XIX. Behold, The Stronghold

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***

Irina had been to Vatican City before. It was during a family tour but not really, since she only came with their associates. This brought back some memories.

"What are we doing here?", she asked Siegfried.

"We're going to the ARK facility.", Siegfried replied.

"So ARK is actually in Vatican City."

"Not really, it's one of the many entrances."

She remembered what Lucian told her about the High Council and Court of ARK. One of the three divisions was the Ecclessia. Formed by heads of religious groups, it made sense that Vatican City was just one of the entrance. Surely, there were seats occupied by other religious figures, which meant that some entrances were also located in other places of worship.

"You said this is just an entrance. Does that mean.." she didn't finish, an idea already loomed in her mind. Siegfried laughed seeing her frowny face as she closed in to hold unto his arms.

"Hahaha! You can calm down now. We're not jumping dimensions this time. No need to crush my arms", he jested, feeling her clutch tightening. "We're walking into Umbra", he said.

"Umbra?! How come there's Umbra inside the cathedral of Vatican? Isn't a church supposed to be a holy place? How can those Nightmares get this close?" she asked continuously.

"The only requirement for Umbra to manifest is a great amount of spirit energy. If you notice, the phenomenon in Central City usually lasts for only a few minutes and appears at some nights only. But here, Vatican and other places of worship has virtually an unlimited supply of spirits. You'll be surprised to know that the phenomenon we have here has manifested permanently. As for how Umbra can manifest in a sacred land, doesn't it say somewhere that everyone is welcome in the house of the Lord? That would include fiends, demons, or even Nightmares.", he explained.

He must have seen her shocked face, so he continued, "No need to have that dreaded look. This is a controlled section of Umbra. It's called Stronghold."

"Controlled? By ARK?"

"Right. Rangers don't just hunt Nightmares. We also help the researchers in understanding Umbra, by claiming as much space in this dimension as possible."

"You said "claiming" as if ARK owns the place. Even so, I thought time is distorted in Umbra."

"Perceptive. There is a rare type of mage called Contractors. Like Scribes, their magic is in writing. I'm not an expert on their arts but basically, they can "write" laws of the land within the reasonable nature of the realm, including the perception of time. It's like making a deal with a land owner and the owner is the land itself."

That being said, it's given that no Nightmares could manifest in such a place, or force their way in. The Contractors made sure of that.

Scribes. Contractors. There's still so much Irina needed to learn. She didn't notice they already entered Umbra. It didn't have the gloomy cold, thanks to the mages keeping the warmth, but no power was enough to fully illuminate the shadow world. The place was like a modern building, except it seemed to have an expanding space inside that could probably house 100,000 people.

"Behold, the Stronghold of ARK."

She saw more than a hundred people gathered in the hall. The youngest ones look about 16, while the oldest were in their 50s. Eve mentioned that ARK only enlisted people at 13 years old and above, regardless of how talented they were, they couldn't be younger.

Based on the researchers report, 13, the beginning of teenage was like being born. Teenage humans had the highest tendency to be spiritually conscious again. That must be the reason why teenagers had a lot of ideals, existential crises, and began to question reality itself. They couldn't shake those unknown feelings of emptiness that could only be fulfilled by spiritual awareness.

Statistically, 22 years old was the age of most recruits enlisted in ARK, a year older than her. However, most recruits only enlisted at that age or older because they took their time deciding whether they would join ARK, or had to train extensively to ensure success.

"Most of them had been dealing with the paranormal since they were young. They had years of experience. Honestly, you're the only one I know who's already at your age that just got spiritual awareness and decided to enlist", Eve added. That made it clear that Irina was somehow an outsider to this world.

Some people emitted significantly stronger spirits. They must be Squad Captains like Siegfried. Their auras were overwhelming, yet protective.

"It's normally not this lively here, but since it's the annual ARK Trials, it's noisier than usual.", Siegfried said.

This didn't feel like Umbra at all. The lights. The warmth. The Contract magic. All these strong people. Even her negative thoughts at the back of her head were silent.

"This is the safest place on earth", just us she finished uttering that sentence, she felt a hand grip her arm, dragging her into the shadows.

***

"So you were awake too, huh?", Eve asked.

"Obviously", Lucian replied snobbishly.

Eve stretched her arms, waking the blood in her veins. She was looking for something in her purse.

"Why didn't you send her off?", she asked.

"What for?" he replied with a question.

"Good luck? I guess."

"If she's going to pass because of luck, she might as well just fail."

"That's not what I meant. But do you really think she will fail, or pass just because of luck? You've seen her progress. We trained her. I know you think what I think."

Lucian had no answer. He had his suspicions but could never support it with any evidence so he didn't entertain his thoughts. However, Eve was convinced that this wasn't the first time Irina had been aware of spirits, other beings, or Nightmares in that regard. That was the true reason she tried to kill Irina. She thought Irina was another conscious being with an immense spirit energy and potential who's trying to exploit the power of Umbra.

Lucian was silent for a long while. He shrugged those thoughts and got back to the issue.

"She's a fighter like us, not a mage. If she couldn't summon her spirit artifact, there's no way she could kill a Nightmare.", he said.

"So it all depends if she could call her spirit artifact. Interesting. All those talents, without a spirit artifact. No one's born perfect, huh?", Eve said.

"Not if she COULD. If she WOULD.", he corrected, emphasizing those two words.

They stared at each other. Eve had just seen that look in Irina. Now, Lucian was making the same "face", regardless of his lack of expression.

"You definitely soul bonded.", she teased.

"Don't push it, Eve."

"The why do you look more dreadful to the thought of her summoning her spirit artifact, than failing the Trials?"

"I do not, and I am not."

"Yeah, right."

Eve knew better than to press the issue on Lucian. She continued to search her purse and when she made sure she check everything, she screamed in rage.

"Who the hell took my ginger?!"

***

In the Stronghold.

Just as when she was about to get dragged, Siegfried reacted in time. A sword swung to the arm dragging her. It managed to avoid it, while also safely dragging Irina away from the slash. The ground parted in two. Several witnessed what happened. One even noted that Siegfried didn't have a sword, it was just a normal chop that had the force of a swinging buster sword.

"Get your hands off my recruit, Jung", Siegfried threatened with knee shaking tone. The voice of those watching the scene could be heard by Irina who was facing Siegfried, the man who grabbed her was behind.

"Did you hear that?"

"Young?"

"Dude, it's Yang."

"Dummies! It's Jung. That man is-"

"Arthur Jung, you idiot!", Irina exclaimed as she turned around facing the man.

"It's good to see you too, Rin."