EVERNA Arcel Raine's
Five Levels to the Gods
Being in an all-white room and being judged by five all-black figures is indeed a completely new experience for Arcel Raine.
Moreover, the faces and other characteristics of the five figures were not at all clear. What is clearly visible is only the shape of their head, nose and or body. They sit back as if in their offices.
Not knowing what to say, Arcel behaved similarly to his friends, waiting on the spot until someone other than them spoke first.
The first black figure, a man whose head may be bald or with thin hair and short, spoke up, “I'm sure Zeus has explained what your transgressions are and their consequences. So I reiterate once again, the consequences for the excommunicado and whoever helped them are clear: death.
Because VOLSUNG had helped the excommunicado, meddled in the affairs of the Syndicate and even killed Sand Jinx, Ratfang and the other Syndicate members. The Syndicate hereby declares open war against VOLSUNG.”.
Zeus suddenly interrupts, “Doubt!”
One of the other council members who was a woman of dignity responded to Alistair in a stern manner, “It is forbidden to interrupt when the Chairman of the Council of Elders speaks! You have no right..!”
“Oh, I'm very entitled!” alistair said, his eyes blazing. “I am the leader of VOLSUNG, the holder of power that exceeds the Governor of Centronia, even the President of Archelia and the Chairman of the Union of Pan Everna! It is precisely you who should listen and obey my every utterance whenever I decide to force it on all of you!”
“No!” said the third person who was of a tall stature. “The Dominion Executive Chairman is on par with you in terms of strength. We, his superiors are more entitled to..!”.
“Stay, your power in Everna is no greater than mine!” Alistair. “If I wanted to, I would slaughter the five of you this very second, then Dominion and the entire Syndicate. But take it easy, I do not want it, in order to maintain the balance of the world.”
“Why is that?” said the fourth member of the Council of Elders while fixing his glasses and scaping. “Tell me what your reason is. If we are satisfied and can accept it, we do not need to fight.”
Alistair nodded. “Good, let me tell you. Helios is an intern who is on his first mission. He has claimed to interfere in the affairs of the Syndicate as a person, not on behalf of the VOLSUNG organization. Moreover, excommunicado have also said they believe in Helios alone, not VOLSUNG. Here's the proof.”
A holographic screen appeared before Alistair. He waved and the hologram screen flew up, plastered before the five members of the Council of Elders. It was CCTV camera footage in the back alley of Headbangers’ Club.
From the motion of Cross' lips, anyone could guess that Alistair's words were indeed true. Bloodfeast believes in only one person, Agent Helios.
Arcel was flabbergasted to see the spectacular “sihir” show. But to be sure, the bluff of the strongest traveler in Everna managed to tear down the vaunted wall of the Syndicate Council of Elders.
The proof is also, the fifth member of the Council of Elders, the long-haired man spoke in a hoarse voice like a middle-aged man talking, “So, what do you propose as a just and peaceful solution for both sides, Ultimatum and VOLSUNG?”
“I propose that a two-on-two match be held in three days, attended and witnessed by me, you and the inmates in the Adler von Bachmann Prison complex. The Syndicate is welcome to appoint combat teams to fight our representatives. A new match ends when all the Syndicate or all the excommunicado and all the fighters of our teams are killed, knocked out or knocked out. Whether the end result is execution or liberation, we no longer need to fight and the problem is finished that day anyway.”
The five members of the Council of Elders bowed among them in a voice that was deliberately not heard from Arcel.
After nodding, the strapping short hair take a turn to talk, “Okay, we agree to your proposal, Zeus. On condition that, the fight should be held in some sort of iron-capped wrestling ring on all four sides. So there will be no one to interfere except the fighters in the striped ring. One more condition, one of the two fighters in the excommunicado team must be Agent Helios.”
“No problem,” Alistair said as he turned towards Arcel. “I'm sure he will be able to overcome this challenge, of course with the help of his team-mates.”
Instead, Arcel frowned. “How can this be?” thought. “I let Alistair Kane arrange everything for us, as if we had no free will to defend ourselves!”
Arcel glanced at his friends who were also unmoved, not even protesting. Again he is entrenched, “His cup is like this is the influence of the charismatic radiance of the strength of the traveler between domains. Maybe I'll be able to achieve such power anyway, but how?”
\==oOo==
This isn't the first time Arcel Raine has been incarcerated. Since starting his career as a desert bandit in Ishmina, Arcel's freedom has been taken at least twice, even as a prisoner in a short time.
This time, the prison cell that Arcel was in was much closer together, more closed and harder to break down than before, with only a slight rectangular gap enough for the guards to see the condition of the prisoners in the cell, and there was one doorway through which to insert or remove food and drink three times a day.
