spiritron Power, because those who had God-Level Semblances could reach Level 15.As this wasn't accounting for the various methods the Great Families were using to boost the Spiritrons of their descendants before the Spiritron Awakening, the Great Families were conducting experiments on their descendants to increase their latent talent.Those with such high Innate Spiritron Power could train just a few years to actually possess enough Spiritirons to pass the lowest Hunter Examination and obtain F-Ranked Hunter Certification.'Straight after awakening, his Innate Spiritron Power is Level 20 but his Spiritrons are stronger than even someone at Spiritron Elder Level who created his 1st Spiritron Core. His Aura should also be also staggeringly powerful, and after some training, it would get even more... it seems my decision is indeed correct.'Most of the B-Ranked Huntsmen had their Spiritron Levels lingering between Level 60 and Level 79, and usually were Spiritron Masters who had already created their 2nd Spiritron Core.She herself when she was born, her Innate Spiritron Power was 15, which was one of the higher ends in modern history. Not to mention, the purity and density of her Spiritrons were much higher than that of the common people, and she needed only a very short time to reach the Level 20 Spiritron Apprentice Level.Yet, Ardyn, just after awakening, managed to reach the number Innate Spiritron Power of Level 20.Which was something pretty shocking, even if one considered the history of the Remnant, as there were only a few cases where someone reached a higher amount of Spiritrons after the awakening.Of course, having such a huge amount of Spiritrons wasn't the proof that one was equally powerful... it was just a numerical representation of how much Spiritrons one possessed, as they could still be killed even by people who didn't have any Spiritrons awakened and without Aura.Still, the amount of Spiritrons was of paramount importance because it also determined how much Aura a person could manifest and use during the fight. It was also a testament to how strong Aura Techniques one could execute and how strong Aura Knights they were."Meow, meooow!!!"Suddenly, as the process ended, both Bastet and Maahes started meowing like crazy because they sensed something.And it wasn't obviously anything good."Grimm..."Maschenny muttered with a certain level of distress because she wasn't really combat-ready right now. The main reason why she survived the encounter with Wyvern when the Magical Beast attacked their ariship was primarily that she exerted all of her Spiritrons into one huge Lightning-type attack that blasted the Wyvern almost apart.The downside was that she broke her Aura, Magic Exhaustion, and her internal organs were severely injured. Her Spiritron Core was a bit fractured and would need a long time to recover, or some serious medicine or Healing Magic.So she wasn't really in the state to fight a large number of Grimm... especially now...Apparently... it seemed that this commotion had attracted Grimm and most probably in rather large numbers. Both Gyrinxes were rather nervous because they were using their Magic to monitor the area, and they were pretty sensitive to the Magic signatures.When Ardyn woke up from his meditation trance, he noticed that a strange energy was now enveloping his entire body and that he felt stronger than ever. The Aura was the building block of the superhumans in the Remnant, and it was what made the people truly extraordinary here.When a person awoke their Spiritrons and unlocked their Aura, their physical dimensions would undergo tremendous change, as their physique would be instantly elevated to a much higher level.Depending on the amount of their cs, they would receive even greater benefits.At the same time, those with their Aura unlocked would get their senses enhanced to the point of obtaining Extrasensory Perception and also a passive healing rate, which would heal them from injuries.Ardyn noticed that there were a lot of Grimm around them and realized that his Aura Awakening must have attracted them here.It was common knowledge that Aura attracted the Grimm; the more Spiritrons one had, the more they became visible to the Grimm, and it was much easier for the Grimm to find such a person even from a long distance.Basically, having the Aura gave one countless benefits, and he would need some time to completely familiarize himself with them and his gains."Now that you have Aura, can you go and reduce their numbers by a bit?"Machenny knew very well that the Ward that Ardyn created was something that he looted, and it wasn't of the highest quality around. She knew that Ardyn's Spiritron Awakening created a rather strong commotion and attracted a lot of Grimm.Which wasn't anything surprising due to the amount of Spiritrons that he subconsciously released during the Spiritron Awakening. That was bound to attract the attention of pretty high numbers.The Wards that they were using were never designed to withstand the pressure of hundreds of Grimm attacking it nonstop. It would crumble sooner or later, so it would be best if he went to clean them out a beast...She knew that his Semblance or Noble Arte, which he showcased, wouldn't be a problem to stay safe while controlling those conjured weapons of pure Mana to kill the Grimm. She noted that the Noble Arte was weird, but it was pretty powerful as it killed a pack of Beowolves in a split second without any resistance.Which, on itself, wasn't really weird, because many could do it.But someone in his circumstances doing it was...Shocking."You sure that's