The main doors of the 2 ships that just landed opened fully, members of both divisions emerging from within. They continued walking down a large and long pathway that connected all 6 Hakumai division ships that were docked at their respective areas. The paths converged into a singular path that leads to the large square building covered in glass panes. Surrounding it was an endless plain of green fields with gardens, farms and tons of crops.
Sylvana: Wooaahhhhh!
Argo: Wow-
The two of them were amazed at how massive the building was. Even the ships were small compared to it. A hand came from behind Argo, landing on his shoulder.
Volt: I had that reaction the first time too. Lil bro, welcome to Oryza HQ.
Rosary: Pretty isn't it? Isn't it? Hehe I knew you'd like it!
Filio: Compared to our Winterfrost Island? This seems like heaven..
Argo: Is that where the 4th division is located?
Filio: Yes, it's where our main base is and where we usually go back to.
Ren: Each division has their own islands, with Oryza being the centre of it all. Once we're in the building, you will meet our leader, Zephyr. Majiki, show them the upper echelon list of Hakumai.
Majiki: With pleasure.
Argo: Is it the one about the division commanders? Filio showed us before we departed from Yorome City.
Majiki takes out a round device from her uniform and holds it in the palm of her hand. A hologram appeared showing a similar image to what Filio had shown them previously.
Majiki: Not this one you haven't, it's a more detailed version meant for only members.
Majiki: This is the full list of the important people you need to know about in Hakumai, as well as their ranks.
Argo: That's a lot of World class ranks- Also what's up with the 5th division? The commander's rank is Null class and the vice commander is unknown?
Majiki: The 5th division has a lot of their files covered in black ink, given the lines of work they do. I don't think anyone has met their vice commander in person, only commander Jack.
Argo: Interesting. Wait hold on just a minute, am I seeing this right- 2 Arcana class in the 1st division?!
Sylvana: Arcana class? Isn't that the highest, most strongest rank? The same as The Vanquisher?
Argo: Yeah! I've never met anyone who's Arcana class and knowing that there's 2 in the 1st division alone is something else.. It doesn't seem like any other divisions even have Arcana class members.
Majiki: Yes there's a reason for that, I'll explain more later.
Majiki switches off the hologram device and keeps it in her uniform. Beside her, Ren turns to look at Sylvana, interested in her mentioning The Vanquisher.
Ren: Ohh? You've heard about Noir Homura?
Sylvana: Of course! He's the reason I came to Aspheria as well as become a swordsman! I heard that he used to be a commander in Hakumai, isn't that right?
Her eyes lit with excitement. Everyone in the 3rd & 4th division stopped walking and looked at each other. Sylvana had a look of confusion but no one knew what to say to her. Kenji looks at Ren who seemed a little taken aback.
Kenji: Ren..
Ren: It's alright Kenji, I'll tell her.
Sylvana: Hmm? Tell me what?
Ren: Well you see Sylvana, no one knows exactly what he's doing right now. About 5 years ago after the disappearance of our 1st Leader, Kuki Kyoko, he made me in-charge of the 3rd division as well as passed down his commander's coat which is the one i'm wearing. He said that he has to go to Dragonea, the place where all dragons reside. As for the reason, he couldn't mention it. All he said was that he had to leave Hakumai.
Sylvana: But that would mean that he abandoned yo-
Kenji and Majiki cut in at the same time before Sylvana could finish.
Kenji & Majiki: He didn't.
Ren nods in unison with everyone there.
Ren: He probably has a good reason for leaving suddenly. There's no way he'd abandon Hakumai, he's one of the founding members as well as the one who taught me everything I know. Dragonea is home to the dragon gods, the ones that rule all dragons as well as Aspheria, so his leaving has something to do with them most likely.
Argo: (Wow, everyone has such trust in him. He must be a really great person, as expected as the person Sylvana looks up to.)
Majiki: His life signal is still online and well, however his current location is unknown.
Argo: Life signal?
Rosary: Yep! Everyone in Hakumai gets monitored by their life signal and location, should the need arrive we can know where and how they are.
Argo: And how are you guys doing that exactly?
Majiki: Zephyr will explain more in detail once we're in the building. Come now, let's not stand around here.
Majiki adjusts her glasses and begins walking with the rest following her. They continued down the pathway when they arrived at a low sloping stairway that leads to the front entrance of Oryza HQ. Within their view was a sliding glass door which seems to be the entrance and a large open area in front of it. As they headed towards the entrance, they saw a tall woman wearing a black Hakumai uniform who was standing not far from the door. Unlike the other members' bottom half so far, she wore a black skirt with an open leg parting and black boots with heels. Her long platinum blonde hair stood out with a half-up, fan-like bun that was held by a golden step-shake hairpin. Her vermillion coloured eyes with orange eye shadow turn to look at them. Smoke can be seen as she took a puff from her pipe that she held in her hands, which were far from any regular human hands.
