The Elemental Relics

A week after their investigation, the group members were split into two groups. Ali and Kamis formed one group while Belen and Kurata worked together. Menna had deemed it too dangerous an operation to monitor the crime syndicates directly so the two groups were sent to aid the refugees. By gaining the trust of the refugees, the teenagers could more easily gather information without putting themselves at risk. Ali’s group was sent to the section of the slums bordering the Lightning Clan territory. With the borders of the Lightning Clan territory being heavily disputed, he and Kamis had to be ready to flee if they spotted any thugs from the syndicate and felt that they would be caught in something. As seen during the investigation, the Lightning Clan thugs were easily angered and didn't hesitate to make their thoughts heard.

“What now?” asked Kamis as the two of them stopped at a busy intersection. “I’m not sure what we can do to build trust.”

“That’s simple,” said Ali as he took the lead.

The two of them then walked towards a destroyed building nearby. Much of the walls had collapsed and the refugees were making the most of their situation. A few were busy clearing an area of heavy debris but they made little progress. Ali and Kamis offered to help and they succeeded in clearing the area in an hour or so. The group then sat down with the refugees thanking the two and conversations followed.

“I don’t know how we can thank you two,” said a man in his thirties.

“We just like to help out,” said Kamis who quickly adjusted to the situation.

While Kamis conversed with the refugees, Ali’s attention was on the Lightning Clan thugs who just entered the block. He assigned Tian to keep an eye out for threats and the air serpent alerted him of their presence. By positioning himself slightly, he got a clear view of the thugs through a gap in the walls. Some poor soul had bumped into one of the thugs so there was a argument that followed. If left alone, the refugee would suffer an unfortunate fate at the hands of the thugs. Without hesitation, he activated a lightning trap beneath the thugs which resulted in them screaming in pain. The screams got the attention of anyone who was already tuning into the argument earlier. Ali, pretending he was curious, moved closer to the wall until he had an unobstructed view of the intersection where the thugs were recovering from the earlier traps.

Get a taste of this!

With impunity, Ali used his trap ability beneath the thugs, causing plenty of confusion among them while also inflicting damage. More importantly, he was leveling up his ability, albeit rather slowly due to the nature of the ability. The more stringent requirements of trap ability leveling saw him only barely getting XP for the ability. By the time the thugs fled from the scene, Ali only acquired five more XP for his trap ability, raising the total to a measly six. If he landed the same number of hits with his air slash, his ability would have already leveled up.

I need to get lucky somehow. Either I encounter a larger group or I can pick off a few stragglers and actually get the killing blows.

Once the spectacle was over, everyone returned to what they were doing. Ali and Kamis used this opportunity to excuse themselves. Kamis gestured that he wanted to talk in a nearby alleyway and Ali obliged. Once they were sure nobody could eavesdrop, Kamis asked Ali about the traps earlier.

“I don’t know how but I inherited them from Svenne,” said Ali.

The teenager chose to not disclose the relic he had. He suspected the relic was actually very valuable which would attract the wrong attention. The fewer people knew about it, the safer they would all be. He trusted Kamis but certain secrets could get them killed. Luckily, Kamis seemed to have accepted the explanation and didn’t probe further.

I will one day give you a more complete explanation but that day will come when I’m much stronger and fear no one.

The duo proceeded down the alleyway as they headed to another street in search of opportunities to build rapport with the refugees. Compared to the previous day, the streets were far more crowded and there was barely a path for pedestrians to get through. As the duo made their way closer to their base, a fight broke out between some refugees. Ali was going to avoid the conflict when he noticed two people who stood out due to their white robes. Those two people calmed the scene down and resolved the conflict in a matter of minutes. Then, they entered one of the alleyways.

“Let’s go after them!”

Ali led the way to the alleyway but the two people were nowhere to be seen. He and Kamis were puzzled by the development but they didn’t bother to investigate the matter. They merely acted like they were using the alleyway as a shortcut should they be monitored by others. To give up their identity or raise suspicion at this moment could spell the end for the Dark Cult in the slums.

“Who do you think they are?” asked Ali once the two of them were surrounded by large crowds of people.

“Might be the group we know nothing about.”

With no leads to the White Lillies, the two of them kept an eye out for anything suspicious. The teenager planned on sharing his findings with Menna. It wasn’t much but it could shed some light on the syndicate. If they got lucky, they might get enough puzzle pieces to provide them enough clues to work with. As time passed, the large crowds of people were making it easier for people to conceal themselves. One just had to go to a busy street and it was impossible to pursue that person. They had no hope of chasing after anyone in the slums.

To think that there are also many refugees gathering around our base as well. We shouldn’t be surprised if our foes also have people monitoring our movements.