"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.
"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 Class 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.
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.
"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 Crystallized Blood and Essence of Primordial God of Light... but who actually knows..."
He lamsot 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 Crystal.
"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 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.
"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.
"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 Pocker 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.
"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.
"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.
"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 Aura, 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 Aura is regenerating at a steady pace."
She answered as they were eating because, over time, as her Aura began to recover, her healing rate shot up exponentially, and she was in much better condition than she had been.
"Well... seeing that you are recovering fills my heart with joy and happiness, My Lady. And perhaps you can unlock Aura for little ol me, yes?"
He asked if having Aura was a must in this world.
Aura is an ability that all those with a Soul can use, at least with enough practice. Because Aura is the manifestation of the Soul, it can appear very differently depending on who is using it.
In the Remant, everyone had Aura, be it Humans, Faunus, or even Animals. The Creatures of Grimm, being soulless, are the only known form of life that does not have Aura.
In the Remant, awakening Aura was the first step in being the Extraordinary. The Aura's 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.
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 basically a building block of the superhuman.
"I would... but awakening another person's Aura can take a heavy toll on the person conducting the Awakening."
Hearing that made Ardyn a bit disappointed, but at the same time, he understood that she was injured and that awakening his Aura could worsen his own condition.
"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 Awakening Aura, but logically... There must also be another way. The logic behind this reasoning was pretty simple.
There must have been First Generation Aura Users, the ones who awoke the Aura either by themselves or due to some other circumstances. Then, from these First Generationals, the other Aura Users must have been created.
"In the modern age, it's almost given that there are two categories of Aura Users. Either someone is born into the Great Families, Magic Lineages or Aura Lineages, and they are born with their Aura Unlocked, or someone unlocks the Aura for them. That's called the Regular Method... then, there is also the Irregular Method, which is Awakening the Aura by yourself."
Maschenny was the first category, as she was already born with her Aura unlocked at 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 Aura could also Awaken the Aura 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 Aura Users were produced through Aura Awakening through external Means. Either through Rituals, Sacrifices, Mana Awakening, or some kind of Artifact that did the job.
The number of the Irregulars could be almost counted on one hand.
She was rather curious...
The young man already had Mana even if he lacked the Magic Core, yet his Mana was on par with Level 2 Mages of the Great Families, or in simpler terms, D-Rank Huntsman.
Such power and potential...
She was almsot 50% sure that he would be Irregular.
Nobody had so much Mana without even a Magic Core created.
If such talent appeared within the Great Families... be it the Junker Great Houses of Atlas, Grand Clans of Mistral, Ducal Houses of Vale, or Viziers of the Vacuo Sultanat... they would be treated as the next Head of Household.
"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, Ironblood
The 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 S-Rank, as their firepower was no joke, and they were also capable of solely cleaning out some smaller Grimm Hordes.
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.
New graduate of Alsius Thors Military Sentinel Academy and one who attended the Sentinel Program, he was the best in his year.
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, 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.
"Wyverns this close to the borders?"
Captain Ironwood muttered because Wyverns were disturbing the news.
They were classified as Hazard-Grade Grimm, and usually only S-Rank Huntsmen or Mages could deal with them. They were fairly powerful and could summon more of the Grimm and command them as they wished.
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 Alsuis as it crashed. The most problematic was that the bullhead was the daughter of Blue Thunderclap.
One of the Limit Saints of Atlas.
Yeah, Khuns were a huge family... but according to all intelligence and tests, apparently Khun Maschenny inherited most talent from the entire Bloodline over several generations, meaning her survival was of paramount importance.
There was also another piece of information inscribed there.
Apparently, she wasn't alone: an unknown teen was with her, wielding a powerful 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 Limit Saints rarely issued Absolute Orders.
The number of the S-Ranks or Saint Boundary Huntsmen 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, who were also Mages.
Limit Saints was a term used for someone who reached the pinnacle of what humanity could achieve.
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.
Within the Dominion, the Limit Saints could issue Absolute Orders.
They were orders to the Military and every branch of the Armed Forces to be carried out at any cost, regardless of sacrifices and price to pay.
'Well... I am too small fry to worry about the schemes of Great Houses.'
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 Lesser House, and they were overall not interested in politics, as they were in military matters, as every member of the Ironwood Family served in the Military, and due to their Inherent Sembance, they were always holding commanding posts.
***
For 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 had 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.
'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 families ran to her and in a split second.
It happened.
An enormous wave of Aura exploded from his body that was oppressive to the point where she thought that it was on par with B-Rank Huntsman.
"I-i-mpo-ssible..."
She was almost thrown across the wall of the cave, which shook like an earthquake was taking place.
"The first Irregular... in several centuries.."