AN steps toward the 11 fixed bright panels, smiling from a job well done. AN reaches in for the cores, the object lying motionlessly in their hands as AN contemplates what to do next.

Buzzzzzz

AN "What the-

The ancient relic blinks like an alarm.

The cores fly out from AN's grip and stick to the sides of the relic. For a moment, nothing happens. So AN tries to poke it.

The relic wobbles.

Its movement causes the cores to seep into the red dice with ease, like sand through a fine sift.

Ding.

AN looks at the panels. They could barely contain their excitement.

AN "YIPPEE! Yes, AN's back!"

AN clicks on the alert icon and sees everything is back in working order except for skill generation. Their smile drop in response.

AN "What a bummer?... I wonder what everyone is doing.... right... now.... w-what the fuck?!"

AN gives a confused stare, their eyes fixated on the group of humans hiding behind a huge boulder.

They seem to be looking at something. AN looks in that direction..... Oh. Dear. God.

Gwen "..."

Sarah "Can everyone please explain to me... WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?!"

Dave "Yo, chill. Sas Sas, bro. You remember what happened earlier."

Sarah "Yeah! But we've been here for like three and a half hours now."

Gwen "Sarah's right. Also, I can hear you guys from over here."

Kanji "Sorry, Gwen. We need to take cautious procedures when dealing with unknown threats."

Gwen "I understand your reasoning... but tieing my torso to this tree is a bit excessive."

Kanji "Sorry about that. It was Dave's idea."

Diana "Boss! Why are taking this idiot's suggestion?!"

Dave "Bitch! Did you see what that purple shit on her shoulders do to the la-

He stops talking and looks toward Gwen. Everyone sees the purple sparks lightly graze the tree.

In an instant, its existence disappears into thin air. Gwen is now free!

Gwen "Ok, that was quite lucky. I can finally breathe again."

Dave "Dude, stay away!"

Gwen "Relax. I understand the seriousness and potential dangers that my power imposes. Hence, I shall be standing here until our disembodied alien voice returns."

AN "That's an odd way to describe me. Though, it does make sense. You must Gwen Fischer. Nice to meet you."

Gwen "Nice to meet you too. But enough with introductions... any idea how to resolve my current predicament."

AN "First of all, everyone had the right idea on staying away from The Aspect of Destruction. For that, I congratulate you! Though tieing her to a tree could've been a horrendous mistake!"

Dave tries to sneak out of the conversation, but Diana pulls him back.

Diana "Stay here, you prick!"

Dave "Ok Jeeezzz!" "Stupid gorilla lady."

Kanji "You two quiet down. Please, AN. Go on. How dangerous is her power?"

AN "I wouldn't say her power is dangerous. It's her shoulders that are the real issue. Let me ask you a question... do all your altered body parts affect the things around you in any way?"

Kanji "No, I don't believe that they do. I concluded that they just act like regular body parts. However, there is that one time. When that alien general struck Sarah's neck, the hit missed its target."

AN "That's the thing! These new body parts only defend the wielders in their particular regions at random and they don't affect other objects when coming into contact with them. The shoulders of The Aspects of Destruction are different. They affect everything regardless! No matter the circumstances!"

Gwen "So... you're trying to say that anything that my shoulders touch... ceases to exist."

AN "Exactly, but it isn't that simple! So, you must... MUST ALWAYS remember this! Listen carefully! The shoulders destroy things in terms of names and if the object connects with another of the same name then everything will be gone!"

Claire "Errr... what?"

AN "Let's say for instance. The shoulders touch a tree and its branches touch a part of another tree. Then both trees would disappear."

Sarah "Wait! Does that mean if an entire forest has all of its trees' roots connected, then all of it would disappear?!"

AN "Yes, if they all share the same name. If an oak tree is touching a birch tree and Gwen's shoulders only touch the birch, then only the birch would disappear."

Kanji and Gwen's widen, a dark realization shrouds their minds

Kanji "AN... what if..."

Gwen "... I fell on the ground."

AN "Then... The Earth would disappear."

Amelia "Okay, time to bloody panic! This is horrible!"

Gwen "Is there any solution to my apocalyptic shoulders?"

AN "Actually, there is. A long time ago, an Aspect of Destruction by the name of "Isol", discovered that relaxing both of your arms to the point that it feels like you have no control over them was the answer to the issue."

Gwen "Interesting. How did he know that?"

AN "He was a biologist who was very experienced in the studies of muscle memory and the biological construct of creatures across the universe. In fact, I managed the obtain one of his books last month. The damn thing was so hard to obtain! I had to dig through numerous relic sites just to find a single clue of its location."

Gwen “Sorry to hear that you had trouble receiving such a fine piece of recorded knowledge. Although, Let’s see that knowledge is true.”

Gwen takes a deep breath and allows her arms to relax. She sees the purple sparkles begin to fade.

Gwen "Well, you look at that. His theory works... quite inconvenient but it works!"

Kanji "Hey, sorry to interrupt but where do you keep these books that you carry? Do you also have a storage device?"

AN "Ah, no need to fret. These books are actually pretty small, just the right size to fit the under pockets of my tailcoat."

Dave "Tailcoat? Yo, dude! I thought you be wearing some advanced space suits or something bruh. Not some fucking old British sailing clothes lol."

AN "Well, Dave. Most of the common folk or "Workers", including the rebels, all wear old-era clothing from Earth by the law of the Empress's influence because she thinks it looks cool and it prevents the workers from thinking that they possess more power."