Rosary: Yikes.. Among all people we could come across it HAD to be her..
Kenji lets out a sigh while Majiki adjusts her glasses.
Argo: There's someone that you don't get along with Rosary? That's a surprise, and here I thought you get along with everyone.
Rosary: Not her..
Volt: Uhh lil bro, try to not say anything that will agitate Yanling.
Argo: Is that her name?
Ren: Liu Yanling, she's from the 1st division and is ranked World class.
Argo: World class and she's just another member-? The 1st division really is something else..
As they got closer the woman took a few steps towards them. She took a puff from the pipe which revealed her lips that were covered in red lipstick. Her hands that were holding her pipe, or rather the very skin of her hand itself was vermillion in colour just like her eyes. Her fingernails were short but sharp, almost like claws. Upon closer inspection, Argo and Sylvana realises that she has horns on her head, which were vermillion in colour as well. From behind her skirt, a vermillion tail popped out.
Ren: She's an astral, more specifically a dragon. They're proud creatures who value respect and power above all else, be as polite as you can.
Argo: Got it.
Sylvana who was next to Argo nodded.
Sylvana: I can feel the aura from her just getting closer. Her mana is really dense, so this is a dragon..
Yanling came to a stop in front of everyone, not so much as a smile on her face.
Yanling: Back so soon Ren? I take it that something must have happened during your time in Yorome City.
Ren: Yes indeed, we were just on our way to give our report to Zephyr.
Yanling took a quick glance at everyone, noticing Sylvana and Argo among them.
Yanling: I see two unfamiliar faces, new members to your division?
Filio places his hand on Argo's shoulder to introduce him.
Filio: Actually, this one's joining me, his name is-
Yanling cuts him off midway.
Yanling: I was talking to Ren, mind your manners Mr String.
Filio: My apologies, Lady Yanling.
Ren: This here is Sylvana Skoll, she's joining my division. The one next to Filio is Argo-
Ren looks at Argo, awaiting a response from him when he finally catches on.
Argo: Argo Pendragon. It's my pleasure to meet you, Lady Yanling.
Yanling raised her eyebrow, giving a look that sparked her curiosity.
Yanling: Pendragon you say, are you by any chance an astral?
Argo: Not at all Lady Yanling, I'm just a normal human.
Yanling looks at him from top to bottom, noticing his white bracelet with a blue gem. On the side of the bracelet were a few rune markings.
Yanling: (This is- No it can't be.. I sense a dragon's mana coming from that bracelet. It's faint but it's there. And those runes, only a dragon god could read that-)
Argo began sweating a little, unsure of how he should react.
Ren: Is something the matter, Lady Yanling?
Yanling: Not at all, I shall best be going then. Our division has just been deployed for a mission, farewell.
Yanling walks past them, down the stairs and into the distance on the pathways that lead towards the ship docks.
Argo: She really has an intimidating presence, her mana was also quite dense that I could barely catch my breath- Do all World class ranks have this level of mana?
Ren: Mostly yes, but we don't tend to release it like that all the time. As I've mentioned earlier, she's a dragon. Since they're a prideful race, they always put their mana on display for everyone to feel and see their aura.
Yudai: You have much more mana than her if you actually showed off your mana commander Ren!
Koto: Yeah exactly as Yudai said! Say something too Kouji-
Kouji seemed a little quiet in the back, staring at the air in a daze.
Koto: Kouji-? Aspheria to Kouji? Hello?
Kouji snapped out of it and answered.
Kouji: Sorry, what were you saying again?
Kenji: You alright there Kouji?
Kouji: Yeah, I'm fine.. I just remembered the time I blew up a training dummy in the courtyard and it flew in the direction of where she happened to be walking when visiting..
Majiki: So that was you- Do you know what I had to go through after that!? You owe me big time!
Majiki adjusts her glasses, with an angry look on her face. Next to her, Rosary seemed to be annoyed just as well.
Rosary: I can't believe she cut you off like that Filio! If she wasn't in the 1st division as well as a dragon, I would have told her off!
Rosary looked pouted while her cheeks puffed up. Filio just smiled as if it didn't bother him.
Filio: It's fine, really. Alright you guys, we better head inside. Let's not keep Zephyr waiting.
Ren: Mhm, let's go.
Everyone entered through the sliding glass door. On the inside, there was a large lobby with bright lights from the ceiling. The brown coloured floor tiles were very clean, so much so that it reflected the ceiling and anyone that walks on it. There were multiple cylindrical pillars throughout the lobby. Tons of people could be seen walking around, each of them wearing Hakumai uniforms. There was a large counter in the middle of the lobby, in front of it stood a woman who had light-blue, long wavy hair with similar coloured eyes. She was wearing the Hakumai uniform with a long black coat around it. On her arm, there was an orange armband with the Hakumai logo on it. She spots Ren and the others and proceeds to wave at them.
