The VTOL descended towards the city and landed on the landing pad on top of the central tower.

Arthur stepped out first, before turning back to the others. “We’ve arrived.”

One by one, the newly freed people stepped off the ship, and gasps echoed among them as they gazed down from above the central tower.

Below, rows of buildings stretched out, with small trees lining the roads and all kinds of decorations glowing softly in the night.

Then a small group of synthezoids approached them from the side, each clad in matte silver and white uniforms. One of them politely said. “Please follow us, we will lead you to your designated living spaces.”

The group followed them down the lift, and were led through the road towards the housing complex.

Syara walked close to Sylas, her eyes wide with wonder. “This place is so beautiful.”

Sylas nodded slowly. “I’ve never seen a city like this before, not even the capital of our kingdom is this clean and well maintained.” He paused for a moment and muttered to himself as he looked around, “And what are these decorative lights, I don’t sense any mana from them?”

As they moved through Avalon’s residential sector, they passed well-kept gardens, modern looking buildings, and people going about their work. 

The synthezoids helped them to settle in. Each family or individual was directed to a clean, pre-prepared home, fully equipped with furniture, clothes, and food supply.

…

The next morning at Velcrest Academy

Finn yawned, rubbing his eyes as sunlight filtered through the window of his dorm. He sat up, scratching the back of his head when something caught his eye.

A piece of paper sat beneath a glass at the edge of his desk. He frowned, he didn’t remember putting anything there yesterday.

He picked it up and his eyes widened as he read the single line.

“Come near the northern gate after academy hours. – Arthur”

He blinked in confusion, failing to process what he saw.

“Wait… what?”

The next second, he hurriedly tossed on his training clothes, and sprinted out of the dorm, nearly running into a second-year in the main building’s hallway.

He made his way across the academy training grounds until he spotted Leon there.

Leon was mid-stretch when he looked up. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Finn jogged over and held up the paper. “Did you get one too?”

Leon nodded and pulled a similar paper from his pocket.

They exchanged a look.

Just then, Sophia, Natalya and Eva joined them near the corner of the training field.

Finn asked them, while showing the note, “Did you guys also get one?”

“I got one too,” Sophia said, her eyes narrowed. “But how do we know it’s really Arthur? What if this is the church trying to trick us into something?”

Leon shook his head and gestured toward Eva. “If it was the church, they wouldn’t risk dragging her into it.”

Everyone glanced at Eva, they nodded, the church in Brightwater would not dare to involve the daughter of the Marchioness in this.

Finn grinned. “Then it’s gotta be him.”

They had heard that Arthur had broken out of prison a few days ago, as a few knights came to investigate after that, they hadn’t had any contact with him since. So the note was a welcome surprise to them.

They agreed not to act suspicious for the rest of the day. And resumed their training, hoping to finally meet Arthur today.

…

Avalon a few hours ago…

Arthur woke up early and the first thing he did was to call butler Hudson. He sat in front of a table with holographic panels floating above it, while sipping something that looked like coffee.

“Hudson,” he said.

The tall and dignified butler who was waiting at the side responded, “Yes, Lord Arthur?”

Arthur sighed again upon hearing Hudson call him “lord.” Shaking his head in resignation, he said, “I want a full report on the current residents, their skills, psychological assessments, everything you can gather. I will send some synthezoids with you.”

Hudson nodded.

“We’ll start assigning them with responsibilities from tomorrow. We’ll have to upskill most of them anyway.”

“Very well.” Hudson turned and left, accompanied by a squad of synthezoids who were waiting just outside the room, to help with the task.

After that, Arthur ordered a squad of synthezoids and guard bots to accompany the few individuals with families outside the city, to help retrieve their loved ones.

After everything was done he left Avalon, he had decided to meet with his friends today. 

…

Brightwater City

As he reached Brightwater city in a disguise, he silently slipped a probe inside the academy and delivered some notes to his friends and went towards the Merchant guild. 