a good idea...? Just on their meowing, I can see that there are many of them..."Ardyn, for obvious purposes, wasn't that pleased to go into such a dangerous situation straight after, for several reasons. One of them was his personal safety, as there should be several hundred of Grimm out there... the other was more pragmatic, because he knew she wanted to gather more information about his abilities.Even though he admitted that she was pretty cunning, it was nothing in front of the centuries of experience that he had in his head. Still, he admitted that if the Grimm broke through the Wards, it would be pretty problematic, and with his Armirger, he did have a problem facing the creatures head-on.Especially now that he had awakened his Spiritrons and obtained Aura.And had a lot of it.What was peculiar was the fact that now that he awakened his Aura, his connection to the Device: Rakshasa Blade grew even more powerful.The Rakshasa Blade was a Device; technically speaking, it was the materialization of a Blazer's Soul; in essence, it is a crystallization of the very own Soul.The moment he awoke his Spiritrons, the Rakshasa Blade stirred up, and it got...More active?"If I cannot handle them, I am escaping... and you are to help me, are we understood, blue hair?"Ardyn asked as she frowned, but nodded nevertheless because she really wanted to see what he was capable of. Especially now that he had his Aura unlocked, and it was such a staggering amount of it.She also swore that she would give him a really good beating for the constant teasing and niceness that he was giving her, just to rile her up and get some motion from her. She knew that he was also fishing for the information like she was, albeit in a different way.Ardyn, meanwhile, wasn't really planning to go and die to the Grimm that were now gathering themselves in front of the cavern where they were staying."Take this... it would record your kills and the type of Grimm you killed."She presented him her Pocket as he grabbed the floating device with curiosity."What for? To make the information gathering process faster?"He asked with a teasing tone of voice as he eyed her Pocket that started floating around him."Don't be paranoid... even if I wanted, it would be useless, as the entire Solitas Continent is monitored by the Satelites and surveillance Magic. The Pocket will help you record the number of Grimm that you killed. If you decide to remain within the Solitas, it would be pretty helpful."She explained as Ardyn nodded because he understood that he was certainly powerful enough or in a position to evade surveillance even if he wanted. Obviously, she knew that if he even wanted to remain within the Solitas, though she didn't really consider it possible that he would not become a Citizen.Empire of Mistral was essentially a failed nation that was falling apart; the Imperial Qin Clan had little to no authority beyond the Imperial Capital, and the rest of the power was congregated in the hands of Great Families and Sects that ruled over the vast lands of the Anima Continent.Vacuan Sultanate wasn't really much better, because of the successive generation of the weak Sultans, which resulted in the Imperial Viziers and Emirs gaining too much power, and now, with the Asturias Family stirring up the trouble...Vale was the only stable kingdom in the Remnant, but it also had its own problems... especially the high degree of corruption between their so-called Aristocracy and rather brutal impending struggle within the Royal House that seemed to be all but inevitable as the various branches of the Royal House were preparing for the civil war for the throne.From her point of view, Dominion was the best choice, even though the culture was extremely militaristic and strict here."How kind of helpful?"Now... he was intrigued because any benefits were welcomed.Especially if they came from the strongest and most advanced nation on the Remanant till this day."Within the Atlesian Dominion, you can obtain Citizenship either through service in the Military or through killing Grimm. Also, through exceptional performance in the battle against Grimm, one can obtain the lowest Rank of the Junker Nobility, the Knighthood."The Junkers were members of the landed nobility in Prussia, as much as Ardyn could remember the history lessons of the Earth. They owned great estates that were maintained and worked by peasants with few rights.‍These estates were often located in the countryside outside of major cities or towns. They were an important factor in Prussian and, after 1871, German military, political, and diplomatic leadership... especially in the Military.Based on his own knowledge of Atlesian Dominion and what Maschenny told him, Atlas was militaristic to the core, and everything revolved either around being strong enough or serving in the armed forces of the Dominion.Even their nobility was entirely based around the Military Service in the Armed Forces and their significant contribution to the Dominion."Hmm... that works well for me... then au revioire, my fair lady... for the time being."Ardyn gave her flamboyant bow as he then strode to the entrance of the cave and noticed that the Wardstone that he had laid down some time ago, already had several cracks on it.All across the entire surface of the stone, which meant that Maschennny wasn't wrong.It would be breached by the Grimm.And pretty soon enough.If he doesn't do anything about it.Only Bastet came with him, as he left Maahes with Maschenny in case something happened because the two Gyrinxes could easily communicate with each other. If there was a problem or something happened, they could notify him, or he could use Maahes to communicate a message back to Maschenny through Bastet.It didn't take him long to reach the opposite area of the cavern, which was protected by the crystalline magic barrier. Much to his dismay and worry, the entire area was being swarmed by the Grimm...And there were hundreds of them."Meow..."The female Gyrinx meowed in something that Ardyn translated as worried meow, and he found himself agreeing with the sentiment. There were indeed a lot of Creatures of Grimm around their position and the situation wasn't really looking that good."I know it's a lot... can you help me a bit in this one?"He asked as he looked at Bastet and waved off the Grimm.