Limitless Path

Val watched the interview go on for a few minutes before intervening, calling over her press manager and having them distract the press pool. They moved on to interview the fighters that were part of the Young Scion contingent, giving Val and Tyrael another chance to speak with Beth and Blood uninterrupted. Beth at this point looked a bit harried, but she had handled herself with remarkable equanimity, impressing even Val with how she responded to the reporters.

"I'm sorry about them," Val said quietly, flicking her eyes at the press. "It's part of the job."

"What job?" Beth asked, her eyebrows rising.

"We're the Young Scions," Val responded, emphasizing the last part. When she got only two blank, beautiful faces staring back at her, she continued, "We're a group that was formed from some of the biggest factions in the galaxy. We're here to represent not just our factions, but the younger generation. We're basically a massive PR campaign both advertising our factions and showing that there's hope for the galaxy with the younger generations that are still up-and-coming."

"Oh, that kinda makes sense," Beth said. "So, you guys have a ton of reporters follow you everywhere you go?"

"More-or-less," Val replied with a slight nod. "We do have a bit of private time, but they follow us around and report on everything we do. Fortunately, there are agreements in place so that they can only send live video feeds out with our explicit permission and under various constraints. We also have press managers to handle interacting with them, reviewing what they want to publish, and generally help keep them in line."

"Still, that sounds absolutely fucking exhausting," Beth said with a shake of her head. "I can't imagine having to deal with shit like that for a day, let alone for weeks at a time."

"Weeks? Try years," Tyrael grunted.

"Years?! Fuck me," Beth cursed at his reply, but did keep it quiet enough it didn't attract the reporters' attention.

"It's worth it," Val said quietly. "Our factions have agreed to invest an enormous amount in us in exchange for us agreeing to live under a microscope for one or two decades. The fame and, in some cases, notoriety that comes from the program can also be a huge asset if used properly. Take your issue, for example. You said you were having trouble with the bureaucrats?"

"Yeah, we can't get anywhere, and we expect there's something sketchy going on, but we don't have any hard evidence. Not yet, at any rate," Beth said.

"Let's exchange details," Val offered, the two young women accepting her offer readily. "We're going to be back in the capital after a few days here. I'll give you a call then. We can solve this problem for you rather easily."

"Uh, thanks, that sounds great, but, uh, just like that?" Beth asked, eyebrows raised.

"Basically, everything we do looks good," Val answered, getting a snort out of Tyrael. "Helping you with this, whatever the result, will look great. Hell, the fact you beat the boys' asses first will make it look even better."

"You think me having beaten your group will make it look better?" Beth asked, looking truly bewildered now, something Val found very cute.

"Oh, certainly," she explained. "You're very strong and skilled, and us swooping in to help somebody like you with a difficult issue will make us look rather good, and also make us look even better for building reputation with a powerful person-slash-faction."

"I guess that makes sense," Beth said with a shrug, glancing at her stunningly gorgeous companion, who merely returned the gesture.

"May I ask," Tyrael interjected then, "if you have managed to raise your Swords to Expert?"

"Just recently, yes," Beth replied casually with a nod.

"Excellent. We shall have to spar, but not here and now," Tyrael said with a nod.

"Anytime," Beth said confidently.

"We are out here to pioneer a new dungeon. Would the two of your care to join us?" Val then asked, clearly surprising Tyrael.

"Sorry, but we need to get back to town," Beth said with a small smile. "But we'll definitely catch up with you later."

"That's fine, I know it was sudden," Val said, smiling back quite brightly. "We need to feed our pet journalists now, but it was good to meet you."

"Good to meet you as well," Beth replied, giving the two of them a nod before the two young women took off. Val was once again surprised, watching as their speed was truly something to behold. She also didn't get the impression that they were putting on a show for the group, but instead that it was the speed the two would maintain over a long distance.

"Well, aren't you three a sorry sight," she said with a sigh after walking back over to where the three were still being healed.

"That girlie hits like a damn truck," Andryn grumbled, wincing as a rib popped back into place.