Arthur arrived at the reception hall of the Merchant Guild using a completely different face. 

He arrived in front of the receptionist who gave him a curious look.

“My name is Theodore Belmont. I have an appointment with the Guildmaster today,” Arthur said. He had contacted Rhys beforehand to inform him of the visit, ensuring the meeting would proceed without much fuss.

The receptionist looked into the register and said, “Please, follow me sir.”

Arthur followed her up the staircase and stopped in front of the Guildmaster’s office before stepping inside.

Rhys looked up from his desk, momentarily confused about who he was looking at, until it suddenly clicked.

“If I didn’t already know you were coming, I’d have never guessed it was you,” he said with a dry chuckle. “I might’ve called security by now.”

Arthur chuckled and stepped inside. “Well… hello to you too.”

Rhys stood up, walking around his desk. “That’s one hell of a disguise. What is it, some kind of illusion technique?”

In response, the nanobots on Arthur’s body retracted, revealing his real face underneath.

Rhys’s eyebrows shot up. “…Okay, that’s not magic.”

“Nope,” Arthur said. “It’s science.”

Rhys crossed his arms, eyeing the small cube that appeared in Arthur’s hand.

Arthur, seeing Rhys’ expression, said. “I can give it to you if you want.”

Rhys raised a brow and asked, “What do you want in exchange for it?” even as he reached into a drawer. “Attributeless spells, I presume?”

“Bingo.”

Rhys placed a leather-bound tome on the table. “I procured this just a few days before you got arrested. It’s called Judgment. It works similar to the Mana Bullet spell, but the best thing about this spell is it tracks your enemy’s movement, and it packs a much heavier punch.”

Arthur flipped through the pages, skimming the spell mechanics. “Hmm… nice. Yeah, I can use this.”

He then took out five cubes and a set of wristbands from his dimensional storage. “These wristbands control the devices. You can try one now.”

Rhys picked up a wristband and slipped it on, and a holographic interface popped up from it.

Arthur said. “There are already a few options available in it, and there is also a scan feature using which you can scan others and disguise as them.”

Rhys pressed on one of the options. The cube in his hand vibrated and broke apart, then the nanobots wrapped around his body and changed his appearance entirely.

He pulled a mirror from his spatial ring and stared at the unfamiliar face.

“…This is insane,” he muttered. “It acts like a second skin, it can even change the color of my eyes and hair.”

Arthur nodded. “And it does not use mana either, so it will be very difficult for someone to identify you.”

“This thing,” Rhys said, as he stared at the cube now reformed in his hand, “is dangerous in the right hands, it’s a perfect tool for infiltration and assassination.”

Arthur agreed. They continued talking for a while longer. Then, rising from his seat, Arthur said, “I’ll be in touch.”

And after that he left the guild.

…

After leaving the Merchant Guild, Arthur didn’t return to Avalon immediately. Instead, he spent the next several hours roaming around the city, visiting places where rumors generally originate, and where information could be bought with the right amount of money.

He visited taverns and the mercenary guild, to collect information about the church and what happened after he broke out of the prison. 

He learned after his escape from prison, the Order of the Church had moved quickly and seized the orphanage under the guise of an ‘ongoing investigation’ while deploying their inquisitors. Arthur’s name had also been plastered across various taverns and mercenary guilds across the kingdom.

They were still investigating how he had broken out of prison, and they painted him as a villain in the eyes of the public. From what he had heard, he had become one of the city’s most notorious criminals overnight, accused of everything from killing innocent people to kidnapping children. All kinds of charges had been pressed against him.

And his most heinous crime, they claimed, was killing a noble who had been doing great work for the common people. Somehow, they even produced testimonies about how Elaric Bahram had been helping remote villages during famines.

Arthur sat in the corner of a dingy pub, nursing a drink he had no intention of finishing, while a group of bounty hunters gossiped two tables down.