[Detecting Grimm.][Species Detection Initiation.][Ice Beowolves detected. Ice Ursas detected. Ice Sabyrs detected.][Overall number of Grimm reaches more than five hundred.]Hearing the number of the Grimm and everything made Ardyn look at the Grimm that were congregating around the barrier and attacking it with everything that they had. They were also pretty ferocious when attacking, because it seemed that the huge Aura signature that they felt spooked them too much.Ursas resembled the Beowolves, with black fur and bony spikes on their backs and arms, as well as white, bone-like masks with red detailing, but are much larger and stockier. They were slower, but they were far more durable and physically superior.Sabyrs were large predatory cats resembling saber-toothed cats, Smilodon. Their namesake were the large canines with which they can deliver a powerful bite. They had small bone plates on their shoulders and hips, ribs along their sides, and spines along their backs. Their black skin appeared to be somewhat frozen and had white patches, most likely due to the fact that they inhabit the cold tundras of Solitas, and they also possessed bony tails.Ardyn just listened to the Pocket that was conducting some kind of analysis, as he didn't make much of it and instead focused on the Armiger. Now that he had awakened his Aura, he noticed that the flow of Mana within his body was much smoother and faster.This was one of the effects of having the Aura awakened, as it seemed that it was also benefiting him as a Mage. Ardyn focused on the Armiger as he materialized several weapons conjured from the crystalline Mana, and with a wave of his hand, they shot towards their targets.In a mere moment, the initial wave of the Grimm Beowovles that was attacking the barrier was slaughtered almost instantly as the Royal Arms went through the Grimm as if they were never there.The swords, axes, glaves, and spears all flew at lightning speed from one Grimm creature to another, and one hit was all that they needed to kill them. Ardyn looked at the power displayed by the Armiger Arsenal with a certain fascination as he brandished the Rakshasa Blade, which radiated a rather ominous crimson aura.He looked at the Device with interest, because it seemed that the Rakshasa Blade sensed the slaughter happening here and wanted to taste the blood. Even if the said blood belonged to the Creatures of Grimm.For the blade, it was enough.He could feel the bloodthirst in the Rakshasa Blade as the sword wanted to taste more Grimm blood, or just to commit more and more slaughter."I am going among them..."Ardyn said to his familiar Bastet, who licked her right paw in approval, as she nodded while he Warped away. Instantly appeared before one of the larger Ursas, and with one swing of the Rakshasa Blade, he slit the creature's throat, killing it instantly.Even though he had tons of memories using the Warp, it was still some kind of new old, old new sensation that was running through his body. In that moment, Ardyn actually savored the feeling of killing that Grimm, because this was the first time he had killed something with his own hands.In this life...At least.At the same time, almost all of the Grimm turned their sight to him the moment he slayed the Ursa, as they froze in their tracks for several seconds before they moved to attack once more...This time, it was directly targeted at him.Ardyn Warped almost instinctively because it was like a second nature to him, while he appeared next to another Ursa, with his blade stabbed into the creature's skull. At the same time as he was personally slaughtering the Grimm, the Royal Arms were floating around him like his protective shield and killing any Grimm that dared to approach.The more he fought, the better he actually became, especially when it came to using the Armiger Arsenal and Warp. Unbeknownst to him, the more he used these abilities of the Lucis Royals, the faster his remaining memories from the Template assimilated and merged.With assimilating the last remaining memories from the Template, his skills and experiences with using the Armiger and Warp. The memories of the Lucian Eternal Arms Mastership that was combining fighting with all weapons that were used by the Lucian Kings were being assimilated by him at a staggering pace.Within the ten minutes, Ardyn didn't even know how many creatures of Grimm he had killed, as his entire form was covered in the black blood from the creatures of the Darkness, as he just cut forward or controlled Armiger to slaughter the Grimm en masse.With his current Mana output, he was able to conjure more than fifteen Royal Arms when he wished, and the Grimm didn't really have the means of defending against the flying weapons that were targeting them and killing in one hit.Interestingly enough, he felt that killing the Grimm benefited him in some way, even though he wasn't