CHAPTER 25: GLITCH OF DOOM

"Commander Aster?" Eric echoed after Winter as they both heaved heavy sighs of relief.

Aster, with her overwhelming robe, stepped out properly from the shadows with a group of expert mages and swordsmen pouring in after her. They were grand.

Aster walked briskly towards the both of them, her robe blowing behind her. She had a stern expression on her face.

"Winter, what have you done to us? What have you brought to this guild?"

Winter’s eyes widened, her face turning white, devoid of blood. "I... I..."

"You have brought us to doom. That’s what you’ve done. The Darkies now have something huge against us should the empire hear about this," Commander Aster half-yelled.

"That’s right, my Winter," Ray walked in, in his usual majestic steps. "We have managed to send Meraslerra and her full unit; they’re riding back to their base, but they’ve seen the anomaly. As we speak, they’ve also sent messages to the Imperial court now."

Winter was practically shaking now as the realization dawned on her. She must have thought the guild was the best place to bring a strange being like Eric, forgetting that it was a taboo to keep such beings in one’s custody without the imperial approach.

"Hey, hey, guys. This isn’t her fault," Eric jumped in, seeing how all the blame had been shifted.

Winter’s head jerked. "Keep it down."

"Shut up, you glitch," one of the mages cut him off, his voice bouncing off the walls of the small room.

The tension in the air was thick as the silence settled in.

Commander Aster spoke. "Let’s keep the fight till later. We shall find a way to cover this up. We can’t have the glitch in our custody. it’ll only turn out more implicating for us."

"I... I’ll take him away. I’ll... I’ll take him somewhere safe," Winter stuttered, each word dropping like it was her first time speaking. Every gaze was on her, and that pricked Eric so much.

He was unhappy that he couldn’t do anything to help her out of this situation.

"There won’t be any need for you to participate in this any longer, Winter. You are one of our top mages, but you’ve also brought this battle on us," Aster’s voice remained stern, but her expression was soft, pitiful even. "What’s the response from our contact, Ray?"

Ry stepped forward, rubbing his palms as if preparing for an important announcement.

"The commander said that the schedule is tight, and it might be hard to admit any new being as of now, but if it’s that urgent for us, we can bring him. He’d see how to get him in without raising much suspicion."

"Good," Aster replied dismissively. "He fears no danger. We shall get the glitch over here."

’Why the hell does this woman keep calling me a glitch?’

[Because technically, you’re a glitch. Well, as far as they are concerned.]

’Did you perhaps send me to this world to punish me?’

[Host has a victim’s mentality.]

Two swordsmen, clad in blue robes with the red emblem of Crimsom Hue Guild glowing brightly on their chest, marched forward and grabbed Eric on both sides to stand him in front of Aster.

The woman smiled, a huge one, as she leaned forward to peer closely at Eric. "You will do as you are both instructed, and not a word must come from you about what happened and what is going to happen now, understood, glitch?"

"My name’s Eric, Commander Ash-ter," he countered slightly while showing his slightly adamant side.

"You dare you bastardize the Commander’s name?" That was Ray, sounding firm and mean, but the look on his face interpreted something else. He looked amused, while a slight smile danced at the corner of his lips. "What a rude glitch."

"This dude is really a clown," thought Eric as he strained against the swordsmen’s hold.

"Well, let’s see how rude you can get after you get out of here," Aster smiled even more widely.

"Where are you taking me?"

"A safe place. Somewhere a glitch like you could blend perfectly with the normals. Somewhere the Darkies wouldn’t dare penetrate with their dark magic. Somewhere so safe it can ironically bring you untimely death," Aster practically growled, staring deep into Eric’s eyes.

Eric felt something creep up him, and he knew Aster was using an effect on him.

[Emotional manipulation effect detected from an SS-Ranked Mage]

[You have enough Willpower stat to block]

’To hell with that. Block it. She’s trying to make me feel fear at her words.’

[Emotional manipulation attempt blocked]

Eric grinned like a child, staring back at Aster.

The commander shot back up, thoroughly surprised that her attempt at bending his emotions didn’t work. She said nothing though. It was a silent transaction between them no one noticed.

’She must be shocked that not only can she not inspect my system, her little sneaky tactics wouldn’t even work.’

"Mighty men. Take him up that dais. We don’t have time to waste," Aster commanded the swordsmen. "Winter, you are to follow him and make sure he gets there safe."

"Yes, commander," Winter whispered after Eric as he raised the teleportation platform. She already had the knowledge of what Aster and Ray discussed, and she knew what Commander Aster was talking about. The also knew where Eric was going to be teleported to. This wasn’t her first rodeo.

"I said, where the hell are you taking me to?!" Eric yelled, desperation written across his face while his arms ached badly from the massive energy that held them in place.

On the dais was Commander Aster pushing forward to the teleportation device. She cradled what looked like an orb, but Eric knew that it wasn’t really an object. It was all just a bunch of different energies, glimmering and combining to form a spherical shape that appeared solid to the eyes.

It floated over the dais, bouncing slowly on a spot while swirling and shifting in different directions.

Aster raised her hands over the orb-shaped energy and, with a swift motion, dipped her hands into the now cascading energy space. She gracefully withdrew her hands almost immediately.

The shape started spinning faster while Aster floated away from the platform in a graceful style.

’Oh, she must have the ability to control air. A sneaky little air mage.’

[0 pts added to INT for stating the obvious]

The guards finally released Eric and jumped down away from the platform at once. He was left alone, standing before the terrifying energy sphere which kept spinning with increasing speed. It also glowed brighter.

"Hell no," he muttered. When it looked like the thing was going to explode, he turned on his feet and tried to jump down the dais as well.

But Winter caught him in the air with one hand and yanked him back forcefully. "It’s time to stop running," she whispered angrily.

’Geez. To think she’s exhausted at the moment.’

"Can you at least tell me where that leads?" he pleaded, his tone disappointing even to him.

Winter turned her face to face another guard look at him. Her dark-blue eyes scanned him, searching as if he’d just said something worthy of suspicion. Then, with a sigh, she looked away and said:

"You’re going to be secretly enrolled in an academy."

The orb exploded finally, shining brightly and sending ripples of energy across the room. By the time the atmosphere calmed and was returned to normal, Eric and Winter had vanished...