“Did you hear?” one said, leaning in. “They say this guy didn’t just kill that noble, he experimented on the kids from the orphanage, turning ’em into monsters. The church had to intervene and take those innocent kids away from there.”

“Bullsh*t,” the other muttered in a low voice. “Sounds like churches’ propaganda to me.”

“Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not,” a third added, taking a sip from his mug. “Count Bahram put a massive bounty on his head, a total of fifty platinum to kill him and hundred if he’s brought in alive.”

Arthur’s eyes narrowed slightly. He was wondering why the church was going so far to paint him as a villain. That’s when he heard what the mercenary said, it led him to suspect that the count might be the one fanning the flames. But the church didn’t seem to mind, as they never intervened.

He wasn’t surprised, the count needed a scapegoat to cover up Elaric’s dirty work, and he was the perfect target. Public outcry was easy to stir when money and politics were involved.

Arthur left the tavern without a word. He didn’t care what the public thought of him, but what worried him was what his friends might have been told, what lies they were fed.

…

He arrived at the arranged meeting spot, his figure cloaked in a black robe. After waiting a few minutes, he spotted his friends approaching the gate, glancing around subtly, doing their best not to draw attention.

He didn’t approach them, sensing that they were being followed. Instead, he reached out to them through telepathy.

‘Hey guys.’

Finn jolted slightly, his head whipping around. “Arthur?” he whispered under his breath.

Arthur continued, ‘Don’t look around. You guys are being followed.’

The group stiffened, they hadn’t sensed anyone following them. It was clear now, it could only be spies from the church or someone sent by count Bahram.

Eva’s voice followed. ‘Where are you? We can’t see you in the crowd.’

Arthur replied, ‘I’m to your left, wearing a black robe with a white jacket. I’m in disguise right now.’

They didn’t try to look around anymore, but Leon’s thoughts echoed out next.

‘Arthur… what the hell happened? The Church is after you. And count Bahram, put a bounty on your head.’

Arthur paused for a moment. Then, slowly, he told them everything, what had happened that night, the underground facility, the slaves, and lastly Elaric’s death.

After hearing everything, Natalya spoke first. ‘Don’t worry, Arthur, we are with you. People like Elaric… they deserve what you did.’

Arthur let out a sigh of relief, seeing that his friends still trusted him. ‘Thanks, guys, for believing in me,’ he said.

Sophia chimed in, her tone sharp. ‘Don’t worry Arthur, you did nothing wrong. The Church wouldn’t have made such a big deal if it was a commoner who died. They don’t care about justice, they are just a bunch of power hungry corrupted bastards.’

Arthur let out a soft chuckle. ‘I might not be able to see you guys again for a while,’ he added after a pause.

Then, he smiled slightly. ‘But I do have something for you.’

He focused on Leon. ‘Start walking towards your left. Leon, when I bump into you, take the ring from my hand.’

The group subtly began to walk towards their left and saw the disguised Arthur walking towards them.

Arthur also started walking towards them, he deliberately bumped into Leon and discreetly handed a spatial ring to him.

“Sorry, I was in a hurry,” Arthur said aloud.

Leon barely nodded. The ring already slipped into his palm by the time they parted.

Arthur’s voice echoed once again, in their minds.

‘I believe we’ll see each other again in the Ancient Realm. Goodbye… for now.’

Then he blended into the crowd and left the area.

…

Leon and the others turned toward the city market.

They couldn’t just leave immediately after coming out of the academy, or it would look suspicious to the people that are following them.

As they browsed through stalls and pretended to window shop, Leon spoke through telepathy.

‘Wow… it’s no wonder no one’s been able to find Arthur.’

Finn nodded. ‘Yeah, his disguise is top-notch. And he mentioned that the ring has something for us?’

‘We should check it later, when we return to the academy.’ Eva replied. ‘The spies would not dare to enter the academy.’

They wandered the market for another twenty minutes, picking up small items and chatting casually, doing their best to blend in as normal academy students enjoying a late afternoon stroll. Afterward, they headed back to the academy.

***

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