The Manipulators

Willier-Chapter 19

The clans each have different purposes and jobs within the empire: The Antiaqua are the guide and supplier to life, the Silvestro grants food and life, the Felsen monitors and shapes the land, the Combustioantitheus provide equipment and all sorts of industrial goods, and the Gelumnatio are the police and militia to keep order within our walls. Each clan benefits the other and though conflicts are often, only a few are destructive enough to threaten the empire. 

...

On my right, a literal inferno of a boy and its supreme commander. On my left, a powerful girl of ice and geometry. In front of me is a humanoid plant and behind is a pure folk of ice. Beneath me is nothing but sand and miniature rocks. Up above is the yellow sky and its quietness. No wind or movement could be detected, it's as if it is the end of the world. To some extent, it is. Welcome, to the Orinkemi. Legends spoke of once there were two great Human empires, one broke into scattered pieces called Orinkemi and the other thrived into the current Grand Kingdom.

A land of deserted waste and absolute silence, lack of civilization and generally everything. Upon the horizon rose scattered shapes that once must had stood high and mighty, and the silence would be broken every so often by screams and cries of war. The condition could definitely to my knowledge of emotion and mood to be defined as depressing, yet my allies obviously don't think so. Ridge still laughs on with a big smile on his face despite his previous horror, Hallam is as stern as ever but lacks the element of fear in his manners, Ingeborg is somewhat nervous despite her best effort to hide it but she always is, and Trueman stood tall among us and his brows are furrowed, furrowed for he will need to kill. The four of us Lunists carried guns wrapped around in bandage on our back and Trueman carried a sword that seemed to be forged out of Combustioantitheus steel. 

Our new mission is simple, ten groups of five travel into Orinkemi territory and hopefully one or two would return with useful information that include but are not limited to locations of hideouts, heads of important individuals, and important documents of any kind. 

We trended upon the sands that occasionally ran into our boots in the somehow not hot desert. Ridge, being the only member of our five man group that could read a compass, led us with a map. The map is an old one, for we should be in the middle of a Silvestro grove right now instead of a sea of sand. The only indication that there might be any life here was only shown by a petrified trees that stood not even ten feet tall and several petals of rocks. Ridge squinted hard at the stones and let out a heavy sigh; even the least Silvestro would mourn for the loss of a comrade. We continued to walk for a long time, the sun has set and the moon risen, but we kept on walking. Trueman is a Manipulator so sleep is not a necessity, Ingeborg and Hallam are Gelumnatio, Ridge is a plant so he could use the moonlight, and I don't particularly need to sleep anyways. 

The first life other than us that we saw in this land of madness is a piece of red flesh mash. It rested in peace upon the sand and we stared at it. At that point, we have already went to several marked places upon the map that indicated villages and lives; we saw not even a piece of rock. Now, on a completely unmarked place, where the nearest village is supposed to be miles away, we saw life, or what remains of it. Ingeborg hesitated for a moment before she jot down notes in her handbook. Hallam created an ice dagger and took a sample of it. He then stuffed it inside a small box made out of ice and put it into his pockets. Ridge marked down the place on the map and we moved on. Trueman incinerated the remaining.

Near the end of the day we saw light in the distance. Trueman immediately classified it as torch flame and I crept near it. I climbed on the sands until I could clearly see who was holding the torch, and I saw seven Orinkemi hounds that were mounted. Two had one person on them each and the rest carried two person. The personnel upon the gigantic beasts wore scattered armors that would barely protect them against projectiles. Unlucky for us, two of the man that could be easily identified as their commander was covered from the tip of their hair to their toe with iron plates. A man was whispering words into one of the commander's ear and the commander nodded slowly. I silently retreated back to my group and reported by findings. 

Trueman immediately channeled to his Deity and in response, the Orinkemi were set on fire. Howls of pain could be heard from the distance and my three allies looked at that direction. I stared at Trueman, trying to find any sigh of pain and regret. Instead I found distain and boredom. I would give him a smile if I know how to. 

I heard a clear and crisp sound of broken glass and suddenly turned around. Trueman and I ran toward my allies as I found them facing the two commanders, not a scratch on their armor. I cursed and thought that Trueman didn't want to kill them badly enough, but one glance to his face told me that he is in disbelief. One of the commanders let out an inhuman screech and rushed at my three allies. Ridge tripped the commander as Ingeborg and Hallam pierced his armor around the chest. The commander, with unexpected strength, sent Ingeborg sailing through the air and grabbed for Hallam. Hallam easily dodged out of his reach and sent his ice spear straight into the man's exposed center point. The weapon hits the target and spilled crimson blood. Ridge followed up by shooting sharp thorns out of his palm. The commander ignored the pain of getting impaled by a spear and blocked the thorns with his gauntlet. Hallam could've attack the commander a second time, but he stepped back and pointed a finger at the hole in commander's breast plate. Inside of the man's broken chest is an eye wrapped around in a familiar flesh. 

The same texture of the flesh we found on the ground earlier. 

I shoved a bullet inside of Trueman's palm. He was absorbed in the battle that he startled. "Warm it up for me so it burns." I hissed. I unwrapped my gun as Trueman stared. I grabbed the hot bullet out of his palm and observed. Hallam is now dueling with the monster of a man and I have to be precise for I might shoot the wrong subject. I loaded the bullet and fired when I saw my chance. The bullet did not hit right in the eye but landed to the gorget, even better. Since the bullet is heated, I sent an apologetic prayer to Trueman's Deity and set it on fire. The Deity gave no protest as the blue flame danced and entered the body of the Commander with the bullet. The Commander's scream was short lasted as whatever it is inside of the armor turned into ashes.

Trueman might be the Manipulator of Fire, but I am in every way more knowledgable about the blaze. By the time I turned my gaze onto the second Commander, he was riding his beast into the distance. Ridge considered to chase him, but he is exhausted and need to hydrate before he could be of any use. 

Trueman got close to what remained of the dead commander. To my surprise, he pulled out an entire armor out of the blackened ash and examined it. He waved at me, calling me to come to him. 

"How many types of steel could withstand Azula?" Questioned Trueman. I looked at him in surprise, he knows the official name of blue fire. Then again, he is, after all, a Manipulator of Fire.

"A lot." I replied. Trueman then shoved a piece of the armor to my face. I pushed it aside and examined it myself. 

"This is not dwarf-made." He said. 

"No." I said. I looked closely at the armor and concluded that this must be the mix of several different metal. However, upon a more careful inspection, I saw something familiar, very familiar. "Combustioantitheus steel."

Trueman looked at me in horror and pulled out his sword to compare. "Well, it's mixed with a lot other kind of metal, but Combustioantitheus steel is definitely in here." 

"Its different." Said Trueman after comparing. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, it is Heartsteel." I concluded. "Back when I was a child, they changed the formula after Baron Burnheart..." I paused for a second. "They changed the formula for a while, but it was changed back since it is too expensive and the outcome wasn't much improved than the old ones."

Trueman, sensing it as a topic I do not want to go deep with, nodded and jot it down in his own handbook. He walked away soon and went to check on my allies, but I could not help but stare at the strange armor wore by the monstrous Orinkemi. After all, only Combustioantitheus have access to their mineral product, and only the top ranked few have access to Burnheart's priced Heartsteel. 

Pyrrhus was one of them, being Burnheart's top counselor.