"Tryael believes her Swords is already Expert, and she basically confirmed it when we were speaking with her just now," Val explained.

"Fuck me," Cal swore when Val had finished.

"No wonder. No wonder," D muttered, grunting as he tried to straighten his chest armor, which he had taken off after the healers started working on him.

"It is also my belief that she possesses a Gold-level, perhaps even peak Gold-level, buffing skill," Tyrael then stated calmly, his quiet sentence dropping amidst the group like a bolt from the blue.

"Bullshit!" Cal hollered, trying to stand before collapsing back to a seated position.

"Based on the mana fluctuations I detected, she had two buffing skills that she was running constantly. One of them burned mana and had a feeling of a Silver skill. The other, however…" Tryael paused after his short explanation.

"I refuse to believe that someone our age outclasses us by so much," D snapped, glaring at the Ancient Human.

"She is not our age, she is several years younger," Val then burst D's bubble. "I'm unsure about compressed time, but my eye powers estimate her at roughly twenty years old."

"Twenty?!" Blue Wave cried, having been listening passively from the sidelines.

"So, we just got our asses handed to us by a kid?" Andryn asked.

"You're not some kind of ancient Sage, Andryn," Val said with a slight shake of her head. "Anyway, finish healing and we shall rest here for an hour before continuing on."

They did just that, the three boys getting fully healed and managing, thanks in large part to the repair or greater repair runes, to get their armor mostly back in good shape. After the break period was over, and the reporters had all their questions answered and pictures taken, the group moved on. They continued past the shelf where they had fought the two girls and down the tail side of the mountain they were on, heading into a small valley. They fought their way through the relatively low number of beasts at the bottom of that valley before starting to make their way up the mountain they suspected housed the new dungeon. The beasts started to increase quite greatly in numbers and slowly in level as they climbed, indicating the group was likely on the mark.

They found themselves on a flat section a couple hours later, moving towards a small trail that led up towards the peak when something happened. Val had an eerie feeling of déjà vu, the only difference in this occurrence being a section of stone behind Storm was sliced apart, so many cuts happening so quickly that the rock transformed into tiny pieces that scattered outward like a light hail. A young man stepped out from the mountainside, glancing around with an indifferent air before moving to walk across the open area away from them.

The boys were not having any of this. Rather than learn a lesson from their earlier encounter, the three chief numbskulls had gotten their blood up and were looking for a quick one-up. They immediately dashed up to the young man to challenge him, Val noting the peerless quality of the workmanship of his dark red armor, understanding the gold patterns on it were complex inlays of runes that formed a specific pattern that created additional effects. The man stopped as the boys approached, turning slightly to face them, though he didn't appear at all discomfited or ill-at-ease.

"Hey, asshole! You think you can just ignore us?" Cal bellowed as they closed with the young man, who appeared entirely disinterested.

"No, I do not think so," he replied, which brought the three boys up short for a moment. He continued, "I know so."

It took the dunderheads a hot minute to process what he meant, but it certainly didn't make them any happier or calmer when they figured it out. Cal boldly declared their challenge, which got little more than a scoff from the man, not doing anything to put out the boys' fire. A longsword of incredible make and quality appeared in the man's hand from nowhere, someone wearing the kind of gear he was obviously able to afford a storage item or even power. He flicked the blade at the boys before gesturing at everyone else with it.

"If all of you attacked me at once, it might be slightly interesting. Slightly," he said coldly.

"Ya want all of us to attack ya?" Andryn grumbled. "Hardly sportin', and not needed."

Putting word to deed, Andryn then charged out front, the massive ogre's steps making the ground rumble as he sped across the rough terrain. He had been a few dozen feet from the young man still, and closed that distance in a matter of moments. Like the woman from earlier in the day, the young man didn't move until the very last moment. Unlike the young woman, Beth, the young man flicked his sword twice in the span of but a fraction of a second.

"DODGE!" screamed Tyrael the instant the young man started to move, very uncharacteristic for the staid young man, but it was far too late.

