Natural Disaster

Magnus worked tirelessly. He did not sleep for a few Tyrmian days.

He was going around different parts of Gatter, checking things out and installing a few malicious intricacies into them with his abilities. He followed the information given to him by Asphell, weaving past the knights that stood guard of important areas, as well as avoiding the public eye.

A beautiful blend of Karis' stealth knowledge and Asphell's information created such a scene of nigh-perfection.

For this, he even invented a Spirit Manipulation trick of his own.

He had taken inspiration from the structure of his Curses and created a mark that he left behind wherever possible.

Using his Spirit Energy seemed to be the best way to write Molecular Text. It was the most efficient ink, given that Spirit Energy followed intent and intent only.

Even without the ability to see the words, Magnus could still write something down. It was a set of words that seemed to boil with power whenever a certain condition was met based on it. This power would supplement his malicious installations and (hopefully) increase its potency.

{=[ Perses' Trail ]=}

Verses:

"When cracks appear in the constructs of humanity,

Then, is the moment wherein all things crash down."

{=[=o=o=o=o=]=}

"I need to study Molecular Text when I get back," Magnus thought to himself.

It was a very interesting topic and seemed to be tied to the secrets of Blessings and Curses. If he could crack the code, it would be a pleasant increase in his powers.

In fact, Perses' Trail was just a random experiment that turned out to actually have effects. He followed the language that had been implanted into him ever since his transportation to Thare, and created a simple 'something.'

Magnus did not know what it was called, but he was fairly certain that such a thing was common in Thare.

'Unless...'

Without access to Spirit Manipulation, would the citizens of Thare have attempted what Magnus just did?

'The answer is likely a yes.' Magnus thought,

'But as a profession or a trick, it would surely be much rarer than I initially guessed...'

With these thoughts, Magnus continued to move through Gatter like a ghost. He roamed certain streets and visited certain landmarks and pillars. He was truly a ghost as he moved while constantly unsummoning and summoning the different members of the Hivemind.

It happened a few times; when the guards or knights found him suspicious and decided to give chase, only to watch him disappear in a flash of light.

Rumours went around the city about a lost spirit who just wanted to visit the places he wasn't able to visit in his life.

Just like the rumours on Asphell, these rumours travelled far and wide. It even attracted quite a few people who had been lingering around the city to enter Gatter and mingle the populace more.

Many were trying to spot this lost spirit, but he always slipped past them. They could not even see his face, as he had a hood pulled far down his face. His features were shrouded, but some fantasized of a youth who had spring-like features hiding beneath it.

Magnus even heard these rumours himself and couldn't help but smile wryly. A small pang of guilt hit his heart as he stood within a room inside the marketplace building.

This was the last location he had to 'tend' to before his plan started.

Closing his eyes, he felt the earth around him and altered its nature ever so slightly. Structural deficiencies appeared here and there, but not enough to topple the building just yet.

He made it so that it was akin to a domino. Put pressure on it in one way and there will be no way for you to topple it over unless you crush it.

But a simple push from the side would be enough to let it fall.

In fact, dominoes were what Magnus mimicked. His setups went around the city in a spiral, circling around again and again until it made it to the centre, where he was now standing.

After making sweet little changes to the building based on his intuition, and double-checking that things weren't going to fall just yet, Magnus placed his mark down.

It took an entire hour to write the Molecular Text that corresponded to the words he wanted to say, and when it was all over, Magnus scurried out of the marketplace.

He walked through the city, wistfully looking around and admiring whatever he could see for one last time.

He saw the happy smiles on people's faces, the anger-induced arguments, and the sad citizens who had just lost something in their lives.

A few thousand people lived in this city, and Magnus did not know how many would make it through.

When he eventually made it to the place he first altered—the very first part of the spiral dominoes and the entrance he had taken to get into the city—Magnus took a deep breath.

'This is it... right..?' He asked himself.

After he did this, he would never be the same ever again.

He had already killed two of his fellow humans. Now, it would be much, much more than that.

Taking one last breath, Magnus closed his eyes.

—And then he flicked the switch.

The switch to disaster.

.

.

.

Gatter was a medieval-level city in the pocket world Tyrm.

It had a unique culture and quite a set of unique citizens.

Today should have been a day just like any other day as they hid underground to avoid the beasts that roamed the millennium forest above.

But when every person of the citizen heard a certain sound, a despairing sense of danger swallowed them up like a killer whale in deep waters would.

Click!

It resonated throughout the entire city, and every citizen came to a cumulative halt.

"What is happening?"

"Hey, did you hear that?"

"Mom? Why did you stop?

"Did something happen, my dear?"

Different sorts of voices ran through the city like a tide as invisible panic weighed down on people's shoulders.