The difference is, in a cell measuring ten times ten meters there is a bed equipped with a mattress spring bed that is quite soft, plus a clean sitting fax and an iron table attached to the wall and his chair. This prison cell was much more humane than the filthy prison of the Late Magic Age and early Machine Age, yet both of them were equally saturated.
There is one of the most striking differences between Arcel's first time in prison in Ishmina and now. This time, he did not get angry, banged on the bars and shouted cursing like before. The rich experience made him even calmer now.
That's why Arcel did not immediately say when a prison guard called out loud, “Detention Number 4257, please come with me now!” It took him a while to complete his meditation, and then he stepped closer to the cell door after the warden repeated his call in a louder voice and a rougher tone.
It felt like Arcel was twisting the warden's neck until it broke, but he regained control of himself by saying, “Sorry, Pak” and come without saying anything more.
The warden led Arcel into an empty room, with no furniture at all, but it was not the white room he had met with Alistair Kane and the Council of Elders of the Syndicate yesterday.
What Arcel saw this time was not a hologram, but rather three people, two men and one woman with somewhat dark skin. Allegedly, the three of them were from the Arcapada Peninsula.
One of the three, a middle-aged burly man with white hair, mustache and beard, in contrast to his dark skin stepped forward, positioning himself in front of the other two young people.
After the warden left, the old man greeted Arcel by saying, “Namaste, you must be Agent Helios, right? Or would you rather be called by your real name, Arcel Raine?”
Arcel's eyes widened, then he spoke in a flat tone, “It depends who I'm talking to.”
“Oh, forgive my lack of politeness. My name is Narayanan Singh, and those who are with me are my children, Rajadesh and Svida Singh. We are VOLSUNG agents codenamed Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.” To be sure, the three men displayed their respective identity badges.
“Salam knows,” said Arcel, he smiled knowing the three are both from VOLSUNG. “Actually I prefer to be called by real name, but we'd better use the pass name only.”
“Good. Although I know in this room there are no hidden cameras or microphones, it's good that we stay on guard according to Agency.” protocol Singh's smile widened. “We go straight to our business. Chief Zeus assigned me to give you lightning training for your fight in two days.
To speed up the process, I included my two biological children who are also my assistants to practice matches with you, Agent Helios.”
Arcel does not know what to do with “lightning” training ala Singh, will be as hard or as shiny as what training will be. After all he had no choice but to answer, “Please, Agent Brahma.”
“Oh yes, there is a seat from Chairman Zeus for you,” Singh said. “The first one is two new styles of Rainbow Finger of the Gods for you in two days. And the second is to explain to you about the Way of the Godhead.” Musafir
“God Musafir Road? What does it mean?” ask Arcel.
“It is a guideline, a system for anyone who wants to develop themselves to become a traveler between domains with the power of a god equivalent. The written information we have sent to your e-mail, please read it if you have time to open it on your smartphone if you are free later.”
Arcel did not know very well the last two terms that Singh mentioned earlier, but he said, “Alright, please explain to me, Agent Brahma.”
Singh began to explain, “Sistem Jalan Musafir Dewata which you are now living consists of three stages. The first stage called Blood and Flesh was an ordinary swordsman who only relied on natural physical and mental strength alone to fight. You must have been far past this stage, right?”
“Yes, I think so,” replied Arcel steady.
“The second stage called World Charcoal is a path of supernatural warriors or magicians from the level of disciples to heroes. There are five levels in this stage, namely Climbing the Traces, Climbing the Cadas, Breaking through the Gates, Seizing the City and Carving the Story. When you fought for the last time against the Mephistopheles, you had clearly reached the level of Carving Stories and possessed divine energy, but you had not yet become a traveler between the realms.
After all, when Zeus saved your life and brought you into this age, your energy was drained to some degree. At what level you are now, that's what you should know in order to know how many more levels to become an inter- realm traveler like myself.”
“A-what?!” Arcel's eyes were wide. He did not suspect at all that his coach had divine power.
“I am indeed one of the five travelers between the realms in VOLSUNG,” Singh said, both eyes narrowed. “I achieved it after having imprisoned for approximately fifty years by following the same system. But with great talent, abundant experience and proper martial arts training, you might be able to become a traveler in about a year.”
“Really?” Arcel frowned, always skeptical whenever exposed to things that logically were too grand to be true. “Am I that talented?”
“Well, the only way to be sure is to measure your strength through practice-calling,” Singh replied. Then he stretched and flicked both palms, as a signal for his two sons and daughters to come forward. “Of course by facing Agent Vishnu and Agent Shiva at once.”
Arcel flabbergasted. One-on-two, is this really a practice-play or is it actually an execution?