The two slashes not only cut deeply into Andryn's arms just above his heavy gauntlets, but somehow also managed to entirely redirect his momentum. The young ogre went staggering by the young man and received a swift, powerful pommel strike to the back of the head for his troubles. Andryn went down rather hard, staggering a step before crashing into the ground and rolling a dozen feet before all his momentum had bled away.

"Ty?" asked Val worriedly, dropping formality.

"He is at least a Master," Tyrael said solemnly, blade already in hand.

"But…no…he's our age…" Val tried to deny, stunned at the revelation.

"I have no idea why so many hidden monsters are prowling this little backwater world, but it is the truth," Tyrael responded. "Now, I doubt even all nine of us could handle him."

"I refuse to believe we're that weak," growled Blue Wave, who had hung back this time, not charging up to see the new shiny thing with the boys.

"Come. All of you," the young man commanded coldly.

"Formation A," Val snapped out, everyone immediately responding, even the unruly boys.

The group was in place in record time, not that it really mattered, as the young man they were facing didn't move, not even to twitch an eyebrow. Nor did he move as they started their attack, the heavies of the group rushing him while the ranged members and more nimble fighters either stayed out or deployed more complex tactics. Val had a brief moment of pride, and even hope, as they closed on him, with Cal, D, Andryn, and Blue Wave performing an almost perfect combination strike from four sides. Her fierce pride in the team and bubble of hope were both popped rather swiftly in the next moment, however, as the young man finally moved.

The weapons of the Scions' four frontliners were inches from him when their opponent suddenly swung his blade in a complex series of slashes, both the speed and skill at which he moved shocking everyone who saw. Every strike that was directed at him was redirected or wholly nullified, though the thing that made Val's eyes nearly pop from their sockets was when he cut apart the spell Alexandria had thrown by slicing apart its framework in midair. He then performed another unbelievable feat, tossing the four heavies away from himself with only four slashes of his sword, none of them even opening a cut on the four he tossed.

The beginning was an indication of the rest, as nothing they tried did the young man any damage. At least with the earlier fight against Beth, they got a couple hits in, despite how strong her performance was. That, and the fact was, they fought her as a small subgroup of three; if they had fought her as all nine, it was likely that even with her companion's help she would not have been able to beat the Scions. This man, however, was a beast of a different kind, as two minutes of continuous attacks, including powerful spells and combination attacks from multiple peak Silver skills had failed to even make him take a step.

Another sequence of attacks did nothing, failing to even make contact with his armor, and he had apparently had enough of the charade. With two flicks of his blade, he made more than thirty sword lights appear, not just striking all the melee fighters of the scions, but even striking at the ranged fighters. That wasn't the end of it, however, as he then finally moved, taking a single step forward while swinging his blade nearly a dozen times. Val despaired as over a hundred blade images lashed out at her team, and these weren't as kind. The man wasn't aiming to kill, not being quite as lethal as he could be, but the slashes were going to hurt. A lot.

Val blocked several of slashes aimed at her, though the way in which the man had slashed boxed her into a corner where she was forced to make some bad trades. She winced just slightly, suppressing her reactions even now, making sure to keep track of where the two fingers the slashes had severed flew to. She still had four on that hand, more than enough to keep her claw weapon stable, but it wasn't necessary, as her team was clearly the loser of the conflict.

"We yield," Val said, getting some angry reactions from a couple of the boys, though Andryn was again too injured to comment.

"Well, that was slightly interesting, as I predicted. Not to the level of that fight a couple days ago, but still a good experience," he said calmly.

"You're not a Master," Tyrael panted as he held his left arm together while starting his regenerative skill.

"I never said I was," the young man stated calmly.

"You're a Grandmaster," Tyrael breathed in a reverent tone.

"Indeed," he said with a nod before starting to walk away. The press rushed up to him to try to ask questions, but a single swing of his sword caused all of them to trip, and not just fall, but fall into each other. He then walked off into the wilderness despite Val's attempt to get his details, clearly not interested in the group any longer.