I Hate Systems

Swish!

Bilfuren's eyes shot open as he sensed the mana fluctuation of the Space Element the moment the man arrived in the room through a portal.

Bilfuren looked forward, noticing that the people stationed on guard were currently looking at the prince. Using that chance, he gently extended his index finger as a couple of his feathers fell off his wings.

The thin strands forming the feather coiled around, turning into a human doll that resembled one of the guards. A couple more humanoid dolls appeared, with each sporting the traits of the guards.

After that, three feathers shot out as the strands on it morphed into the shape of a hand, plucking the hair of the closest guard. At the same time, the remaining feathers plucked a hair strand from a guard each.

"What the…?" The three guards flinched in response, turning around in a hurry as their faces paled, gazing at the human doll—that resembled them—staring at them, positioned before their faces respectively.

The plucked hair strand was inserted into the doll as it suddenly brimmed with subtle mana fluctuation.

'No!' The guard that was the closest shouted in despair, watching in fear as his voice failed to come out. And suddenly, a transparent energy was sucked out of his mouth; it flowed into the doll, with the energy gradually turning murky.

It was his soul that was captured into the doll that had also opened its mouth, mimicking the guard. Immediately after, the doll closed its mouth as the eyes of the guard turned lifeless. It then approached him, gradually taking a seat on his head before collapsing into thousands of hair strands.

These hair strands drilled into his head, burrowing into his brain as they dissolved into mana, vanishing as the possession was complete. The eyes of the guard shot open, now under Bilfuren's control.

The other two guards followed suit as instantly, the cellar now fell under his control. Bilfuren snapped his finger as his chains came undone. Immediately after, the chains of the other three captives too came undone.

He then approached the prince's cellar, kneeling on the ground respectfully as he asked, "Shall we take action?"

"No, we wait. The time isn't ripe yet." Prince Boznan Burnak spoke calmly, sporting maturity beyond his age, "Those two would escape if I were to take action now."

"Alright," Bilfuren nodded as he snapped his finger once again, watching everyone become bound by the chains immediately after. He then focused before soon, his body began to tremble mildly, as if he was suffering from the effects of the Mana Capsule.

Bilfuren then asked, "What about those humans. The Lightning Mage introduced himself as Horan while the Metal Mage is Teto."

"The two of them are strong. They'll prove useful later." Prince Boznan Burnak said, smiling after a moment, "Besides, I feel like their objective is something entirely different. They only stumbled upon us because of an overlap in our objectives."

Boznan Burnak then turned silent as Bilfuren closed his eyes, acting like he was asleep.

But suddenly, Boznan's eyes shot open as he glared in a certain direction, staring intently, frowning, 'There's something there. But, I'm unable to sense it.'

Indeed, four metres away from him, staring at him calmly was the Mental Energy serpent left there by Compass Carburettor.

For a moment, it was surprised when Boznan was able to notice its presence, 'I see, so this is a Saint. Terrifying!'

Compass Carburettor nodded in understanding; a Saint was mildly stronger than him. And depending on the Pseudo-Relic they wielded, they could even overpower him. His only chance of winning against them would be to create potent Bullet Templates, something he didn't have yet.

The strongest Bullet Template he had at the moment was Horan's, allowing him to shoot bullets of the Lighting Element. But, if he were to create a Bullet Template from the thoughts of a Saint, then his strength would spike even further.

Of course, in terms of pure strength, he might have an advantage, but Compass Carburettor was grandly lacking in terms of experience, especially since he hadn't put his new powers to use much. That was his current weakness.

"H-He…he was there…I can feel it!" Gehera began to tremble in response, clutching the map in her hand tightly, staring in hatred as her pupils gradually began to turn scaly, "My mother is caged on the other side. I'm sure of it."

"Calm down first." Compass Carburettor gently patted her back, consoling her as he noticed her eyes turning back to normal, "Are you able to locate it on a map?"

"Y-Yes, when the portal opened, I was able to pry into the other side." Gehera nodded, unfurling the map of the Xetuka Kingdom when she frowned, staring at it intently.

Gradually, her mana riled up, condensing in her hand and eyes as it spread onto the map, causing mysterious symbols to flash on it.

The Cartographer profession was capable of remembering every place they had been to, creating a mental map of everywhere they had ever walked towards.

It was like a 3D map existed in their minds that was constantly updated as they grew stronger. Moreover, they were able to relay that on a parchment, causing it to act as a GPS as their senses absorbed all the information from their surroundings.

They were expert scouts and trackers, capable of absorbing information from the very land itself. This was the reason Cartographers were respected the highest and formed a valuable core of every organisation.

And, the moment she began to use her power, the Personal Fragment in her gently seeped Mental Energy through her body. She was unaware as it flowed into her head, amplifying her power; this was how Gehera was able to pinpoint the coordinates of the place on the other side of the portal—that the man addressed as Advisory came from.

She then pointed at a location on the map, "They are here. And, I can sense my mother nearby."

"Then, let's make a move already." Horan condensed a sphere of lighting on his palm, "If the invasion happens tomorrow, whatever they are planning might already be in motion."

"We should stop it before something happens to her mother." Horan said after some thought, "Based on their nature, if the Birdmen plan to invade, they'll do at dawn. That means, we have less than four hours to rescue her mother."