—Determinant Of The World Destiny—
Infiltrated
"1 ... 2 ... 3." Just as the number three echoed from Velyna's soft yet serious voice, Andreas immediately charged forward, lunging at me. Fortunately, thanks to my quick reflexes, I managed to parry Andreas's attack.
He continued to swing his wooden sword at me, but unfortunately for him, I parried all his attacks. The loud clattering of wood indicated that Andreas wasn't holding back much. Again, he swung his sword to my right, but I successfully dodged, giving me an opportunity to finally counterattack.
I began my counterattack by trying to thrust at his stomach before he swiftly retreated a few steps backward. I responded by lunging forward and swinging my sword at him. Before he could parry, I quickly stepped to his left to attack an unguarded spot.
With knees slightly bent and in a ready stance, I tried to strike his shoulder with my wooden sword. Just before my wooden sword made contact, he dodged again by stepping to his right.
"You're pretty good-" In that brief moment, I focused my energy into my legs and lunged at him without waiting for him to finish his sentence. He parried my attack again and again, even though he was using a significant amount of Galactic Energy.
Andreas smiled at me before pushing my sword away with his. I released my sword from his parry; he tried to attack me, but I narrowly parried it. We took turns attacking and defending; the fight was incredibly intense.
His attack sent me falling backward. Then, I quickly extended my left leg and both hands holding my sword to thrust at Andreas, while at the same time, he placed his sword blade beside my neck. We both stopped in that position before we start injuring each other.
Andreas lowered his sword from beside my neck and extended his hand to help me up. "Let's call it a draw."
"Of course." I took his hand and stood up from my crouched position.
"Your sword skills are insane, aren't they?"
"If we used our runes, it would be a different story." Andreas smiled at my statement, patting my shoulder with a normal tone. "You should be proud. Besides, if your rune was already at Expert level, it wouldn't be any different from our fight now."
"I'm going to bed; don't train too long." The automatic door in front of Andreas opened; the door slowly closed, making Andreas disappear.
"Aren't you going to sleep?"
"I'm thinking about something."
"Isn't war with other districts normal for Unit 001?" I asked curiously, because it was different from when she visited the museum. She seemed more confident before.
"If you say normal, maybe. But that's not what I'm worried about." Velyna lowered her voice, and her expression turned a little grim as she said the last sentence.
---
The car alarm blared as the long, large, armored cargo truck moved forward to the Equinox gate. As the truck entered, the gate immediately closed. Someone opened the box door from the back. He looked at the items they had collected during their expedition outside. It was crystal, wood, ores and some more resources.
"Seems safe." As he was closing the box door, he looked to his right. The man's curious expression was unclear, as if an invisible figure had passed him. He tried to ignore it and went back to closing the truck's box door.
---
A city with a strong steampunk atmosphere permeated the somewhat dirty air, polluted by industrial smoke and smoke from homes and other buildings. The city was a bit quiet, but there were still people walking on the sidewalks, and cars driving on roads with several potholes.
In the Equinox district, specifically on the outskirts of the city, Nathan and the others successfully infiltrated Equinox.
"I thought the man who opened the cargo truck door saw me just now. Damn, my heart was pounding then." Noah's annoyed tone matched his irritated expression.
"Then our plan would be ruined." Cleavon smiled mockingly at Noah.
"Damn it!" He kicked a stone on the road. Unbeknownst to him, the stone hit the window of a bar building to his right. Above the bar, a banner read 'Bar Insanus,' and below it, in smaller letters, 'Peripheria.'
An old man came out of the bar door, looking left and right. "Oi, which one of you broke my bar window!?" The bar owner called out to us in an angry tone.
---
Noah ate a pretzel provided on a white glass plate prepared by the bar owner. "I apologize for my friend's clumsiness." Andreas looked at Noah, who was busy eating the pretzel, before his eyes returned to the bar owner, who was cleaning his beer collection shelf behind the wooden counter with a duster.
The old bar owner laughed at Andreas's words. "You've already paid for the damages, that's nothing to worry about."
"Your faces aren't too familiar around here. Are you from the city center?"
"Ah, yes." Andreas gave a bitter smile after saying those words.
"How is living in the city center? What are you all doing here anyway?" The old man asked with a smile.
"Just want to check on our business here."
"Ah, of course."
"It seems you're not easily offended by such things, are you?"
"In Equinox, discrimination between city center and periphery residents is common."
"The recital will be held at the grand Equinox building soon. My little daughter is so eager to watch it, especially the piano part, my daughter who loves it so much. Will you be attending the show?" Andreas smiled at the man's question.
I was holding a black coffee when suddenly Andreas looked at me with a slight amuse. "My friend will be the pianist at that recital." The man's pupils widened.
"Really?"
"Yes, I will be playing the piano at that recital."
"My daughter would be so happy to meet you, but unfortunately, she's at school now. May I ask for your autograph for my daughter?" The old man pulled out a small notepad and a pen from his pants pocket.
"I'm sorry, I can't do that, but I can give you this." I pulled out a piece of paper from my shirt pocket. It was a musical score of the piece I was going to play.
"Good heavens, she'll be absolutely thrilled when she sees this. Could you perhaps meet my child one day?" After the man finished speaking, Andreas stood up, followed by me and the others who had been sitting at the bar counter. Everyone headed for the exit except me.
I lifted the corner of my lips. "Of course." I slightly tilted my hat, which was angled upwards at the front with a flat brim, to show respect. I turned around and left the bar with the others.