really sure.With the constant Warping around the battlefield, his Aura was still full because none of the Grimm managed to land a hit on him. Instead, the little bits of Spiritron expenditure belonged to his own experiment when he tried to coat his Device with Aura.And it succeeded.With his Aura now coating the Rakshasa Blade, his killing speed of the Grimm increased as he was on the constant Warp. The Mana needed for the Warping was minuscule because it was Bloodline Power of his own, meaning the consumption was minimal.And the same thing could be said about the Mana needed for the Armiger.Yet, Ardyn also noted that every time he killed one of the creatures, a certain part of his Spiritrons was refilled. He didn't really ponder over it for the time being, as he focused on the task in front of him.Killing more.Ardyn grinned as he Warped towards the group of the Grimm, with his intention being more than clear.The speed at which he was slaughtering through the Grimm horde was only increasing because Ardyn learned their attacking patterns pretty fast. With his experience in the art of combat gained through the assimilation of the Template, it wasn't challenging.Most of the Grimm that were here were just something that was collectively called Minion-Grade Grimm. Apparently, the Creatures of Grimm were divided into several Grades based on their strength, attributes, and special abilities.Beowolves were one of the weakest of the bunch, officially at the bottom of the hierarchy, and were comparable to the F-Rank Huntsman. Ursas and Sabyrs were comparable to the E-Rank Huntsman, something stronger, but nothing really serious or worrying for the current him.Apparently, according to Maschenny, only the Grimms that were ranked at Commander-Grade and above possessed special abilities. Among the Grimms that were below that Grade, there were not many that were dangerous in terms of special abilities.The others, below the Commander-Grade, were not that dangerous solo, aside from the Mutants or some exceptions.Mutants were another rare Class of Grimm, as they were the Grimm that mutated due to something and were much stronger than they should have been originally, according to their racial specialization.Then again, it wasn't true that these weaker Grimms were not dangerous.No...The real danger of these ones comes from their numbers.Even powerful Huntsmen, Mages included, could be swarmed to death by the endless hordes of the low-ranking Grimm if one didn't have some AOE ability to deal with large numbers of Grimm en masse.Ardyn really didn't have, but the Armiger was working on a pretty similar principle, because through the conjured weapons, he could kill large numbers of Grimm at a staggering rate.With the Armiger, he cut through the horde of the grimm with extreme ease, while at the same time, using the Device Rakshasa Blade to cut down any Grimm that was lucky to come close to him.As he was killing the Grimm, Bastet was near him as she was sharing her own Magic with his own and helping him to control his Mana. At the same time, the female Gyrinx was also casting some rudimentary spells because she was a Pure-Blooded Elder Gyrinx, a species that preyed on all the Gyrinxes.They could easily cast spells.For the Pure-Blooded Elder Gyrinx, it was relatively easy to cast some Magic, as they inherently passed down bloodline memories with the Magic that was innate to their species.Ardyn was using the Warp Magic like it was second nature to him, bolting across the battlefield, always targeting the Grimm that seemed to be strongest as he was killing those ones personally.If there was some lucky creature that managed to land a hit on him, it was being blocked by his Aura, which was regenerating rather fast. He didn't really know what the standart regeneration rate for the Hutnsmen was, but he predicted that it must be pretty individual.As the entire thing with the Aura was.Furthermore, as much as Ardyn could see, there were no Alphas in the horde, only the average Grimm that posed no problem for him; thus, he decimated them all within the next twenty minutes as he killed more than 500 creatures of the darkness.Maschenny's A-Ranked Pocket floated around Ardyn as it counted the Grimm he killed and recorded everything... he suppressed the urge to smash the thing apart, though he really doubted he could even achieve that.The A-Rank Pockets were designed to withstand a lot... it wasn't something that he could destroy with his meager power... at least for the time being.After he slayed the last of the Grimm, he immediately went to pick up those crystals that occasionally dropped after killing the Grimm. There were actually not a lot of them, as the overall number was no more than sixty; most of them came from the Beowolves, while the rest came from the Ursas and Sabyrs.Ardyn looked at the crystals in his hands as he showed them to the Pocket, which, to his surprise, actually started scanning the items in his hands.[42 Beowolf Nuclei Detected. Price per Unit according to the approximate market price: 50,000 Lien.][8 Ursa Nuclei Detected. Price per Unit according to the approximate market price: 200,000 Lien.][10 Sabyr Nuclei Detected. Price per Unit according to the approximate market price: 240,000 to 280,000 Lien.]Ardyn didn't really know if that was a lot or not, nor did he know how much Lien was actually worth. He would need to learn that later, but overall, he was pretty satisfied with the number of zeroes at the end of those numbers.He then dispersed the Device and stored the Grimm Nuclei in his Dimensional Storage before returning to the cavern.