Midgard creaked faintly as Rei paced back and forth inside the cart's chamber, the Chaos Scepter resting quietly on the nearby worktable. The aura it emitted was faint, but persistent—like the low hum of something alive, something watching.
Rei glanced at it and narrowed his eyes.
He hadn't forgotten the way it had tried to kill him once before. Now that it pulsed with undeniable signs of sentience, he could no longer afford to treat it as a mere tool. If the scepter could think... it could also rebel. Again.
"I need contingencies," he muttered.
He stopped and turned to Tenko, who had been silently watching him from a cushioned nook in the corner. "Bring me the book on ores and minerals again."
The young Navarion stretched and hopped down, his small paws padding softly on the wooden floor. Within moments, Tenko had fetched the familiar tome, nudging it toward Rei before curling back into his perch.
Flipping through the pages, Rei's fingers stilled as his eyes caught a name in deep crimson ink.
"Flareo," he read aloud. "An unstable ore that explodes violently upon contact with Deoxy. Separately harmless... together catastrophic."
His eyes gleamed. "Perfect for a failsafe."
If the scepter ever rebelled again—if it ever tried to overpower him—he would destroy it. This wasn't cruelty. It was control.
He needed both ores, and fast.
Unaware that he was being silently observed, Rei stood, stretching out the stiffness in his back. Hidden in the shadows nearby, Luc, cloaked in invisibility and silence, watched with an expression of faint amusement and curiosity. When Rei murmured about acquiring Flareo and Deoxy, Luc's interest peaked. Without a word, he turned and vanished through the wall of Midgard, like mist dissolving under the morning sun.
He had his own motives.
Luc walked briskly through the winding alleys of the outer district, his cloak blending into the dull sandstone surroundings. Soon, he reached a discreet warehouse—a place where quiet transactions and unspoken agreements were taken place.
Inside, a group of hardened men lounged around crates of goods and mineral shards. They were sent here by the king specially for Luc to take anything Rei would require.
"I need Flareo and Deoxy," Luc said, voice calm but commanding. "Do whatever's necessary."
The men exchanged wary glances. They didn't ask questions. Orders from Luc came with consequences. With a nod, they dispersed into the streets like wolves on the scent.
Meanwhile, Rei arrived at the Hunter's Tower, registering a public task for the same ores. He offered a generous reward—just in case his own search took too long.
After filing the request, Rei decided to explore the nearby market. He needed more than just destructive failsafes. He needed layered control, psychological and magical.
As he browsed the market stalls, Tenko perched on his shoulder like usual, his fluffy tail swaying gently against Rei's back. The two of them stopped when a strange merchant shouted:
"Special! Special collars for magical and deadly beasts! Control their powers—limit them or enhance them! Safe and reliable!"
Rei turned toward the merchant, intrigued. The stall displayed ribbon-like collars in various colors, each shimmering faintly with enchantments. One particularly elegant violet collar caught Rei's eye.
"How much?" Rei asked, stepping closer.
Tenko whimpered quietly, shrinking against Rei's neck. His eyes pleaded.
"Relax," Rei said, chuckling. "This isn't for you. I just need to test it."
Still reluctant, Tenko allowed Rei to gently wrap the silky collar around his neck.
"This is called a Kiseo Collar," the merchant said proudly. "To suppress your beast's power, simply draw some energy from the ribbon. It will lock the flow of magic—or whatever power source your creature uses."
Rei nodded and did as instructed. The moment he absorbed the energy, Tenko's body stiffened slightly. The faint aura he usually exuded dulled. Tenko's ears twitched.
"Is it working?" Rei asked.
Tenko gave a small nod, eyes wide but calm.
"Alright, I'll take it," Rei said, unfastening the collar and handing over the coins.
As they walked back toward Midgard, Tenko barked lightly, tilting his head as if asking, Who is it for, then?
Rei smirked. "This is a collar for someone… special."
Back inside the cart, Rei approached the Chaos Scepter with a solemn expression.
He wrapped the violet Kiseo Collar carefully around the curved handle of the scepter, layer after layer, until its shaft was completely shrouded in the enchanted ribbon. The gem at the top—a swirling fusion of magic crystal and Qi stone encased in three pronged blades—gleamed faintly, like an eye waiting to open.
The ribbon pulsed faintly beneath his fingers as Rei gripped it. He drew energy from it—slowly but firmly—until he felt the scepter's power compress. Not gone, but restricted. Caged.
"Now I can control this," Rei said softly.
The scepter no longer resembled the humble wooden stick it once was. Its current form—a long, metallic handle wrapped in violet ribbon, topped with an alien gemstone embedded in wicked metal prongs—looked worthy of a monarch. Or a tyrant.
Rei studied it for a long moment before setting it aside.
The days that followed passed quickly. The ores arrived—Flareo and Deoxy, packed in separate containers sealed with protective enchantments. Rei never learned that Luc had orchestrated the delivery.
In Quill's workshop, Rei spent the evening crafting.
With a few wooden logs and a chisel, Rei started shaping the wooden log into 20 boxes with a small opening. Rei made a powder of Flareo and Deoxy and then put the powders separately into each box. Rei then attached a small cover on each of the wooden boxes and put a pin on it such that, on opening the pin, the flareo and Deoxy would mix and he would have enough time to throw it before the blast. Rei fashioned ten compact bombs, out of which he used 2 compact bombs for testing.
He used some ropes to tie a bomb on the Chaos Scepter, just beneath the handle where the 'heart' of the device pulsed. He put a bomb and tied it with a rope. he then covered the bomb with an iron box to protect the bomb from accidentally going up.
"If you ever try to rebel again..." Rei whispered, "...you'll die before I do."
Still, even with bombs and ribbons, he needed one last failsafe.
Rei took a Lightning Krystallite—the same one that was used in his makeshift EEG—and put it on a red headband. It was a broadband, with the Krystallite set on the left side at the center of a picture of a dragon's 3rd eye. He wore it upon his head, and when he did, a faint buzz tingled against his scalp.
If the Chaos Scepter ever overwhelmed his mind, the Krystallite would jolt his brain with controlled electric pulses—enough to destabilize dream or mind-based illusions. It was his final line of defense.
Looking at his reflection in the polished surface of Midgard's window, Rei blinked.
With the red headband gleaming on his head, the violet-wrapped scepter in hand, and his refined blue and red whispering robes and a red shirt on his slender frame… he didn't look like the boy whose parents sent him away for training.
He looked like a vigilante or gang member.
But Rei didn't discard the band or undo the scepter's ribbons.
These weren't just symbols.
They were necessities.
Because Rei knew: nothing in this world came without a price. Not power, not control, and certainly not freedom from something as unpredictable as chaos.