That was when they realised something.

The ceiling.

The once distant ceiling.

It drew closer with every second.

Pillars were breaking, and the market was collapsing into itself.

Everyone just... stared as the ceiling, their sky, their everything, descended in a wonderful spiral.

They could not even scream.

BOOOOOM!

Magnus felt his heart shake as he ran up the stairs going out of Gatter. He rushed forth with his heart beating wildly.

If he was a normal villain, he might've figured out a way to admire his own work, but Magnus was a thrillseeker.

He wanted the danger that came with every one of his actions.

And thus, as the earthen stairs behind him fell apart, he ran.

Just like any other time.

It was only when the rumbling stopped did Magnus do the same. A pillar of dust was rising from what was left of Gatter, and they only had their primitive systems to blame.

None of this would've happened if there had been a more organized security system— one capable of both regular maintenances as well as protection. The pillars of earth were what kept the ceiling above from caving in, together with some parts of the stone walls.

With Magnus weakening the core structures with Spirit Manipulation and those sabotages being left alone, Gatter easily fell.

A sinkhole of Magnus' creation was their collective grave.

Looking behind him, Magnus memorised the tragedy he had caused and felt a variety of emotions. From guilt to anger, madness to fear, satisfaction to sadism, and a few more.

It was a conflicting feeling, but in the end, as once said,

"What is done... is done."

And so, he disappeared into the forest with a sigh.

.

.

.

It has been a few days since then, and just as Magnus was wondering,

'When am I going to be sent back? It has been more than a month in this world's time.'

Two familiar scrolls appeared before his eyes. The first one that Magnus looked at was the one he felt the most suspenseful about.

[[ Personal Trial Scroll: Moral Compass ]]

Most of the contents were the same as before, talking about Tyrm, as well as introducing him to what he would be rewarded with.

The only thing different was the glaring text at the bottom of the page that read,

[[ COMPLETED! ]]

[[ Tear this scroll to accept your reward. ]]

"Yes!" Magnus celebrated. It seemed like his actions were enough.

He then turned towards the other scroll.

[[ Pocket World Exit Scroll ]]

[[ Tear to leave the Pocket World. Dissipates after thirty minutes. Failure to tear the Scroll will lead to one getting stuck in the Pocket World. ]]

"This is it..." Magnus sniffed as he took the Exit Scroll.

He invoked Master of the Hivemind and switched with Klaris. He then held the Exit Scroll and tore it apart.

Rrrrip!

With a flash, Magnus reappeared where he had once been. The stuffy air of Thare's Spirit Energy-less atmosphere instantly felt suffocating.

His only solace was the overflowing Spirit Energy in his own body.

He checked Klaris' phone and discovered that indeed, only four days had passed.

"Now," He sighed, "I have to deal with these guys,"

He quickly began the invocation for Master of the Hivemind once again. Javelin appeared beside him with a flash of light.

Klaris, for the purpose of not revealing too much about the Hivemind, quickly mounted Javelin as the leopard Spirit Beast broke into a sudden sprint.

Even without its wind augmentations, Javelin was still pretty fast.

"What the hell?!"

Shocked yells sounded out behind Klaris as he raced away from the encirclement that had been prepared for him.

"Sayonara, suckers," He took a phrase out of Magnus' book as he disappeared with Javelin into the forest of the Heaven-Touching Mountains.

Once they were out of sight, Klaris disappeared, leaving Javelin behind.

"Roar!" With a short roar, Javelin suddenly began shrinking.

Soon, Javelin had become nothing more than the size of a housecat. Such a form made it easier to navigate the forest and hide from enemies. It was one of the reasons why Magnus chose to have Javelin over a human like Asphell as his third member.

.

.

.

Back at the encirclement, John was standing there, frozen with his mouth agape.

When he came to, he spotted the leader of his shadow squad shaking one of his members.

"Can you tell me what just happened? Where did that... beast, come from? Out of thin air?!"

"S-sir... we have stipulated that that might be his Blessing... Sir."

"Really? Then what did we do here? Didn't we prepare to counter summoning-type Blessings? What was that? Huh?!"

"S-sir, his summoning Blessing was much stronger than the counter-summoning crystal we have! There wasn't anything we could do!"

"You... Excuses again and again and again!"

The scolding would then continue for a while as John sighed.

"Enough," He said.

"That Earthling is peculiar. He has also explored Tyrm for a while. Who knows what he had found. It is best we give up the chase." John then turned to the schoolgirl who had been standing behind him,

"You will be going into Tyrm with the squad. Remember to prioritize safety, alright? You are a part of my group now, and there are responsibilities I am counting on you to fulfil."

John then cracked his neck. His eyes took on hints of growing bloodshot.

"If you don't, we will all be killed."