Dave "Damn, that Empress is such a dick and a massive boomer. But why do you rebel dudes wear it tho?"

AN "It's to blend in with the public since going around with advanced armor will give you away immediately."

Dave "That's very smart, bro."

Gwen "Ahem. May I ask AN a question?"

AN "What is it?"

Gwen "What do my actual powers do?"

AN "Oops. Forgot about that. It's actually very simple but extremely dangerous if not done correctly."

All "What do you mean by that?"

AN "Well, you see anything that Gwen touches with her hands will be destroyed no matter what. That is if Gwen had the intention of removing in the first place..."

Azan "Wow, that is completely ludicrous."

Sarah "Yeah! That is way more powerful than everyone here. No fair!"

Kanji "Guys, I think AN hasn't finished talking yet. Let them speak before jumping to conclusions."

AN "Thank you, Kanji. There is more to it. In the beginning, she can only destroy gases. Here is her scaling."

lv0: Can destroy gas in a large radius.

lv1: Can destroy liquids.

lv2: Can destroy solids.

lv3: Can destroy a category of objects.

lv4: Can shoot destruction shots.

Gwen "Ok. There are a few things, I'm concerned about. The deconstruction of gas, how large is the radius, and does it affect my friends or myself for that matter?"

AN "The radius is very large and it can affect the other wielders. It is wise to stay far away from the group during combat or before engaging in combat. But the good news is that a small arena around your body can't be affected by your own powers."

Noah "So, she's like... a double edge sword. Cool." "Scary."

Gwen "I guess I have no choice but to get into the habit of distancing myself from now on which is quite unfortunate. But I digress, there are a few more answers that I seek. Level one to level three, please explain in greater detail. Like how many liquids or solids do my power remove?"

AN "For liquids, you can eliminate ALL OF IT. Meaning if you touch a pond made of freshwater then all the freshwater will disappear. For solids, you can only destroy parts of an object or entity one by one unless you reach level 3 which allows you to destroy the entire thing."

Gwen "Ah, I understand. Here's one last question. Do you Castastrians breath oxygen?"

AN "No, we breathe carbon which for some reason our body utilizes like how the human body utilizes oxygen."

Gwen "That's unfortunate. It seems my power appears to be quite useless then."

Claire "Gwen! Don't down yourself! I bet that it will come in handy!."

Amelia "Yeah, mate! There's no need to worry. I think you can handle yourself even without your powers.

Gwen "Thank you for your support, guys."

The group stares at each other and shares a moment of silence.

Diana "So.... what we do next, boss? I think that's what everyone is thinking right now."

Kanji "Honestly, we are at a crossroads. We could either relax until they find us or we could try to find those anomaly crystals and gain an upper hand before they find our location."

Adrian "I suggest a majority vote would be appropriate for this situation."

Kanji "Great idea, Adrian! Ok, raise your hand if you favor the first option. If not then you favor the second option."

Only two people raise their hands.

It's Dave and Adrian.

Diana "Hahahaha! This is hilarious! I knew these two are gonna raise their hand!"

Dave "Shut the fuck up! Man, I thought you guys would agree. This is bullshit!"

Adrian "Darn it! Me and my big mouth."

Those two turn their heads away in shame.

Kanji "Ok, that settles it. Now, we just need the location of the crystals. AN, Any info?"

AN "Ummm... Gosh. The funny thing is that I'm not sure."

Kanji "Excuse, me. What?"

AN "The thing is that NO ONE in history has achieved something further than level zero."

Gwen "Why? Were they not able to find the mysterious crystals?"

AN "Yes, but also because they didn't need it. Throughout history, the goals of various groups of wielders are very minimal. So much so that they could achieve it without the need of improving their levels."

Kanji "How about us? Do you need to grow to defeat the Empress?"

AN "Most definitely! I for one has seen first hand what her generals can do and it was frightening beyond measure."

Mina "Yikes, that sounds scary. But, don't worry guys! If we keep leveling up, they will stand no chance. Just like a video game!"

Sarah "Thank you for the +10 morale boost."

Noah "Good one."

Noah and Sarah give each other a fistbump.

Kanji "Ok. Ok. Let's get back to the crystals. Where are they on Earth?"

AN "Yeah, I don't have exact knowledge of where they are. However, their locations might be determined by various legends, myths, or folklore of a planet. At least, that is what I gathered from going into that subject."

Gwen "You mean like ancient gems or crystals that serve a certain significance in those stories, They may provide clues on the crystals' actual locations."

Claire "But there are so many of them! How would we know which one is the right one?!"

Kanji "I suggest that we take a chance and search them one by one. Does anyone know the best place to start?

Adrian turns back. His face is brimming with excitement.

Adrian "Oh! OH! I know! The Baltic Coast! It is said in medieval legends that a gemstone called "Lyngurium" was created by the urine of a lynx and was buried somewhere among the sands."

Diana "How the hell do you know this shit?"

Adrian "Ummm... I read books. You should... try it sometimes."

Diana "Pfft! No way! LOL."

Kanji "Calm down, Diana. Also good input, Adrian. And since no one else has any suggestions, the decision is clear! AN, transport us to The Baltic Coast!"

AN "On it!"

AN navigates the map and selects Baltic Coast.

The cryo-porting begins

Dave "Woah! Wait! Wait! What about my dr-

They gone. Off to new horizons!