The detective sat across from them, his face calm, but even Hal could tell, he was secretly dreading facing off against the cultists.
"How did you get this information, detective?"
"We got lucky, remember the cultists that died at our hands, he had a notebook on him that was not completely burnt during his explosion, sadly, most of it was forbidden knowledge since when one of our guards touched it, they immediately went mad, but we found one normal page that spoke of tomorrow being the day they plan to attack"
The notebook has forbidden knowledge. Hal found his lips curving upwards without his control whatsoever, but the detective quickly sent his smile falling right back down.
"And before you ask, the congregation of knowledge confiscated the notebook, and they said Don't come looking. ' If I may ask, what did you do there?"
Hal shrugged, sincerely. What could he have done to get himself banned from the congregation? He just did what he was meant to and read books.
'Could it be Mrs Roshuna pulling the strings on this, and if so, why, how did I offend her?"
He let out a sigh as his attention came right back to the detective. There was too much on the table, and only one Hal to eat it, so he was not planning on biting off more than he could chew
"I understand, Mr Vandinel, but what will be our preparations? Are you going to bring in some kind of royal guard or something?"
"By royal guard, I think you mean the Crown's Imperial Aegis, and no, I will not be inviting them. In fact, I want you all to act like you know nothing. If we want to find out what the catalyst is and prevent further disappearances, we have to catch one of them, so we need to be discreet"
Mr Faizo stepped forward, and from the look on his face, he was not happy with the detective's decision. His voice was stern and slightly irritated, yet it also carried respect for the man he spoke to
"Mr Vandinel, I know you seek to solve this case, but endangering the life of the duke is unacceptable"
The detective smiled at Mr Faizo as he grabbed his walking stick and pointed it directly at him.
"Come on, head butler, you and I know that this place has servants not only skilled I house housekeeping but also at protecting their lord at all costs, so I believe everything will be fine"
Mr Faizo looked like he was on the brink of snapping at the detective, but resisted the urge and fixed his glasses.
"There must be another way?"
Mr Vandinel shook his head.
"Sadly, the king deems it to be a suitable risk. This is a world in which if you seek mysteries, you have to be willing to sacrifice for it, plus this will be beneficial to the duke; if we know the catalyst, even his safety will be guaranteed"
Mr Faizo bowed slightly, though his eyes still showed resistance to the matter.
"If that is what the King decrees, then I have no right to object"
Mr Vandinel smiled and placed his cane back down, as his attention now shifted to Hal and his companions
"For the rest of you, go get some rest. The attack on the mansion is tomorrow, so you'd best be well rested when the time to face off with the cult comes"
The three of them nodded as they started to walk up the stairs. Hal froze for just a moment and heard the detective mention something about speaking to the duke, and soon the voices faded from range as the three of them returned to Hal's room
Tai and Lyrrah sat down on the bed while Hal sat down in the chair next to his reading desk
"I have a suggestion in preparation for the upcoming battle. I suggest that you two, the only ones to have so far undergone awakening, describe to me your abilities since you already know mine"
Tai and Lyrrah exchanged glances before Lyrrah shrugged with a smile on her face
"I have no problem, basically my soul bestowed me with a title, I am now the fractured maiden she who shall move the world and the only ability I got is that I can now form protective barriers, though I think I can use them offensively as well"
She gave them a brief demonstration as Hal suddenly felt like there was a wall right in front of him, and so he lifted his hand to touch its surface felt smooth, but also let out a low vibration that kinda tickled Hal slightly, though he fought not to let it show
But what caught his eye was Lyrrah herself, her eyes glowed dimly along with her body that gave off very dim glows that would be almost unnoticeable in the daylight, but in the veil of the night, he could clearly see them lines that glowed blue where her cracks used to be, like
"Scars on the soul"
She retracted her barrier and giggled slightly as she touched one of the lines on her body.
"Yeah, but I kind of like them, cause they look gorgeous to me and show me the price I paid to reach this new power and that I am growing stronger"
Hal felt proud of his friend for taking having literal scars on your soul lightly, but when his eyes travelled to Tai, those scars acted as a reminder that he caused them.
He turned away from her and stopped himself from gazing at her dimly glowing body. Lyrrah did not notice him as her own body caught her eye. He wondered if Tai was ever going to tell her the full story of the cavern, that the one guarding his legacy was her dad and that Tai killed him.
"And Tai, how about you tell us about your ability?"
Tai snapped out of his gloomy state as he cleared his throat, briefly, after which he spoke with a calm voice.
"I was also given a title, I am the Sinner of Weakness, and my ability allows me to see other people's weaknesses, like in their fighting style or any blind spots they might have, and when I wielded your dagger, I could even corrode things with King's Talent"
"Wow, that explains a lot about how your fighting style has changed"
Hal was not just asking for formality; he needed to know so that he could devise a plan around it, a way to effectively fight with his teammates and use his ability to aid them
"Before we continue, a simple question: can you tell me what the use of these titles is?"
Hal giggled nervously, though at this point, he was sure they were used to him asking such questions.
Lyrrah decided to be the one to answer this question as she lifted her finger, signalling Tai to keep quiet.
"Titles are generally one receives from their soul upon their first awakening. In simple terms, it's a prophecy about the truest potential you can reach"
'Well, that was convenient. If that was the case, I wonder what my prophecy will be'
"Well, I guess, Lyrrah and I should get going, like what the detective said, we are going to need some proper rest for tomorrow"
Hal nodded as he saw his friends walk out the door, with Lyrrah turning back slightly to wish him a goodnight.
Hal did not waste any time as he jumped into bed to prepare for what was to come tomorrow, but then he found himself standing on some sort of liquid, and he recognised it.
It was the black substance pouring out of Helen, and as soon as the thought entered his mind, he saw a figure crawl out of the substance and climb up his body to whisper into his ear.
He froze, unable to do anything, as the figure finally whispered
"The detective was fooled, they are here right now, wake up Hal, or it will be too late"
Hal jolted awake only to see a cloaked figure above him that was holding a sword over him, and in the next moment, brought it down