??: Over here!
They made their way towards her as they heard her call out to them.
Ren: Jeanne, it's good to see you.
Jeanne: Likewise commander Ren. Zephyr is waiting on the 11th floor.
Ren: Thank you Jeanne, good work as always. Send my regards to your commander, Kira.
Jeanne: My pleasure, and will do.
Jeanne gave a warm smile and waved again before Ren led the rest to the elevator which was to the far end of the lobby behind the counter. They entered the elevator and waited for it to reach the 11th floor. Argo broke the silence with a question.
Argo: That was vice commander Jeanne from the 6th division right? Why was she wearing an orange armband?
Majiki: Those orange armbands are worn by non-combatants, in which everyone in the 6th division are. While I myself do not partake in combat often, I am still capable of fighting. Those that wear those armbands do not fight at all. It's not limited to just the 6th division, there are some from other divisions that wear those armbands as well.
Argo: Wouldn't that make them an easier target?
Kouji: That's why we keep them away from the battlefield as much as possible. Magical beasts aside, it's an unsaid rule to not attack non-combatants. Anyone who upholds values should know that.
The elevator door opens, and everyone exits into what seems to be a very large white room with multiple control panels, each with a Hakumai member using it. All of them had an orange armband around their arm over their uniform sleeves. In the centre of the room, there was a large table with its surface being a touch screen holographic technology. Nexto to it, a short woman wearing a Hakumai uniform with a long white lab coat around it. She has long blonde hair with purplish pink eyes.
??: There you are, I've been expecting all of you.
Ren: Raiden Ren reporting in, we have returned to Oryza. Our supply run was smooth. However, it seems that someone had stolen the blueprint files of Tetra City. That person managed to pass it to Bhima, the former dragon god who we believe is working with Yggdrasil. I'm sorry Zephyr, I let him get away with those plans..
Ren bows her head down to Zephyr who proceeded to smile.
Zephyr: Raise your head Ren, there's no need to apologise. It can't be helped if it got away, Bhima is a former dragon god after all. I'm glad you and everyone with you is fine. But this makes things complicated. Was it your gut feeling that led you to figuring out the Tetra City files were being stolen, Filio?
Filio: Yes it was. This means that we have a traitor among us.
Kouji: It can't be the 3rd division, we had only just arrived when we got leads on the stolen files.
Rosary: Same goes for the 4th, we were with the 3rd division when we landed in Yorome City.
Volt: Hmm.. What if- no that can't be it, not possible.
Zephyr: What is it Volt, do you have an idea? I'd very much like to hear it.
Volt: What if the traitor got to Yorome City before our arrival on their own, without the use of our ships.
Yudai: But that's impossible, to get in & out of Hakumai, you'd need to be on one of our ships. The distance covered across the sea isn't something you can just do. Unless..
Koto: Unless they teleported or flew..
Ren: That's impossible, teleportation is not something anyone in the world has access to being an ancient form of magic, let alone Hakumai. That leaves flight which some members do possess. Has anyone left recently?
Zephyr: Morgana left a few hours before you all did, she's out investigating Yggdrasil on her own. But let's not point fingers, with time we'll find out who it is.
Sylvana: Hey, has anyone seen Kenny?
Everyone turned to look at her before realising Kenji wasn't with them.
Majiki: Not again.. Where did he stumble off to this time-
Ren: I noticed him heading out of the building before we entered the elevator. He was in quite a hurry too.
Sylvana: Maybe he's hungry? I'm sure he wants some nice meat to eat right about now, it's way past the time for lunch.
Argo: Uh huh.. I think that's just you Sylvana..
Kouji: Well whatever the case, I'm sure we'll see him later on our way back to Springleaf Island.
Zephyr: Now then, sorry for the late introduction. Argo and Sylvana was it? My name is Medusa Zephyr, welcome to Hakumai.
-Ship Dock, Oryza HQ-
The Hakumai assault cruiser towered over the dock, a large golden number on both its port and starboard that showed the 1st division's ship could be seen clearly as light from the sun shined brightly. The ship was anchored by the magnetic field, its shadow covering the ground of the pavement next to it. There stood a woman in a black yukata with red spider lily patterns on it. Sitting atop her shoulder was a long black coat. She was holding a traditional paper-like parasol that was as red as her eyes. Her long smooth black hair was blown by the wind as her crimson red eyes recognised the person approaching her.
??: You came. Were you followed?
Kenji: Not at all, I made sure that no one knew where I was headed.
??: Good, let's head to Autumnfall Island, we shall continue our discussion there.
Kenji: As you wish, Ikki.